The
show: ''The Famous Five' is of course based on the classic series
of children's novels by Enid Blyton, which most
people growing up in the
1950 to the 1970s would have read at some time, although they may be considered
too old-
fashioned for today's children.
The series of 21 novels featured the exploits of the four Kirrin children
- Julian, Dick, Anne
and their cousin George
- plus their loyal dog Timmy, who always managed to get involved in adventure
and intrigue when
they were on school holidays
(strange, my school holidays were never as exciting...) This was the second
TV adaptation
of the novels, and the 26
episodes were broadcast on ITV1 between 1 July 1996 and 5 May 1997. All
of the original novels
were dramatised for this
series, and unlike the previous TV version of the Famous Five, this series
was set in the 1950s
at around the same time
as the novels.
The
episode: 'Five go to Billycock Hill' was a two part-story that
was broadcast on 28 April and 5 May 1997, being the
penultimate episodes of
the series. It is the school holidays (again), and the children go to stay
at Billycock Farm, with
a friend of Julian and Dick,
named Toby. His cousin Jeff is an air force pilot who is testing top-secret
technology at the
nearby RAF base. One of
the planes goes missing during a storm, along with Toby. He becomes a suspect
and perhaps
even a traitor, but the
Five are convinced that he is innocent. Their investigations lead them
to the local butterfly farm,
which is owned by Mr Gringle
and his partner, Mr Brent (played with great enthusiasm by Colin Baker).
The children
encounter Mr Brent, who
is acting mysterious and wearing dark glasses (even at night - cue potential
spy!). It turns out
Mr Brent is a fake and the
real Mr Brent has been in London. The children soon discover that the fake
Mr Brent is involved
in a plot to steal the top
secret aviation technology. Naturally they break the espionage ring and
bring the conspirators
to justice, with some help
from Jeff and George's scientist father, Quentin.
The
verdict: These two episodes closely follow
the original novel, although given the constraints of TV some plotlines
from
the
novel have been dropped. However, the story is interesting enough, although
the scriptwriters gave away a key
plot element by identifying
Colin Baker's character as the Fake Mr Brent in the end credits of the
first episode! The 1950s
setting means the 1996 series
works much better than the 1979 one, which was set in the then-present
day. Children of
all ages should enjoy this
series, and most likely many adults who grew up reading the novels. If
there can be said to be
a definitive TV version
of the Famous Five, this must surely be it.
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