Blyton References on TV

[Fiona1986]

We watch Richard Osman's House of Games on the iPlayer so I'm not sure when this episode aired. The one we watched tonight has the round 'question editors' day off' where their children ask the questions. One asked 'What was the name of the dog in the Secret Seven' and none of the four competitors knew it.

[timv]

Yesterday evening on Sky TV Arts episode 3 of the Children's Literature documentary series 'Wonderlands', written by Adrian Munsey, included a short section on some of Enid's best-known works in the 1940s, though the series is billed as covering literature from 'Lewis Carroll to Tolkien's The Hobbit' ie to 1937. The Famous Five and Malory Towers were dealt with , though only briefly. The FF references centred on Five On a Treasure Island, ie in its 1942 context, concentrating on the 'empowerment' of children as heroic young characters 'getting things done' and confronting baddies in the context of wartime and helping children to feel that they could take part in the war effort; the Malory Towers section was a short summary of how Enid empowered girls who could get things done and promoted female friendships and individualistic characters.

The main speaker on MT was Professor Kimberley Reynolds (f), Prof. of Children's Literature at Newcastle upon Tyne University (one of the major current Childrens Lit centres) , who said that this all showed that critics had got Enid wrong and she presented a positive and forward-looking picture of girls who the reader could identify with and that her social views and lack of diversity was 'of its time' and had to be accepted as such like those of other 'problematic' writers not shunned. Retired (Emeritus) Professor of Children's Literature at Cardiff University Peter Hunt, on of the first senior Childrens Lit academics heading a university dept, said similar things about Five On a Treasure Island, and that she was perhaps the most misunderstood English children's writer. Her usual social situations of well-off boarding-school children just fitted its contemporary context and this work and other writers' similar preoccupations should be fitted into this background not just condemned by people writing in a different cultural situation. Enid was a 'magpie' writer who picked up ideas from many places, and was bound to reflect imperial and socially deferential views of the 1930s and 1940s - and of her Edwardian youth. Other contributions were made by the BBC children's lit adapter Brian Sibley, who wrote the 1981? Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings which I remember, and some actress from the current MT show (possibly Matron or a teacher??) who referenced the adding of minority ethnic actresses to the cast and to the covers of the latest MT paperback edition.

All told, a positive consensus from leading and influential current Children's Lit figures; but will this trickle down to editorial commisisoners?

[Moonraker]

Most interesting, Tim. I will try to find it on catch-up later.

[Anita Bensoussane]

That's good to hear, Tim. I think the media have been more positive about Enid Blyton in recent years. The first series of the Malory Towers television drama was released on BBC iPlayer several weeks early when lockdown began in March 2020, as it was considered to be a morale booster for children during unsettling times. There was a Malory Towers stage musical in 2019, and a Famous Five musical has just been on at Theatr Clwyd and is now moving to the Chichester Festival Theatre. The reviews of both musicals have been positive on the whole, particularly the Malory Towers one which received a great deal of praise. Newspaper and magazine articles also tend to be more sympathetic to Enid Blyton than they once were.

[Bertie]

I'm glad it sounds like they took a more positive view of Enid. Not surprised to hear the topics discussed, the buzzwords used, etc, on the show, but at least it sounds like it was a more positive take of Enid on the same, recurring themes.

[Katharine]

Very interesting, and positive.

[Anita Bensoussane]

Thanks for posting about Wonderlands, Tim. I've now had the chance to watch episode 3 (I couldn't resist going straight for that one, but I hope to catch up with the others as well in due course). It was great to see the contributors embracing Enid Blyton. Peter Hunt was a little more negative than the others, I felt, but on the whole the speakers acknowledged her as a writer of influence and importance and spoke of her books with enthusiasm. It was also good to see that they were all wary of the notion of altering older texts (or even erasing them altogether) to fit modern sensibilities. We saw a black woman identifying with the Famous Five and a white man identifying with Mowgli from Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book, with no suggestion that there was anything wrong with that. All in all, a healthy and heartening attitude to literature from past decades.

Other contributions were made by the BBC children's lit adapter Brian Sibley, who wrote the 1981? Radio 4 adaptation of The Lord of the Rings which I remember, and some actress from the current MT show (possibly Matron or a teacher??) who referenced the adding of minority ethnic actresses to the cast and to the covers of the latest MT paperback edition.

I have a book about Narnia written by Brian Sibley. If the programme is focussing mainly on literature dating from before J. R. R. Tolkien's The Hobbit (1937), I suppose C. S. Lewi's Narnia series won't be covered.

The speaker who talked about bringing ethnic minority characters into Malory Towers was Patrice Lawrence, who wrote a story for the book New Class at Malory Towers (2019). It contains four specially written stories by different authors and, although I haven't yet bought or read it, I intend to one of these days. Patrice Lawrence brought a black girl named Marietta into the school - she has written about her contribution here:

https://www.itv.com/news/2019-05-13/pat ... ory-towers

She says, "I want young women of colour to know that they can go anywhere. I want them to know that their potential to own their own stories is limitless. Whatever messages they may have received to the contrary, I want them to know that they belong."

[Jack400]

On Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads, a reference to Five on a Treasure Island ( well a FF by the time I found my mobile I can't remember what book it was) s1e9 Storm in a Tea Chest

[Barnard]

James Bolam calls it Five On Kirrin Island, which is not the exact title of any of the books.

[Boatbuilder]

Perhaps he forgot again.

[Katharine]

I've seen a couple of episodes of that on TV recently, but don't think I saw that particular one.

I know I've got the boxed set of the previous series, but not sure if have the one from the 1970s - I'll have to check and see, and if I have, I'll keep a look out for the Enid reference.

[Katharine]

On my DVD of Love Actually, there is a bonus section of deleted scenes.

One of the scenes contains a reference to Noddy when a character is discussing what small children would like for a Christmas present.

The scene is a very 'naughty' one, and so I'm not sure if it if a good thing that Noddy is mentioned in such a setting or not!

[Boatbuilder]

The scene is a very 'naughty' one, and so I'm not sure if it if a good thing that Noddy is mentioned in such a setting or not!

Well what were YOU doing watching it then?

[Moonraker]

The mind boggles.

[Katharine]

The scene is a very 'naughty' one, and so I'm not sure if it if a good thing that Noddy is mentioned in such a setting or not!

Well what were YOU doing watching it then?

I like the music they use in the film.

Nigel - for those familiar with the film, it features the characters Jack and Judy at work, for those who haven't seen it, then it is not for the easily shocked.