The 77/78 TV series: Little mistakes and special moments

Discuss the television and film adaptations of Enid Blyton's stories.
Post Reply
User avatar
Yan
Posts: 145
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 21:28
Location: Germany

The 77/78 TV series: Little mistakes and special moments

Post by Yan »

Hi!

If you watch the 78 TV series carefully you are able to detect some interesting and funny little mistakes and special details which makes this series so amiable to me.

I'd like to list some of them here:

1. Five go to Demon's Rocks
In his article Gary Russell tells us that this episode was made during 2 weeks (because it was a two-parter). I suppose, after the first week Marcus Harris, Gary Russell, Jenny Thanisch, Michele Gallagher and Wayne Brooks (who was Tinker) must have been asked to get a haircut because in some scenes their hair is shorter than in others. In the beginning when they are running through Kirrin Cottage their hair is longer. But when they arrive at Demon's Rocks by taxi, their hair is cut. Just watch Tinker: His ears are not covered by hair anymore. Also Michele's hair has changed. But the funny thing is: When they've climbed up the stairs of the lighthouse and enter the living room, their hair is long again! (so this scene must have been shot during the first week) :lol:
From this moment on, the far most scenes are "short-haired". But watch the scenes when the children prepare dinner, after they had dinner and when they are studying the map of the lighthouse: Long hair again! :wink:

2. Grins in dangerous moments
In some scenes of the series, especially in moments when strange or dangerous things happen to the Famous Five, one of the 4 children cannot hide the inner fun. Especially Michele Gallagher quite often can be watched stifle her laughter.
For example in "Five go to Demon's Rocks", when Ebenezer and Jakob are caught in the caves, trying to tip the children off the platform. Marcus whispers: "If one of us got off they might just be strong enough to tip us off" and Gary answers "But sooner or later one of us has got to go for help!" Michele can't hide a grin at this moment. :wink:
Or in "Five go down to the sea": After Yan helped them out of the caves and led them on the rocks, they discuss about what to do. Gary says: "This is hopeless. We can't hide here forever" and Marcus answers. In this moment, Michele quickly turns to Gary with a heavy smile on her face, making him grin, too! :mrgreen:

3. Five get into trouble
In the scene when Richard is trying to show the others his ability to ride his bicycle without hands and suddenly is falling down on the floor because he is almost hit by a car you should look at him exactly: The person which is falling down from the bike is much taller than Richard. So, it surely is a stuntman! 8)

Okay, enough for this time.
Perhaps you can add more of those examples.

(To be continued) :wink:
Last edited by Yan on 21 Mar 2007, 23:14, edited 11 times in total.
User avatar
George@Kirrin
Posts: 1012
Joined: 12 Dec 2005, 15:56
Location: Kirrin Island
Contact:

Post by George@Kirrin »

Excellent post

Five go Off To Camp, When Luffy goes to put his tent close to the childrens, George says "We didn't wan thim to be that close" although it must have been added later as doesn't match her lips...
Image The definitive '78 series nut.
User avatar
Yan
Posts: 145
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 21:28
Location: Germany

Post by Yan »

George@Kirrin wrote: Five go Off To Camp, When Luffy goes to put his tent close to the childrens, George says "We didn't wan thim to be that close" although it must have been added later as doesn't match her lips...
Just checked it. Yes, you're right!
It's difficult to me to read from lips (especially if it's not in German :wink: ) but to me it looks as if she says: "We don't want to go that close". So it's not a big difference.
Last edited by Yan on 21 Mar 2007, 23:16, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Susie
Posts: 699
Joined: 25 Jul 2006, 20:42

Re: The 77/78 TV series: Little mistakes and special moments

Post by Susie »

Yan wrote:Hi!

If you watch the 78 TV series "carefully" you are able to detect some interesting and funny little mistakes and special details which makes this series so amiable to me.

(To be continued) :wink:
Hi Yan,
That's very observant of you, very interesting to read. Somehow I doubt I would of noticed any of this, coz I am too caught up in the adventure, to think about hair! :D :wink:
Please continue soon, really enjoyed it. lol :idea:
User avatar
Yan
Posts: 145
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 21:28
Location: Germany

Re: The 77/78 TV series: Little mistakes and special moments

Post by Yan »

Susie wrote: Somehow I doubt I would of noticed any of this, coz I am too caught up in the adventure, to think about hair! :D :wink:
Please continue soon, really enjoyed it. lol :idea:
Observing the hair is the first thing I do when I'm watching a movie or TV-episode. :lol:
No, believe me: When you're watching an episode for the 100. time, you already know everything about the adventure and you begin to look more carefully at the locations, the actors and the way they look or behave. It's real fun!
Last edited by Yan on 21 Mar 2007, 23:17, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
George@Kirrin
Posts: 1012
Joined: 12 Dec 2005, 15:56
Location: Kirrin Island
Contact:

Post by George@Kirrin »

Not really a mistake, but did you notice the cow in the milking parlor kick Mrs Andrews?

Could have been pretty nasty that...
Image The definitive '78 series nut.
User avatar
Yan
Posts: 145
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 21:28
Location: Germany

Post by Yan »

Ouch! :lol:

Thanks for the hint, I never saw that before! But I don't think it was too painful. Probably the poor cow felt that a stranger touched her valuable part. But it's a little strange the production team did not cut it from the finished show.

