Famous Five TV Series 2023 - 2024, BBC

[Bertie]

Anita, is "a man in a shed, with dreams" just being used as a bit of a general phrase to describe the fact that he lives in his own world? Or, rather than being a successful, eminent scientist, with a large study / workplace, are they portraying Uncle Quentin as more of a would-be, still hoping for some success dreamer, doing his work out in a shed?

[Anita Bensoussane]

I don't know, but all will become clear on Saturday! In Five on a Treasure Island Quentin is struggling, so I expect the general idea came from that.

[Courtenay]

Aunt Fanny (Ann Akinjirin) and Uncle Quentin (James Lance) were also interviewed briefly and much was made of the fact that Fanny is now the main breadwinner, while Quentin is "a man of dreams in a shed."

A man of whose dreams, exactly??

Seriously, it's a big part of many of the plots of the original FF series that Quentin is a scientist... of course we're never told exactly what he's working on, but that adds to the mystery and excitement, and it allows for him being a bit absent-minded and oddball while also giving multiple villains the objective of stealing his secrets. (Which, I now understand as an adult reader, was a very topical plot element during WW2 and the Cold War.)

I've no huge problem with Aunt Fanny being a successful novelist (so was Enid Blyton!), but does this "man in a shed with dreams" idea mean they're going to make it that Quentin doesn't have a successful and useful job at all? I hope not, as that would just be sad and stupid. Giving female characters a more interesting role is understandable, but do they have to dumb down the male characters while they're at it??

[Bertie]

Giving female characters a more interesting role is understandable, but do they have to dumb down the male characters while they're at it??

Good point, Courtenay. And, going off most modern shows (and all the Adverts during them), the answer seems to be a resounding 'Yes'. That it's not enough just to do the former, the latter has to be hammered home at every opportunity as well.

I suppose, by the sounds of it, they've made Dick smarter than he was in the books. But I hope they've kept Uncle Quentin a clever, respected scientist - after that, it's fine if they enjoy highlighting his absent mindedness and incompetence around the house as Enid did as well. But there should be no need to downplay his competence as a scientist as, like you say, it plays a role in a few of the storylines with villains looking to steal his work.

[Anita Bensoussane]

I must admit I loathe the expression "toxic masculinity" that gets tossed around these days (by the sort of people who enjoy tossing things around! )

I think Uncle Quentin is still a scientist in the new adaptation as he was called an inventor in the BBC clip, but he hasn't yet achieved what he hopes to achieve.

[Debbie]

I have never heard of any of the actors or the producer, though!

About fifteen minutes ago there was a brief segment about the TV series on the news (BBC). The children playing Anne, Dick and George said they hadn't read any Famous Five books, and when Flora Jacoby Richardson (Anne) tried reading one of them after her fifth audition, she gave up after two chapters as she found the style "boring" (boo hoo!)

Now I know they wouldn't choose children based on whether they'd enjoyed the books, but I can't help thinking it's rather a pity they don't. There must be thousands of children of the right age, who would be absolutely thrilled to be in a Famous Five TV show, so I'm sure they could find a set who had.
And I would expect that it would also help their performance too.

[TheAngryPixie]

Anita, is "a man in a shed, with dreams" just being used as a bit of a general phrase to describe the fact that he lives in his own world? Or, rather than being a successful, eminent scientist, with a large study / workplace, are they portraying Uncle Quentin as more of a would-be, still hoping for some success dreamer, doing his work out in a shed?

To be fair, in the first book wans't he a struggling scientist who hadn't achieved much yet? I remember he was gonna sell the island to make ends. It was only later in the series when he became a world-reknowned scientist.

I hope thy're not turning him into a layabout, head-in-the-clouds loser though.

[Paul Greaves]

Oh, it’s so frustrating. It goes back to the main problem with a lot of TV adaptations that take too many liberties with the OT (such as anything by Agatha Christie in the last 20 years). If you’re not going to adapt it faithfully, why bother? Personally, rather than watch beloved classic square pegs from the 20th century manhandled into a 21st century round hole, I’d rather they created something new or adapted something else, from a more recent time.

Helen Moss’s excellent Adventure Island series has been crying out for a cracking TV adaptation for ages. Let’s be honest though, as with Agatha Christie and Sherlock Holmes it’s easier to get an established brand commissioned and twisted out of shape, than give something else a try.

[db105]

According to The Guardian, members of the Enid Blyton Society were "spluttering into their ginger beer" when Nicolas Winding Refn, the director of cult violent films Pusher and Drive, was announced as one of the creators of the BBC’s new version of The Famous Five:
https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radi ... amous-five

[Moonraker]

I did love the 1978, TV series of the Famous Five. But I don't think I'll be watching this new adaptation.

And it's great that a new series of The Famous Five will be on TV too.

Bit of a contradiction there, old friend!

[Anita Bensoussane]

Julie may find the idea of a new Famous Five series great for children, even if she doesn't think it'll be for her.

There's also the possibility that she's changed her mind since August, and decided to give it a watch after all!

[Bertie]

Julie may find the idea of a new Famous Five series great for children, even if she doesn't think it'll be for her.

Yeah, that's certainly similar to my thinking on the show.

In the same way that it's annoying that the newer prints of Enid's books are overly edited, but it's better than those series that are completely out of print altogether. Similarly, I don't like the fact that in order to get a TV adaptation of Enid's books it has to be unnecessarily changed so much - but it's at least better than her works being forgotten and untelevised.

That doesn't mean I'll enjoy, or even read / watch, the newer prints or TV adaptations, but at least they're helping to keep Enid 'relevant' to a new generation in some way - even if it's a much changed, inferior version of Enid.

[Courtenay]

Going by the Guardian's article in particular, it sounds like they're taking a set-in-the-right-period-but-modernised-to-suit-current-tastes version of the Famous Five and crossing it with Indiana Jones.

It may actually be quite good and interesting in itself as a sort of period drama / adventure story for kids, but I get the impression it won't bear a lot of resemblance to anything that Enid Blyton actually wrote. But then, as Bertie says, it's probably better for some version of Enid (even a watered-down one) to be kept in the public eye and remain popular, than for her to be forgotten entirely.

[IceMaiden]

I don't know about that. I can honestly say that if it was me I'd rather be forgotten about completely than have everything I'd ever created trashed beyond recognition. Somebody once told me that the worst thing that can happen to anything is for it to become massively popular. How right they were.

[TheAngryPixie]

So ... did anybody watch it?

I may watch it tonight. Though this line in the Guardian makes me think it's gonna be rubbish. "Yes, the Danish film-maker is “reimagining” the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog for a “progressive new audience”"

Reimaging has to be my least favorite word when it comes to adaptations. It basically means strip away everything that made the original books popular and throw in stupid modern trends and dumb it down enough so the ThickTok generation can understand it.

On the positive side--the screenshots look good. It looks bright and cheerful, not dark and edgy like I feared. And some of them look fun and charming, like the image of them all (including Timmy the Dog) peering through the holes in the wall is very Blytonesque.

Another positive--Jack Gleeson. Fantastic actor. So him in the villain's role is bound to be a lot of the fun. I am also a big fan of James Lance (Uncle Quentin). He was very fun as Trent Crimm on Ted Lasso.