The Enid Blyton Society

In the winter months, old thing. Life is too short to sit around.

This thread has made me want to rewatch the Famous Five 1970s series again!

Go for it! You know deep down you want to watch it again!

sixret wrote:This thread has made me want to rewatch the Famous Five 1970s series again!

Same! I think what I'll do this afternoon is sit back and relax watching the 1970's Famous Five. It brings me back many happy memories.

What I've been meaning to know: how did Jennifer Thanisch manage taking on a little more active role in this episode? [That is, as opposed as to the other episodes.] [IE: her character being the one evading the villain, escaping the castle and getting the gypsy folk to help, as opposed to Jo (according to the book)]

Jo was in the book, but she wasn't in the TV adaptation so I guess someone had to evade the villains and get help.

This may be another one that Gary Russell can shed some light on. It could simply be that Julie Davis (who played Jo in the 70's series) wasn't available to play the part when needed, so they just used Jennifer Thanisch instead & solved the problem that way. Just guessing, of course!

Julie2owlsdene wrote:Jo was in the book, but she wasn't in the TV adaptation so I guess someone had to evade the villains and get help.

Spot on!

I'm not just a pretty face!!

Gary Russell wrote:

Julie2owlsdene wrote:Jo was in the book, but she wasn't in the TV adaptation so I guess someone had to evade the villains and get help.

Spot on!

How come they didn't include Jo's character in the TV adaptation, but used Jenny instead??

Expenses?
Gary may confirm or correct me, as far as I know Jennifer was the oldest of the Five and so she was allowed to work longer on the sets than the others in season two.

I think Gary is the eldest. I'm sure he was born in 1963 & Jenny, Michele & Marcus all born in 1964. However, I'll have to check.

number 6 wrote: How come they didn't include Jo's character in the TV adaptation, but used Jenny instead??

I think Gary confirmed that Julie Davis wasn't available (see above).

Oh, I see. I must have got the wrong end of the stick (again!) when I read Gary's last post! Thanks Moonraker.
Note to self:- I must read posts more closely!

Moonraker wrote:

number 6 wrote: How come they didn't include Jo's character in the TV adaptation, but used Jenny instead??

I think Gary confirmed that Julie Davis wasn't available (see above).

No, not what I'm saying really - Julie may well have been available. But presumably the producers and/or writers made a decision not to overcrowd that particular story and thus Anne got to do in the tv version what Jo did in the book. This may have been financial or purely a preference to give Jennifer something to do.

And to the other pount, yes I was the eldest and could do one day longer per day than the other three. And sometimes did. But not often.