Pip, Larry and Daisy

[Nair Snehalatha]

Yes, Eunice.Tolling is a character by herself--I too would have loved to see her in.another Findouters book.Also Luke in Disappearing.Cat-- All these supporting characters disappear forever , after their first entry.Blyton should have at least let us know about what the supporting actors were doing later-- I always think about them all

[dsr]

The Adventure series supporting characters are bound to disappear, I suppose, because each adventure was half a world away from the last. You couldn't expect Tassie to turn up in Tauri-Hessia, interesting though it might have been! Similarly but to a lesser extent, the Famous Five moved about quite a lot - though I don't recall the old couple in Five Go Adventuring Again ever reappearing, and they easily could have. Did they?

But in Five Find-Outers, all set in the same village, I think Enid missed a trick. She could easily have had characters recurring irrelevantly or as a plot red herring. No reason why Mr. Smellie shouldn't have turned up in one or more of the other 14 books after Burnt Cottage. A few nods to previous characters could add a bit of incidental entertainment.

[Daisy]

As S-dog says, Miss Trimble makes a small reappearance in Spiteful Letters, but other than that I can't think of any others that haven't already been mentioned. I agree that Luke, still working next door to the Hiltons, and presumably still on friendly terms with the Find-Outers, could maybe have reappeared in a later story. However, I think Enid was mindful that each book should be "Complete in itself" - as is sometimes mentioned in the foreword. Too many links with previous stories might be confusing until one has read them all.
I'm reading Holly Lane at the moment and note that for once Enid does not explain a possibly new word in her usual way of having Bets ask what it means. She uses "verbose" and leaves the reader to look it up in a dictionary as she suggests Goon will have to do, as he does not know what Fatty means. I wonder how may children did that!

[pete9012S]

I thought I would just remind myself of what a lot of supporting and background characters Enid used in The Find Outers Series.
How many do you remember?

Larry - Fatty - Daisy - Bets - P.C. Goon - Pip - Ern(HH) - Mrs Trotteville - Sid(VP) - Perce(VP) - Inspector Jenks - PC Pippin(PC) - Mrs Hilton - Tupping(DC) - Eunice(MM) - Mr Trotteville - Mrs Minns - Miss Trimble(DC) - Twit the baker(IT) - Mrs Cockles - Sweetie - Dark Queen(DC) - Mr Smellie(BC) - Miss Harmer(DC) - Mrs Fangio(MM) (25)- Lady Candling(DC) - Winnie Moon(SL) - Marian(HL) - Horace Peeks(BC) - Rollo - Luke(DC) - Boysie(PC) - Zoe(PC) - Gladys(SL) - Buster - Mrs Daykin - Mr.Hick(BC) - Bingo(BT) - Ronald(VP) - P.C. Tonks(IT) - Finnegan - Mrs Tittle - Old Nosey(SL) - Mr. Tolling(MM) - Miss Kay - Mr Holland - Jinny(IT) - Lady Rexham - John James(PC) - Mr Hilton (50) - Mr Woosh - Alec Grant(PC) - Mr Williams - Prince Bongawah(VP) - William Orr(PC) - Rev. Theodore Twit - LarkinTC) - Poppet(TC) - Jake - Mrs Hicks - Peter Watting(PC) - Mr Lazarinsky - Liz Woosh(TC) - Lucy White - Mrs Winstanton - Glad Woosh(TC) - Miss Adams - Mrs Trotter - Mr Engler(SR) - Wilfred Hasterley(SM) - Dr.Rainy - Poussin - Mrs Jolly - Mr. Smith (alias Canley)(SM)- Mrs Smith(SM)(75) - Gloria Lorenzo(TC) - Prince Bongawah(VP) - Bill Lorenzo(TC) -Margery(VP) - Mrs Lamb(SL) - Robert(VP) - Zoe(PC) - Gladys Woosh(TC) - Mr Fellows(SB) - Mr Eurycle(SB) - Hilary(IT) - Princess Bongawah(actually Bets in disguise)(VP) - Pua-Tua(cousin of Princess Bongawah but actually Daisy)(VP) - Mrs Mickle(HL) - Marian(HL) - Miss Crump(SR) - Lily(BC) - Mrs Hasterley(SM) - Wilfred(HL) - Alf(VP) - Mr. Daykin??? - Mrs. Bunn (SL) - Boysey (PC)-

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[pete9012S]

All these supporting characters disappear forever , after their first entry.Blyton should have at least let us know about what the supporting actors were doing later-- I always think about them all

Yes, have we been short-changed? Is it a swizz? Is Enid a rotter?

