The Famous Five

Awful. Just awful. Adaptation or not it's not in keeping with the classic story telling and adventure of the Famous Five.

Enid Blyton would be so disappointed. All that time these books have been loved by so many.

And to not film it in Dorset is a complete snub of the love Enid had for the Purbecks.

Awful. Awful. Just awful. Awful. Just awful. Awful. Just awful. Clearly having a controversial director has done absolutely nothing for the storyline.

The only decent acting was from Timmy the dog!

The acting was dreadful especially Jack Gleeson

Terrible. Disappointing. Waste of time. Don't do it!!! Awful. Awful. Awful.

I am in my early sixties and remember the books well, unfortunately, this series is nothing like those cherished books, apart from the barking dog. I think the problem is with it being a period setting whilst pandering to our modern day idealistic values.

That in itself is not a bad thing but it just doesn't work. I think this could easily have been set contemporary and be much better.

As with the recent adaptation of 'Murder is Easy' the program makers have hashed it all up and what's with the muted techno beat background music..is it supposed to raise the tension? It's bloody annoying and adds nothing to drama at all.

Watch if you are new to the Fab 5, you will probably enjoy it, otherwise expect to be underwhelmed. Kudos to the kids for giving it their best, they are much better at it than the adults.

I was really looking forward to this remake. I owned all the books by 10 years old ('70s) and read them many times.

I tried hard to watch it, but it was so awful. The changes to bring it "up to date", while leaving it still in the 40s were just confusing and jarring. I also couldn't watch Jack Gleeson (no, nothing to do with GoT) - his villain was worse than pantomine level.

As others mentioned, the plot/story was nonsensical at times. I also got far too confused trying to work out exactly how the cousins were related, and it took me out of the story.

I've not finished it, but saw enough to give this rating.

Hello. I just turned on the tv and saw this programme. As a child I adored these books as did my friends, we even made up our own famous five stories. I remember the books as wonderful, timeless classics, warm and lovely. However this series is the opposite. I was struck immediately by George's converse. Fun fact, converse was popularised in the 1960s. Secondly, the characters were rude, petulant and wooden. None of them convey any realistic human emotions. Also, what is with the music? It's incredibly annoying and unnecessary. The acting is outright hilarious, a complete mockery of these cherished books.

"Yeah right?" Is this a phrase used in the 1930s? This series is a disappointment to anyone who loved these books. In addition, I am writing as a thirteen year old who is warning others to stay away.

One last thing. The start titles. I thought I was watching some kind of experimental perfume ad. CANCEL THE SERIES!

Another shameless example of trading on a name. This is the Famous Five in name only. If they didn't want to adapt the actual stories then they should have given the characters original names and made the story they obviously wanted to tell.

The original 70s series frequently played fast and loose with the stories due to trying to the need to fit them into 30 or 60 minutes, but even at their worst they still felt like the Famous Five. This monstrosity feels nothing like the Famous Five.

Don't waste your time with this and encourage them to make more. Go watch the 70s version on Britbox or better yet, go read the books (the proper uncensored versions).