Famous Five

[tracktrail]

I'm watching Famous Five, on BBC1, a total travesty! WTF! What were they thinking?

Don't see the issue?

What have they done? They haven’t tried to update them have they?

It would work if it wasn't trying to be famous five, but a completely new story. Storyline is very, very loosely based on FF. So loose, why bother.

I was really looking forward to it but ended up disappointed. It wasn't even that they had tried to update it, it just didn't make sense.

Like the writers had sniffed a load of glue.

I'm watching it now and I really don't see the problem, can you be more specific @tracktrail ?

Characters modernised just enough for today's audience while keeping true to the books...Storyline seems appropriate for the target audience, great cast....

Is George non-binary?

Watch Malory towers...my dd loves it.

Is this the second one?

The first one was AWFUL. George was far too girly, Anne too bolshy, and the other characters rather meek and pathetic.

The whole thing was nothing like the famous five plot and just utterly ludicrous and really badly acted! SUCH a disappointment. I didn't realise the next one had been released.

It's very dark. I can hardly see what's happening. Maybe it's my telly though.

Very little of original storyline...if they had made an adventure film about a bunch of kids, not tried to elbow FF in.

George is dressed in a more feminine style than portrayed in the books, but still reflective of her tomboy character and I wouldn't be surprised if BBC didn't want to risk getting caught up in a debate about transgenderism

George gets mistaken for a boy in the books, wouldn't happen with this George, pretty blouses, hair band..

I'm really not following you op - I've not seen the first episode but so far it seems very famous five.

The books were about a bunch of kids having adventures - they didn't march around declaring themselves the famous five!

I think it’s a travesty too op.

I'm enjoying it and I read every FF book when I was a child. I do keep expecting them to have lashings of ginger beer though.

Do Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny still live on Kirren Island ?

They never lived on Kirren Island iirc, that's why George used to like running off to it

I adored the Famous Five books as a child. Blue Peter bring and buy sales were my very favourite thing. Is it a film or a series?

Series, I think?

I remember Anne being very prim & whiny, she's much nicer in this

IIRC, George was 'non binary' in the books (or a tomboy, as it used to be called).

Slight derail but Babe (aka the Citizen Kane of talking animal films) is on FilmFour atm 😊

I'm trying to detach the FF element, as that was my disappointment and take it as just an adventure film... I want to enjoy it! I like a good family adventure film.. I'm an overgrown kid of 57. 😁

Damn, I have chores to do, I can't be spending the day watching childhood favourites!

I so wanted to be George.

I haven't seen it, but I imagine it would be difficult to translate the 'foreign and/or working-class villains' and the 'forelock-tugging farmers' wives who appear to ask nothing more than to make enormous packed lunches for passing children with nice middle-class manners' and the 'wild gypsy girls who are naturally filthy, barefoot and automatic liars and thieves but who develop a crush on Dick or Julian and can therefore be taught manners and honour' to 2024.

(I mean, I adored them as a child, but Julian was an insufferably pompous prematurely-middle-aged 13 year old, Dick was a token spear carrier, George and Anne said a lot about 1940/50s ideas of appropriate femininity involving staying behind making heather beds in caves while the boys did the exciting smuggler-tracking stuff.)