The Enid Blyton Society

I assumed that the name 'Sooty' was omitted because some people might class it as being racist?

Uncle Quentin calls him Pierre at the start when he is talking about the children going to stay there, but Dick calls him Pete, so I just assumed that this was the boys' nickname/shortened version for him, as schoolboys tend to do

It's really difficult for me to pick favourite actors/actresses from the 90s series, as I love them all. Jemima is the best I think, as she appears more natural than the others. Laura, Marco and Paul were also fantastic but there were just a few moment sometimes where they seemed slightly 'wooden' for want of a better word and not always really natural in either their lines or their movements.
Two 'wooden' bits that stand out for Paul are in Finniston Farm when Grandad opens the trapdoor and they all look up and Dick announces that they've found the treasure, he seems very wooden there as he looks round at everyone while he says "We've found the treasure" - they all knew that already so I thought he should have been looking up at Grandad and shouting it.
Another one is in Demon's Rocks when they find the gold, he and Marco seem very wooden shouting "Gold" when the coins fall down from their hiding place.
I'm not finding fault with Paul though, I thought he was excellent.

Christopher and Mary (Quentin and Frances) are just perfect I think, exactly as I imagine them.
Others that I thought were very good and natural actors were 'Jock' from Five Go Off To Camp, 'Sooty' (Ian Aherne) from Smugglers' Top, Mr Barling (Jeremy Sinden) from Smugglers' Top.

Carlotta King wrote:Uncle Quentin calls him Pierre at the start when he is talking about the children going to stay there, but Dick calls him Pete, so I just assumed that this was the boys' nickname/shortened version for him, as schoolboys tend to do

Ah - then at least it's acknowledged that his name is Pierre.

Carlotta King wrote:Laura, Marco and Paul were also fantastic but there were just a few moment sometimes where they seemed slightly 'wooden' for want of a better word and not always really natural in either their lines or their movements.

I feel that too in some episodes.

Actually now I think about it properly, Sooty's mother and father both call him Pierre on several occasions throughout both of the two-part episodes, so does Mr Barling, and Sooty even introduces himself to Uncle Quentin as Pierre when they are trapped in the cave together and Quentin wakes up and asks who Sooty is.

Even better! I'll have to watch Smuggler's Top again soon.

I'm a MASSIVE Paul Child fan!

The 90s series is better IMO!

me too!!
Paul Child is amazing as Dick!

The best actress is of course from the 70's:Michelle Gallagher
She just acts so naturally, I love her!!

Jemima Rooper. I thought she had George's scowl and mannerisms down to a tee!

Of course the reason she's Aunt Frances in the 90s series is so kids watching don't start sniggering and calling her Aunt Ladyparts.

Aunt Fanny had been renamed Aunt Margaret as early as 1957, for the Five on a Treasure Island cinema serial made by the Children's Film Foundation.

We 1970s kids coped perfectly well with her real name, however, and she retained the name Fanny in the TV series made for our generation!

Paul Austin wrote:Of course the reason she's Aunt Frances in the 90s series is so kids watching don't start sniggering and calling her Aunt Ladyparts.

We 1980s kids had no problem with her name either. Nor with the name of one of the main boy characters!

My post, might seem out of place but it is related to the topic of these movie series.
I watched most of the 1990s,had some glimpses of 1970s and 1957 episodes.

What i realized watching, the 1990s series is, the characters were exactly how I imagined them to be, everything was in the right place.They were like exact impression of the book itself ,while the 1970's series lacked much resemblance to the book's characters and they seemed out of place.
However the 1990's series were very short, because of which sadly they lacked, basic characterization and progression which we see in the novel.
for example within 2 dialogues you would see an angry Julian .
They had such an excellent cast , but the movie direction was so poor. It really made me sad.

The depiction of Uncle Quentin, in both 1957 and 1970's was nothing like the crazy scientist we see in novels, its perfectly well played in 1990s, exactly like I imagined him to be.

The 1970s and 50, have hour long episodes but the portrayal of Famous Five is not similar to the novels.
In 1990's, the depiction of famous five scenario is extremely well done but is ruined by , lack of proper characterization and progression needed to show the chain of events.

Enid Blyton would be so disappointed , to see that all three major streams of tv serials did not manage to do a simple job yet complex novels like Harry Potter have been so well directed and casted into successful movies.
I guess, I will have to take up the job of making the movies, to make Enid Blyton proud!

zaidi wrote: What i realized watching, the 1990s series is, the characters were exactly how I imagined them to be, everything was in the right place.They were like exact impression of the book itself ,while the 1970's series lacked much resemblance to the book's characters and they seemed out of place.

I agree, Zainab, the 1990s series is much better when it comes to making the characters and settings look how Enid herself probably intended them to. It's just that because the 1970s series was designed as if it were set in what was then the present day, the clothing styles, hairstyles, cars and so on all looked familiar and normal to children who grew up watching that series when it was first shown. The characters looked like kids you might know from school or in your own town, not like people from a different era. George (Michele Gallagher) on her bike in the first few seconds of the opening credits reminds me of my older sister riding her bike when we were little!

Also, a few years before that series was made, the Famous Five books were re-illustrated by Betty Maxey, who drew the characters with typically '70s clothes etc. — very similar to how they're portrayed in the TV series. So for people about my age and a bit older who grew up with those illustrations and that TV show, that was just how the Five "looked" and how we tended to imagine them. I was a bit surprised when I first encountered the original Eileen Soper illustrations and didn't much like them at first, although I prefer them now!

zaidi wrote: I guess, I will have to take up the job of making the movies, to make Enid Blyton proud!

Yeah! Go for it.

The famous five series of the 90's are very good in my opinion. But I have been used to 70's series. Even if they don't resemble the real characters, they are just as good
What I like about the 1978 series is that it's kind of giving the message that even children from our time can do adventures. Of course, if I we see in how close the movies are, the 1996 is very much similar to what Enid Blyton wanted.
Still the five will always be related to the 70's series in my opinion