Has the lack of minor character reappearances forced into later storylines ruined a great series?

The short stories are to be avoided - Bill Smugs is the best.

[Deejay]

Yes I was surprised there weren’t more supporting characters, especially as someone has said in the Find Outers series, where they’re based around the same area all the time. Other than Ern and Sid and Percy and Inspector Jenks, we don’t really hear of anyone else.

[Splodj]

As S-dog says, Miss Trimble makes a small reappearance in Spiteful Letters

She also makes a very small reappearance in the first chapter of Hidden House. When they are looking round to see who might be Fatty in disguise, Larry says: "And there's Miss Tremble. It's not her. Golly, which can he be?"

[Nair Snehalatha]

Miss Trimble maked an appearance in Spiteful Letters-- she was one of the regulars on the bus yo Sheepsale-- Also Miss peper who helped Barney to find his father, is not thanked at all.Wonder how Blyton could have forgotten such a major.incident-- Miss pepper helped to give Barney get a happy fsmily life-- Blyton should have dedicated a chapter where Barney voices his gratitude to miss pepper, who had done such a noble deed

[Barnard]

Yes, I think Barney should, at the very least, have licked Miss Pepper’s boots. After all, he was only a circus and fairground worker.

[Bertie]

I think Ern is there as a foil to the others. While a nice guy he's clearly drastically different in class, brains and manners to the other five. He also provides much scope for comedy and is a handy link between Fatty and Mr Goon. He overshadows Daisy, Larry and Pip in the books he appears in because Enid uses him as part of the plot thus he becomes more important than his status would otherwise warrant. Ern is possibly the best supporting character Enid ever wrote into any series.

Just catching up on this thread and I think that's a very good post about Ern, and why he's given quite a significant role in the books he appears in.
There's a lot of interesting points made in the thread. I agree Pip, Larry and Daisy become less and less significant as the series develops, with Fatty coming into his own as a genius and Bets, and then Ern as well, becoming the 2nd and 3rd main characters (along with Buster and Mr Goon!)
Overall, I'm pleased that Enid did it that way while also keeping the group feeling nice and friendly and everyone happy in their roles. If she'd extended the characters, I imagine some key ones may have been Larry maybe resenting Fatty's leadership, Pip becoming a loose cannon and getting into scrapes like Tom in the Adventurous Four, etc.
Instead, I like the fact that she just keeps Larry and Daisy as quite solid, team-playing members of the group. And Pip, while a little more of a loose cannon than the rest, keeps within a level that doesn't lead to trouble or arguments within the group or anything.
Bets and Fatty's growing fondness for each other is a nice development as well. And Ern's introduction is very useful for all the reasons Lucky Star mentioned above.
As has been mentioned in the thread, I would have maybe liked a few more references / appearances of some of the characters who live in the village but who only really get mentioned in one book. It does add a feel of an 'extended family' to a fictional world when they pop up every so often, even just a passing mention. That's just one of the things I love about PG Wodehouse books - characters pop up / get mentioned in different books or series and it's always nice when that happens.

[Jack400]

Moved from General Natter Room.

I recall that Bets said something that prompted Fatty to solve a mystery. Suddenly wondering what,if anything, Daisy helped solved. It's been a while since I read the FFO books so it may be obvious to our experts on here.

[Bertie]

Bets did a few things - suggesting the location of the Missing Necklace in the Waxworks Hall; saying 'it makes you think it was someone else in the Pantomime Cat' outfit' and 'I'm glad Mrs Larkin is nice to Poppet now. She could be Mrs Lorenzo the way she fusses after her'. And I think she also spotted the smell in Disappearing Cat?
Pip first spotted the Secret Room, and triggered the idea for Fatty in Invisible Thief by wearing the big boots. Ern spotted the clue in Banshee Towers, and helped with major clues in Vanished Prince and Tally Ho Cottage.
I can't really think of anything that Daisy or Larry did that directly, or indirectly, helped solve mysteries. I guess Larry first saw the blind man feeling around his furniture in Holly Lane? But, yeah, he and Daisy weren't really given any 'big moments' in books as far as I remember.

[Barnard]

I think that, in The Mystery of the Strange Messages, Daisy realised who was leaving the anonymous notes for Goon. I don’t remember her working out much else of any importance.

[Jack400]

Thanks,Bertie and Barnard.

[Nair Snehalatha]

Bets , without knowing gave the clues that triggered off the detective in Fatty--she was cute enough to sniff out the smell of oranges in Secret room-- Tally ho cottage too -- her thought of how mrs larkin could have been.mrs lorenzo hit the nail on the head.