TV locations for the Famous Five series

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
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Moonraker
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Moonraker »

(Inspirations) The Blue Pool, in Furzebrook, near Wareham, Dorset
Gloomy water in FGHT.
I have to disagree here. The point of Blue Pool is that chemicals have made the water extremely blue. The Green Pool in (I think) Five Get Into Trouble (?) would have been more likely to have been inspired by Dorset's Blue Pool, as it was mentioned that chemical elements had made the water appear green.
Last edited by Moonraker on 23 Jan 2018, 18:40, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Gary Russell »

privateer2001 wrote:I've another question that bugs me... the opening scene with the theme song shows Dick falling backwards off a raft (I think that one always stuck in my head as much as the theme song, as well). :) Is that something that happened on Sowley Pond where the Five took off on the raft to search the boat? So far I haven't come across that scene in any of the episodes. So I was wondering if it was actually filmed just for the opening scene at the start of the show (maybe at the same time they were filming on Sowley Pond because it looks like the same raft, maybe), or if it was an actual scene from one of the episodes. Come to think of it, I guess the same question could be asked for all of the "opening credits" with George on the bike, etc... Any ideas?
All the opening/closing titles stuff was shot towards the end of shooting S1, one Saturday morning (either just before or just after we did Billycock Hill I think). Yeah, we went back to Sowley for the falling off the raft bit and as Ade/Number 6 says, we did two long shots (the second one was a safety shot, but they couldn't have used it as I was wet), then dried off/change of clothes for the close up.

Adrian is correct about where Jennifer and Michelle's were done, and I'm pretty sure Marcus's was done near DPF as well.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

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Thanks, Gary! Good to hear from you. Even though I liked Michele very much, all of the characters were very memorable for me, and I could see aspects of myself in every one. Dick is who I would resonate with most. Always famished, but always ready for adventure, and chomping at the bit to get there, as well! I always remembered the great theme song better than most any I've heard because it is so catchy. and I always remembered this great scene of you falling off the raft backwards. Just recently wondered if it would have been filmed at the same time The Famous Five were on that same raft on that same pond... at least it looks like the same raft. Did they specially build it for that? Also present in that episode was Prentice Hancock, who I enjoyed in Space: 1999, as well (so that was a treat). Do you ever run into him now or perhaps you haven't even seen him since this episode?

Also impressed that someone I really liked as a kid was behind some of the new Dr. Who seasons. I guess I liked Christopher Eccleston the best as he was the "cheekiest" doctor, I think. Has the kind of personality I wish I had the ability to pull off. But I guess I do get some of my cheekiness from him... creepiest Doctor Who was the one in the Planet Library where the spirits got into people's space suits and consumed them, turning them to skeletons... the vosh-something-or-nother, I think. That one really freaked me out, I must say, more than most any horror film I've ever seen! :)

“There is no such thing as a 'self-made' man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.” - George Matthew Adams. So I think a lot of all of you I grew up with. And wished I was able to meet all of the Famous Five back then. I have a love of islands. I have a love of adventure and exploration (I used to live on an island called Belle Isle in the 80's every summer where we used to move onto to fish from. On off days (windy weather), I used to explore that island by myself. It was 6 miles long by 3 miles wide and you can see the Atlantic on both sides from the highest peak up near Bateau Pond. There is glacial moraine there with boulders left behind that are the size of houses. Never got to explore much of the caves because they were quite dangerous to get to as you had to go in from the ocean side up slick walls of rock). I have a love of tomboy girls. I never understood (forgot really) where any of this came from until i watched this series again. So many ways this series enriched my life.