I will add some further examples soon (but I have to bring it in some clear English first). :wink:
Last edited by Yan on 21 Mar 2007, 23:18, edited 1 time in total.
Georgina
Posts: 98
Joined: 26 Jun 2005, 21:22

Post by Georgina »

I'd never considered looking at the series any closer than face value before but it certainly is interesting. Out of interest, in five are together again, when the five and tinker watch the circus rehearse, is it the actor who plays sam in the clown costume? I seem to recall that when we hear 'Sam''s voice we dont actually see the clown's face, am I right?
User avatar
Yan
Posts: 145
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 21:28
Location: Germany

Post by Yan »

Georgina wrote: Out of interest, in five are together again, when the five and tinker watch the circus rehearse, is it the actor who plays sam in the clown costume? I seem to recall that when we hear 'Sam''s voice we dont actually see the clown's face, am I right?
@ Georgina:
I'm sure it is Sam's actor (Kenneth Cope) who we see in the clown costume. And it's also his voice that we hear. But I think that his voice was dubbed later. In this way he says a little more than at the original shot.
Last edited by Yan on 21 Mar 2007, 23:21, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Yan
Posts: 145
Joined: 02 Aug 2006, 21:28
Location: Germany

Post by Yan »

Let's go on (I hope it's readible):

- There are moments in the series, when you can see somebody saying something but you cannot hear it.
At first in "Five on a secret trail": In the moment when the children are leaving the house (just before they meet the woman) we can see George shouting something at Timmy but we cannot hear anything.
Next example in "Five fall into adventure": George calls Mr. Rogers and the others to come and look for poor Timmy who seems to be sick. Rogers kneels beside him, says "What's the problem, boy?". Then Julian says something that we cannot hear. In the German version this mistake has been erased and we hear Julian say that Timmys looks as if he's not present.

- A funny little mistake of continuity we can find in "Five go down to the sea": The children came back to the old castle in the morning to look for the pirate's lamp. After they found the parafin oil Dick says: "But no one's gonna believe us." In this moment, George is standing in front of him. Then Dick hears a voice and says: "What's that?" George suddenly is standing on his right. During Dick's next two sentences, George is changing her place two more times. :)

- "Five go down to the sea": As we get to know in Gary's article, all night-sequences were shot during the daytime with a dark filter. Usually this was done well. But in the scenes when the Five run through the old castle, climbing up the ladder and enter the second floor it's hard to ignore the bright daylight behind the doors and windows. :wink:

- Finally one detail of "Five go to Demon's Rocks" which is a little sad: In some scenes (especially when the children arrive at Demon's Rocks by taxi and when Mr. Boogle tells them the story) Anne and George are looking pale, exhausted and as if they had cried. Probably they really did the night before. In his article Gary tells us that at the beginning of the second season the 4 children had a new chaperone (Jean). They loved her and spent a lot of time with her during the first week. But when they came back to the film-set after the weekend (which they spent at home as usual) she had died after a heart attack. They were shocked and were talking about her until late in the night from sunday to monday. And on monday they had to film again. So these scenes probably were shot on this next monday. Sad story.
Last edited by Yan on 21 Mar 2007, 23:26, edited 2 times in total.
User avatar
Lucky Star
Posts: 11485
Joined: 28 May 2006, 12:59
Favourite book/series: The Valley of Adventure
Favourite character: Mr Goon
Location: Surrey, UK

Post by Lucky Star »

Very interesting Yan. Thank you.
Wouter
Posts: 22
Joined: 07 Jun 2006, 19:36
Location: Belgium

Post by Wouter »

On the VHS video copy I have, there are also some special moments, like a scene where you see everybody talking without any sound, or a scene in which the Five are suddenly on top of the screen and start scrolling for a few seconds"¦ I hope they will release dutch-subtitled DVD's of the FF series soon"¦ :wink: :wink: :wink:

Thanks Yan for these nice details. I'll check them out soon!

Have a nice weekend - Wouter
User avatar
Moonraker
Posts: 22387
Joined: 31 Jan 2005, 19:15
Location: Wiltshire, England
Contact:

Post by Moonraker »

I don't think we should be too surprised at errors in this series. Any company that makes a Famous Five series yet cannot spell Kirrin correctly, obviously doesn't have its heart in the project. They even mis-spelt Michelle Gallager's name in the credits.
Society Member
User avatar
George@Kirrin
Posts: 1012
Joined: 12 Dec 2005, 15:56
Location: Kirrin Island
Contact:

Post by George@Kirrin »

In Five on Kirrin Island, the tunnel to the island is on the beach... or is it?

Julian Dick and Anne tell George they'll be at the end of the beach where they've found something rather interesting, yet later when they're in Kirrin Cottage, Dick says about it being in the quarry...
Image The definitive '78 series nut.
User avatar
Moonraker
Posts: 22387
Joined: 31 Jan 2005, 19:15
Location: Wiltshire, England
Contact:

Post by Moonraker »

I refer you to my previous post...... :P
Society Member
Post Reply