Actors from the 78 Famous Five Series

Julie2owlsdene · Post by **Julie2owlsdene** » 28 Aug 2008, 20:05

I did watch. It was lovely to see Julian and Anne, all grown and chatting. Pity it wasn't on for a bit longer.

Petermax · Post by **Petermax** » 29 Aug 2008, 14:35

I finally managed to watch the Thames Valley Tonight feature about the Famous Five series after yet more difficulties with the ITV.com website. Marcus Harris and Jennifer Thanisch came over very well indeed and we were even treated to a tantalising glimpse of behind the scenes footage of the actual filming. What other goodies lurk in the Southern TV vaults? Potential items there as extras for a DVD box-set, should that ever happen.

My only complaint is that the feature was far too short, we could done with at least 10 minutes, preferably 30!

Also Gary Russell should have been included, I assume that he was occupied elsewhere.

Thames Valley Tonight

Overseas forum members will probably be unable to view this. I may be be able rectify this situation later on.

Pippa-Stef · Post by **Pippa-Stef** » 29 Aug 2008, 14:42

Thanks Petermax!

I didn't realise it was on the news though!

Edit:That was very nice to see! I really enjoyed that!

Wouter · Post by **Wouter** » 29 Aug 2008, 21:15

Indeed, the following message appears (here in Belgium):
"Sorry the video you have chosen is only available to users in the UK"

Looking forward for a solution...

Post by **Anita Bensoussane** » 29 Aug 2008, 21:19

Thanks, Petermax! It really was a treat to see that. I was surprised to learn that Jennifer Thanisch hasn't watched the series since it was first broadcast in the 1970s.

Petermax wrote: Marcus Harris and Jennifer Thanisch came over very well indeed and we were even treated to a tantalising glimpse of behind the scenes footage of the actual filming. What other goodies lurk in the Southern TV vaults? Potential items there as extras for a DVD box-set, should that ever happen.

I was thinking that too!

Hope Petermax is able to help you, Wouter!

Anita

Pippa-Stef · Post by **Pippa-Stef** » 29 Aug 2008, 21:21

Could someone, use a web cam to record it and put it on Youtube?

Petermax · Post by **Petermax** » 29 Aug 2008, 23:12

Wouter wrote:Indeed, the following message appears (here in Belgium):
"Sorry the video you have chosen is only available to users in the UK"
Looking forward for a solution...

As a temporary measure pending a more satisfactory solution using software, I have filmed the screen of my PC with a camcorder. The results are as expected, quite a bit of strobing and high contrast. Anyway, it now means that our overseas members can at long last view the programme. Here is the link.

EDIT I have now linked to a flicker free, higher quality version.

I note with interest that Marcus Harris mentioned that the cast appeared at book signings and Saturday morning TV shows. I presume that he was perhaps referring to the Saturday Banana, a Southern TV childrens show hosted by Bill Oddie. I used to watch this occasionally, but I do not recall the Five being interviewed.

I do however, remember the giant yellow banana planted outside Southern TV studios. Sadly, the Saturday Banana ended after a few months due to industrial action.

Gary Russell · Post by **Gary Russell** » 30 Aug 2008, 00:19

Petermax wrote:
I note with interest that Marcus Harris mentioned that the cast appeared at book signings and Saturday morning TV shows. I presume that he was perhaps referring to the Saturday Banana, a Southern TV childrens show hosted by Bill Oddie.

It was indeed. We were stunningly awful on an amazingly disorganised show - a truly amusing-with-hindsight-but-at-the-time-godawful experience. I seem to recall that Michelle and I (oh, quelle surprise) did most of the talking.

Rob Houghton · Post by **Rob Houghton** » 30 Aug 2008, 00:38

Very interesting, and good to see Jennifer Thanisch again after all these years.

Lucky Star · Post by **Lucky Star** » 30 Aug 2008, 13:22

Many thanks for posting those links Petermax. A very interesting segment, as others have said, its a pity it was'nt longer. I'm amazed that Jennifer has'nt seen the show since it was broadcast and that her children have not see it either. If my mum had been in a TV show I know I would be consumed with curiosity to see it.

Hopefully someday we will get all three of them to the annual EBS day to talk in depth about their experiences. And also hopefully we will get a DVD release of the series. It was really interesting to see glimpses of the filming process.

Julie2owlsdene · Post by **Julie2owlsdene** » 30 Aug 2008, 13:43

Lucky Star wrote: Hopefully someday we will get all three of them to the annual EBS day to talk in depth about their experiences. And also hopefully we will get a DVD release of the series.

Yes, that would be really lovely L.S. Looking forward to that day, and the hopefull DVD's

Petermax · Post by **Petermax** » 30 Aug 2008, 16:33

Gary Russell wrote:It was indeed. We were stunningly awful on an amazingly disorganised show - a truly amusing-with-hindsight-but-at-the-time-godawful experience. I seem to recall that Michelle and I (oh, quelle surprise) did most of the talking.

If only the Saturday Banana show had been archived, it was common practice back then for broadcast video tape to be re-used due to the fact that it was rather expensive. This fate also befell many early Dr Who episodes.

With regard to the Thames TV interview, I have now linked to a higher quality version posted to Youtube by a fellow 70's series fan. Enjoy!

Wouter · Post by **Wouter** » 31 Aug 2008, 07:23

Petermax wrote:As a temporary measure pending a more satisfactory solution using software, I have filmed the screen of my PC with a camcorder. The results are as expected, quite a bit of strobing and high contrast. Anyway, it now means that our overseas members can at long last view the programme. Here is the link.

Thank you Petermax!
Great to see Marcus and Jennifer again, and I wished that Gary was also in the show.

Ed Fulcrum · Post by **Ed Fulcrum** » 02 Sep 2008, 20:06

Absolutely fantastic, thanks for youtubin 'the clip!!

Just goes to show that there must be loads of archive footage somewhere.
I wonder where Thames tonight sourced it. It looks to be in quite good shape too!

I wonder when they showed Jennifer the episode was it just a VHS or did they dig the original film out of the vaults?

Yan · Post by **Yan** » 06 Sep 2008, 11:50

Petermax wrote: Marcus Harris and Jennifer Thanisch came over very well indeed and we were even treated to a tantalising glimpse of behind the scenes footage of the actual filming. What other goodies lurk in the Southern TV vaults? Potential items there as extras for a DVD box-set, should that ever happen.

Thank you so much for putting this on YouTube !!!
I was absolutely thrilled to see behind the scenes footage. I never thought this would still exist today !!! It really would be excellent to see more of it. Let´s pray it will be served for us.

Yes, it really was strange that Jenny had not watched the series since it's first broadcasting. But that fits to the fact that she didn´t appear in the public or on the Enid Blyton Days all the years before. I think that was because she was not much interested in the series anymore. But I´m really happy that she obviously changed her opinion now.

Actors from the 78 Famous Five Series

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