I always wonder if most of us realized back then that we actually do grow up and get old-er? hahaha I can say i never expected to see this age I am now. Never thought I'd be around this long. And to still be transformed into the 10 year old fellow that i was when I used to watch this series back in the 70's is always magical. No other show has ever done that for me. So thanks for being part of it, Gary. And thanks for interacting with us on here. Really appreciate hearing from you, my friend! And receiving some answers about great childhood memories. All the best!
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Gary Russell wrote:I'm pretty sure Marcus's was done near DPF as well.
Yes, I think you're right, Gary. I forgot to mention Marcus! I did see a few contenders for this particular location whilst I was wandering around the DPF area last July. :D
Last edited by number 6 on 23 Jan 2018, 16:52, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Moonraker wrote:
(Inspirations) The Blue Pool, in Furzebrook, near Wareham, Dorset
Gloomy water in FGHT.
I have to disagree here. The point of Blue Pool is that chemicals have made the water extremely blue. The Green Pool in (I think) Five Get Into Trouble (?) would have been more likely to have been inspired by Dorset;s Blue Pool, as it was mentioned that chemical elements had made the water appear green.
I think you both could be right! Enid may have visited Blue Pool on more than one occasion & may have seen the colour changes on each particular day. The change in colour in the pond isn't caused by chemicals.

The pool constantly varies in colour. Very fine, minute clay particles in suspension in the water diffracts light in different ways, producing a spectrum of colour change, inc Grey's, greens, but mostly turquoise. In cooler weather the clay particles sink towards the bottom of the pool. This changes the amount of light bouncing off the particles in the water, turning it a more dark green colour. On hot days the particles float upwards, causing more light to bounce off them & change the pool to a more brighter turquoise colour....or it's the other way round?! I tend to forget!! :roll: Also, I think the 'Blue' in the pool is partly caused by the Blue sky reflecting off the water. I did some work near Blue Pool few years ago & spoke to a chap who gave me this interesting explanation! :D
Last edited by number 6 on 23 Oct 2018, 10:19, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Gary Russell »

privateer2001 wrote:Just recently wondered if it would have been filmed at the same time The Famous Five were on that same raft on that same pond... at least it looks like the same raft. Did they specially build it for that? Also present in that episode was Prentice Hancock, who I enjoyed in Space: 1999, as well (so that was a treat). Do you ever run into him now or perhaps you haven't even seen him since this episode?
Have stayed friends with Prentis ever since and indeed have cast and directed him subsequently - fab man. Last saw him in Los Angeles in February 2017.

And yes, we used the same raft in Hike and in the title sequence.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

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Thanks, Gary. I know these are minutia, but things that are interesting little tidbits (to me) in regards to understanding more of how things are done in the film business. Glad you stayed in touch with Prentice Hancock after that time. Always liked him as an actor, but haven't seen him in too much. Now I'll have to look up what he's been in and watch some of his films. Did you ever work with anyone else like Nick Tate or Zienia Merton? And was there any connection to Pinewood Studios at all with the 78 series of Famous Five? Always wanted to tour that facility, as well, but suspect that would be much harder than touring FF filming locations.

A couple other things were puzzling me. I think I read somewhere that the series appeared on British TV sometime in 1978. Would you have shot the 1978 episodes in 77 and the 1979 episodes in 78 while season one was running on TV? Everything was always shot in the summer, right? Btw, does anyone know if the original tapes were shot in high enough resolution to show more detail in HD on DVD or BluRay? I ask this because I think they did something like this with Space: 1999, using a medium that could upgrade somewhat decently to HD. Also, the 1978 FF appeared to have been set in the 1970's but the 1995 remakes were set in an earlier time, perhaps the 1940's, according to the look of the cars?

Take care, Gary! Thanks again. Hope Prentis is keeping well!
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

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number 6, I was doing some research tonight into your picture of Hurst Lighthouse. Did you actually go there and this is your pic? It looks like the entrance to that lighthouse has been shifted around to the back, maybe about 35 degrees or so - is that correct? Google Earth lets you do a walk-by too. Its pretty cool for those of us who can't get there... yet! :) Its interesting that the stones are still there too, yet they are 90 degrees/perpendicular to the entrance as one of the bad guys goes through the door. But that entrance appears to be at the backside of the lighthouse now.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Someone asked about the lighthouse entrance before and Gary gave the following (very interesting) explanation:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... or#p272242" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

Thanks for posting the link, Anita!

