The Famous Five

At 18, I am a huge Enid Blyton fan. I have read a lot of her books, and have loved them to death. They are funny, charming and have a real sense of innocence and enchantment about them. That said, I absolutely love this show, it maintains all of the charm of the books and is just a lot of fun to watch.

It is pleasant to look at, with crisp photography and the scenery is often gorgeous. The music is wonderful as well, the theme song is great to sing along to and the background music is beautiful, adventurous and haunting. The writing is touching and funny constantly, and the story lines are faithful in structure to the books and still have their sense of adventure and fun.

Everybody acting wise are well cast, from lead down to supporting. Julian is still intelligent, Dick is gentle, Anne is actually more likable than she is in the books and George is suitably tomboy-ish. Aunt Fanny is an inspiring mother figure and Professor Kirren is fussy, strict yet caring and intelligent. The real star though is Toddy the dog as Timmy, I loved Timmy in the books, I adored him here, he is so cute and likable not to mention well trained as well.

Overall, if you love Enid Blyton and love the Famous Five, I think you will like/love this. 10/10 Bethany Cox

This is one series that has the power to literally transport one in time back to his or her childhood of growing up with Enid Blyton books. The Famous Five along with other book series as the Five Find- Outers, the Secret Seven and others had the power to captivate the growing child's mind and deliver them into the arenas of adventures that are truly captivating and thrilling. It was therefore tremendously exciting for me to discover that the Famous Five made it into a television series towards the end of the seventies. Who can ever forget the fact that the actors in these adventures are children just like us living ordinary lives in rural England. Even though I was growing up in India at that time, somehow Blyton's mode of description enabled me to instantly relate to those kids and the adventures they fell into. I read almost all of Enid Blyton by the end of the early seventies. The Famous Five provided endless excitement and portray no-nonsense kids having excitement in the course of their daily lives. It is regrettable that today's kids mostly cannot relate to children half-a-century ago. And who can fault them? Times change. Today is the day of the iPad and the iPhone, fast food and an even faster life. We are living in an era where we are witnessing the transition of generations. Soon, many would not even know who Enid Blyton was. Except for old codgers like me who grew up with her great storybooks.

I love this adaptation. The characters stay true to the books, but modernise them for a 1970s time. I love Anne's characterisation in this adaptation. She is so strong and fearless.

The plots change slightly to work with the 1970s theme, but still stay true to the original books.

All the best parts are carried into the series including the spontaneous camping adventures, secret tunnels and plenty of good hearted mystery.

Even as an adult I still regularly rewatch the series. Even though I know them by heart I still sit on the edge of my seat, anticipating what will happen next. I highly recommend this series for everyone.

Since growing up is based on curiosity, experimenting, and also learning to live with the consequences, this TV show, as well as the books it's based on, are awesome references for kids in that aspect. Even if the show is rather light on the 'consequence' part, the young group has actual scares and gets punished when they misbehave.

For a child, everything is really a mystery, something to be discovered and understood. In my opinion, the mindset that this show tries to develop is essential if you want to grow up.

Also, this show was extremely entertaining!

I remember being extremely pleased when I saw that Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' was to be televised. Like so many children growing up in the 1970s, I loved Enid Blyton's books and still have most of my collection. I could never understand - and still cannot - why so many people sneered at her writing.

The 1970s series had a contemporary setting which meant, obviously, that some aspects of the books had to be updated. Nevertheless, the televised stories lost none of the appeal of the books. One could identify even more closely with the exploits of the Five as they whizzed down hills on their bicycles, devoured their cream teas and brought the local crooks to justice.

Additionally, the characters were well cast and remained true to the books. Eldest child Julian (Marcus Harris) was still the intelligent, sometimes over-authoritative leader whilst Dick (Gary Russell, previously Cyril in 'The Phoenix and the Carpet') was the gentler, thoughtful younger brother. Anne (Jennifer Thanisch) was more mature (thankfully!) than her book character. She still tended to prefer to opt out of the adventures although it was usually she who ended up saving the day for the others. George (Michelle Gallagher - spelt correctly?), plus her sidekick Timmy the dog (Toddy), remained the most complex character - the headstrong, fearless, loyal, truthful tomboy - based as she was on the young Enid Blyton. Sue Best was suitably maternal as Aunt Fanny whilst Michael Hinz added an element of mystery to the character of the absent-minded scientist Uncle Quentin Kirrin.

I bought four episodes of the 1970s series on video in the early '90s but do not know if it is still available. My favourite 'Famous Five' book was 'Five Go To Smuggler's Top' and it was given prominence as one of the few two-parter episodes of the t.v. series. Block the butler has to be one of the most enduring characters in children's literature!

I should be interested to know what became of the child actors, who would be around the forty mark now. Marcus Harris appeared on 'After They Were Famous' a couple of years ago; he was working with computers and writing a book. Does anyone know where the others are?