| Famous Five | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Adventure, Childrens |
| Written by | Enid Blyton |
| Starring | Michele Gallagher, Marcus Harris, Gary Russell, Jenny Thanisch |
| Theme music composer | Rob Andrews, Les Spurr |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Don Leaver, Sidney Hayers |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV (Southern Television) |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original run | 3 July 1978 – 8 August 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
The Famous Five is a British television series based on the children's books of the same name by Enid Blyton. It was broadcast on ITV over two series in 1978 and 1979. It was produced by Southern Television in 26 half-hour episodes.
Contents |
Production for the series began in 1977, with filming commencing during the Summer of that year. The series was produced by Southern Television in a co-production with a German company. The episodes were recorded on location and on film (rather than the more usual video tape), making it the most expensive children's television series ever produced at that point.[1] Each story was adapted from one of the original novels and featured the same main characters; George, Julian, Dick, Anne and Timmy the dog. To play these roles were child actors, Michele Gallagher, Marcus Harris, Gary Russell and Jenny Thanisch, while the dog was played by a Border Collie called Toddy. Other regular actors were Michael Hinz as Uncle Quentin and Sue Best as Aunt Fanny. The first series was produced by Don Leaver, while the second was produced by Sidney Hayers. The executive producer was James Gatward. The stories were adapted for television by a number of writers and directors and starred many notable actors in guest appearances including; Patrick Troughton, Cyril Luckham, Brenda Cowling, Geoffrey Bayldon, Brian Glover, Ronald Fraser and an early appearance by Rupert Graves.[2]
The television scripts were amended slightly from the books to give them a contemporary, 1970s setting. Of the original 21 novels, three were never adapted; Five on a Treasure Island and Five Have a Mystery to Solve because the Children's Film Foundation still had the film and TV rights to the books, while Five Have Plenty of Fun didn't fit in the production schedule.[3] Due to the success of the series, Southern Television were keen to make another season of episodes, but the Enid Blyton estate forbade them to create original stories.[4] One criticism of the series was that many of the episodes featured scenes set at night-time which were badly lit to the point that it was difficult to see what was happening. These scenes were actually shot in daylight, but a heavy filter was placed over the camera to give the impression of darkness.[5] The series was filmed mostly on location in Christchurch and the New Forest with many of the indoor scenes filmed in Exbury House, where the house doubled as many different dwellings.[6][7]
The Famous Five was first broadcast on ITV on Monday 3 July 1978 at 4:45pm. This was a year after it had been filmed and during production of the second series. The first episode was Five Go to Kirren Island (an incorrect spelling for Kirrin Island), although was not the first episode filmed (Five Go to Mystery Moor).[8] The first series proved popular and ran until the end of the year with a six-week break during October and November. Due to a lack of remaining stories, the second series consisted only of seven episodes and was broadcast from June to August 1979 (again, a year after production). The Famous Five was sold to many overseas countries such as Ireland (where it was repeated in 1981, 1983 and 1985), Canada and Australia and was dubbed into many languages for the European market such as German (the series having been part-financed by a German company), French and Spanish.
The series spawned many merchandise items such as jigsaws and annuals, while Look-in magazine ran a picture strip story each week for nearly two years.[9] The theme music (contrary to popular belief, not sung by the cast but by the Corona Stage Academy choir) was released as a single in 1978, but failed to chart.
Toddy the dog died shortly after filming was completed on the series. Despite ITV's wishes to continue the series, no further episodes were made due to the Blyton estate's veto on new stories being written, although a new set of novels were published in France in 1981. These have been widely dismissed by fans of the original books however. The four starring actors met up again in 1980 for a newspaper story on their progressing careers. By this time, only Gary Russell was continuing an acting career and he too soon gave it up. This was the last time the four met up although Russell, Harris and Thanisch did meet again in 1990[10] and for a radio interview in 2011.[11]
Jenny Thanisch is now a mother and works as a school teacher in the South of England. Gary Russell gave up acting in the mid 1980s to concentrate on writing as well as being the editor of several magazines. He was the script editor on the successful 2005 revival of Doctor Who. Marcus Harris embarked on a number of business ventures and later became a town councillor.[12] In 1996 the books were revived again for another British television adaptation. This time, unlike the 1970s series, it was set in the 1950s.[13] More recently, an animated version was made by the French company Marathon, which featured the children of the Famous Five.[14]
The series remains unreleased on DVD due to confusion as to who owns the rights to the television episodes, as well as complexities with the Enid Blyton estate.[15] However, in 2010 it was reported that the release will be coming soon.[16] In Germany, however, the entire series was released in October 2010 in a 7 DVD set (and respectively on one BlueRay Disc) with extensive bonus material. The serie was released in November 2011 in France in a 2x3 DVD set (but only with the French dubbed version and any bonus).