Yes, Privateer, I've visited Hurst Lighthouse three times over the years. On the first occasion, I took a little tourist boat from Keyhaven harbour across to a small jetty at Hurst Castle. The Lighthouse sits near the Castle, which I also visited for an hour or so. Once I had a good look round the area, I walked across Long pebbly beach to Milford-on-haven & took the New Forest tour bus to Lymington Quay, & visit the areas where they filmed some of the scenes from the 'Five get into trouble' episode.
There's a few pics of the Lighthouse on this thread, one of which is mine. :D
Last edited by number 6 on 11 Apr 2018, 13:46, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

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Anita Bensoussane wrote:Someone asked about the lighthouse entrance before and Gary gave the following (very interesting) explanation:

http://www.enidblytonsociety.co.uk/foru ... or#p272242" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
WOW!!! Such great "slight of hand"! I'm gaining much more insight (and appreciation) into how filming is done. When it all goes onto the screen, it seems to flow flawlessly - probably there are very subtle things that the audience never notices. hahahaha pretty sneaky! :)

I wonder if the "mizzen" room in the lighthouse actually existed, where supposedly the lighthouse keeper lived. I've been to a lot of lighthouses and never seen anything like that built into one. Always a house nearby or joined, but never a room in a lighthouse. I guess some must exist, such as that one (maybe in France) where one stone lighthouse is always assaulted by the sea. I think there's an iconic picture of a lighthouse keeper standing in the doorway looking out while a wave breaks all around him. But this lighthouse seems to have other structures nearby. Could be sheds. Maybe could be a lightkeeper's house....
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by privateer2001 »

number 6 wrote:Yes, Privateer, I've visited Hurst Lighthouse three times over the years. On the first occasion, I took a little tourist boat from Keyhaven harbour across to a small jetty at Hurst Castle. The Lighthouse sits near the Castle, which I also visited for an hour or so. Once I had a good look round the area, I walked across Chesil beach to Milford-on-haven & took the New Forest tour bus to Lymington Quay, & visit the areas where they filmed some of the scenes from the 'Five get into trouble' episode.
There's a few pics of the Lighthouse on this thread, one of which is mine. :D
Hehhehheh You guys are so lucky to live there. I'd spend so much time looking around at any of these places I could get to. Do you ever get a great feeling of nostalgia when you walk in the footsteps of these beloved characters? I bet I'd get tingles up my spine once in awhile to walk down some of the same paths they traversed or grab onto a piece of railing that was used in the episodes in the same place George, Dick, Anne might have touched.

I'm here on Martha's Vineyard and "Jaws" was filmed here, as was Harrison Ford's version of "Sabrina". I've toured some of the places where these were made, but I don't think they're anywhere near as special as the Famous Five locations would be. Echoes of ghosts of friends from long ago, I guess... :) Of all the celebrities in all the world, I would have loved to have met them when I first saw them on the screen in the 70's.

I just put a couple more places into Google Earth tonight. Not sure how to format the bookmarks yet, but that'll come, I hope. Now its something like:

"FF (EP 01-02) - Five Go to Kirrin Island

Lat: 50°47'5.28"N

Long: 1°21'44.36"W

Description:

Lepe Watch House on Lepe Beach.

From "Five go to Kirrin Island" Ep 01-02. This is the Lepe Watch House at Lepe Beach. The five encounter one of the bad guys here who tries to get information out of them by having them in for tea. They make up an excuse to leave and are shown going up a path behind the house."

Only the "FF (EP 01-02)... " line is seen in the bookmark. I would post a screenshot but I don't think this site has image hosting and I have no other place to send images right now.
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

Post by number 6 »

privateer2001 wrote:Do you ever get a great feeling of nostalgia when you walk in the footsteps of these beloved characters? I bet I'd get tingles up my spine once in awhile to walk down some of the same paths they traversed or grab onto a piece of railing that was used in the episodes in the same place George, Dick, Anne might have touched.
I certainly had a feeling of nostalgia when I visited the F5 locations for the first time, & still do at times, especially if it's a location I've not been to before! The first place I ever visited was Gatewood bridge, where 'Five go off in a Caravan' was filmed. This was roughly 2 years after the series was first shown on TV in the UK. Think this visit would've been around 1980. Shortly after, I met Jennifer Thanisch for the first time. This was in the Three Horseshoes pub in Laleham, which her parents ran for a number of years. It was around 1983ish (?). I was 18 & working in the local area at the time. I used to call in for a few beers in the evenings with my workmates. I met her on a few more occasions afterwards, but I think she was already living in Chiswick(?) by then & was only a infrequent visitor to the pub. Her parents gave up the Three Horseshoes to run another pub in Teddington. I think it was called The Adelaide. I remember Jenny's Dad inviting a group of us up to the pub for an evening when he first took it over. Unfortunately, I couldn't go, as I was due to go back home on that particular day. Jenny's parents were lovely & so was her Sister, too! Fond memories. :D
I met Gary Russell, Marcus Harris, Julie Davis (Jo) & Gail Renard at a few Enid Blyton Society day events in recent years. All were lovely & pleasant. Gary was great fun, a good narrator & a real entertainer, especially during one event where 'Five fall into adventure' was screened...with running commentary!
The only sad bit is, I never got to meet Michele. :cry: :cry:
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

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Thanks for all this, number 6. I didn't realize you'd been visiting those sites almost ever since the series aired. Great commentary yourself about things I'd never know about, for sure. I like information like that as it fleshes things out, you know.

I'd love to have been at that event with Gary doing a running commentary while screening a Famous Five story. I imagine if I'd been involved in such a venture, I'd have many memories of each one, as well. I've always been good at remembering stories, esp funny things that have happened to me in life. :) That sounds like it must've been quite a treat.

Pity you never got to meet Michele. Do you know: would she have been living around that area at the time? I wonder how local everyone was. Jennifer Thanisch must have lived close to where the FF episodes were filmed at one point. I have to look these places up in Google Earth. Been using that platform since it was called "Keyhole". Really great tool. Do you ever use it? haha just looked it up Three Horseshoes and it is a landmark in GE, of course. Found it right away. Did a street view. 4.5/5 stars, it says. Wonder what their cider is like there and if its called "scrumpy" like the Wurzels used to call it? :) Cider has always been my favorite drink!!!

Anyway, thanks again for the extra info, number 6. Always welcome by me! have a great day!
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Re: TV locations for the Famous Five series

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privateer2001 wrote:Pity you never got to meet Michele. Do you know: would she have been living around that area at the time? I wonder how local everyone was. Jennifer Thanisch must have lived close to where the FF episodes were filmed at one point
No, none of them lived near any of the filming locations (ie New Forest, etc.). I can't remember off-hand where Gary, Marcus & Michele were living, but I'm pretty sure Jennifer was still living with her parents in Laleham/or was attending the Corona(?) stage school at that particular time. Gary did tell us about his & the others whereabouts on this thread (somewhere!), but I just can't recall. However, I think they all met up & travelled down to the New Forest on a Sunday, in time for the weeks filming schedule. I think I need Gary to come in & remind me what the hell im talking about!!! :lol: :lol:

Since I visited Gatewood bridge in 1980, I have returned to the NF to look for/visit F5 locations on numerous occasions. However, this hasn't been done religously every year! There's been gaps of years due to work commitments, etc, I first visited the Enid Blyton Society forums in 2008 & was amazed to find other people doing exactly the same as me! I thought I was the only nutter, sorry, person to be looking for the F5 locations! :D
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