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The Famous Five

65 replies

PelvicFloorClenchReminder · 10/12/2023 16:55

Has anyone seen the new adaptation that was on yesterday?

I couldn't get on with it at all, felt it lacked warmth. I do absolutely love the 1970s one though, so that may have skewed my opinion.

OP posts:
purpleme12 · 10/12/2023 17:48

I've not watched this yet but definitely going to try it with my child.
I've read one Famous Five book to her

DinosaurOfFire · 10/12/2023 17:49

What channel was this on? I'd love to watch it with my kids!

purpleme12 · 10/12/2023 17:50

It's on iPlayer

WildFlowerBees · 10/12/2023 18:27

I started it but turned it off after 10 minutes. No nostalgia, music is weird and feels nothing like an Enid Blyton story.

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PelvicFloorClenchReminder · 10/12/2023 21:06

The costume situation was quite odd as well - every time the children got soaked through or covered in dirt they would turn up in the very next scene looking pristine in the exact same clothes.

OP posts:
RADIOOFF · 11/12/2023 10:47

Poor George - hidden away with only one blouse and two pairs of trousers! Honestly the clothing situation was extraordinary. Do they think children wouldn’t notice?

And it was altogether confused. Set in one time period (ostensibly) but with contemporary phraseology.

I’m ok with retconning British social history for the sake of redressing past injustice. I felt the two older children looked a little too grown up.

The worst thing was how unbearably slow it was.

I watched the whole thing and immediately forgot it until seeing this thread.

Leeds2 · 11/12/2023 11:04

I haven't seen this. Is it one show covering a complete adventure, or a series of different episodes?

modgepodge · 19/12/2023 20:43

Just watched this on iPlayer and thought it was dreadful. Absolutely nothing like the original story - running off to London on a knights Templar mission?!? Very odd. Also couldn’t get past the clothes. Anne wearing a ridiculous dress, George dressed far too girly - and yes only having one set of clothes each?! I was so excited about this adaptation, and the first episode has been such a let down.

ReindeerRider · 25/12/2023 23:59

I was disappointed with this. The story line was farcical and nothing like the original my DC loved me reading to them this summer. The baddy character was just odd and the whole thing was trying to be like an Indianajones style adventure too. The characters weren’t well developed or dressed appropriately. Julian looked too okd and the aunt looked too young. The time period was vague eg until the baddy saw ww2 as being the future I’d have had no idea it was set pre-ww2 era (still too clear when). The music was odd. It wasn’t nostalgic or charming in the least. They should have stick to more of the original tale and developed the characters properly (eg made more of George being unwelcoming first , then developing close bond with her cousins). This would have set up nicely for more espisode whereas I don’t think I’d bother watch any more of their adventures as they are all wrong. Also (spoiler) but my youngest wasn’t happy to have them discover a body right at the beginning which none of the children seemed all that bothered about either. It was jarring.

modgepodge · 26/12/2023 08:15

Yes - the complete lack of reaction to a dead body was very weird!! If I found a dead body now I think I’d be traumatised - yet they were like, oh well! And the way George stole Timmy before she knew what had happened to his owner?!?

SummerSazz · 26/12/2023 08:23

I saw this thread and was really excited so it's sad that it sounds pants 😬.

The Comic Strip did the best adaptation of the Famous Five. Maybe not one for the younger DC's though!

https://www.channel4.com/programmes/comic-strip-presents?cntsrc=socialshareeioscomiccstrip_presents

MissyB1 · 26/12/2023 08:48

@SummerSazz yes the comic strip did the best Famous Five ever! 😂 Definitely not for the kids though 😁

FourLeggedBuckers · 26/12/2023 18:20

It was certainly bonkers - but Blyton wrote some really bonkers plots. I’m thinking of the Mountain of Adventure and Five get into a fox, among others. She didn’t have a lot of regard for historical accuracy (wreckers 🙄) or scientific plausibility. So in a lot of ways, it’s quite a canonical reimagining.

Allowing for some serious suspension of disbelief, I actually quite enjoyed it. I thought it was well cast, the kids did a pretty good job of acting and the locations were lovely. Timmy was a delight, as was George’s boat.

The continuity errors were glaring though. Dick had a bleeding knee at one point that healed itself between shots.

Incogg · 26/12/2023 22:02

(Five get in to a fix was my favourite).

FourLeggedBuckers · 26/12/2023 22:13

Incogg · 26/12/2023 22:02

(Five get in to a fix was my favourite).

Yes, it was a less disturbing premise than Five get into a fox, certainly!

(autocorrect is a bitch!)

Forestdweller11 · 26/12/2023 22:53

I watched it with high hopes. It was terribly slow and boring and Jack Gleeson was awfully poor as the baddy ( ironic considering as Joffrey he is up there in the top 10 of baddies) . He was like a parody. Twirling mustache, silent movie baddy. Timmy was okay!

wildernesssw · 26/12/2023 23:08

Some good ideas - trying to capture the genuine menace of the original book, George as biracial is a great way of updating.

But...

Knights Templar? Ancient curses? A lost sister? WTAF? The original storyline had enough suspense and menace if done well.

And the tension with George accepting her cousins was also non-existent.

Sodie · 27/12/2023 01:06

Just awful, so disappointed with this.

KimberleyClark · 27/12/2023 08:22

ReindeerRider · 25/12/2023 23:59

I was disappointed with this. The story line was farcical and nothing like the original my DC loved me reading to them this summer. The baddy character was just odd and the whole thing was trying to be like an Indianajones style adventure too. The characters weren’t well developed or dressed appropriately. Julian looked too okd and the aunt looked too young. The time period was vague eg until the baddy saw ww2 as being the future I’d have had no idea it was set pre-ww2 era (still too clear when). The music was odd. It wasn’t nostalgic or charming in the least. They should have stick to more of the original tale and developed the characters properly (eg made more of George being unwelcoming first , then developing close bond with her cousins). This would have set up nicely for more espisode whereas I don’t think I’d bother watch any more of their adventures as they are all wrong. Also (spoiler) but my youngest wasn’t happy to have them discover a body right at the beginning which none of the children seemed all that bothered about either. It was jarring.

None of the original stories ever involved bodies or murders. That’s one modernisation too far.

And the picture upthread. Two of them are in modern clothes,the other two in 1950s clothing?

Incogg · 27/12/2023 08:41

I haven't watched the programme, but having read this thread I think they should have made it completely in the setting of the 1930s.

Girliefriendlikespuppies · 27/12/2023 09:22

I watched this with my teen dd and we enjoyed it although it was bonkers! I absolutely loved Famous 5 as a child and they were the first books I can remember binge reading.

I said to dd I seem to remember this story has a lot of underground tunnels and that was right so after that I was hooked!

I was a bit worried they didn't appear to feed Timmy (other than half a biscuit) and I agree the clothes thing was weird - they would have been filthy! I was waiting for the police to interview them all re the body on the beach but it wasn't mentioned again.

But overall it was fun, the baddy was completely mad and the rest of the characters were just about how I imagined them.

Whu · 27/12/2023 22:30

Couldn’t get on with it at all and gave up after half a hour which was a shame as I adore the CBBC Malory Towers adaptation!

Grimbelina · 27/12/2023 22:37

Truly terrible and DD was quite upset about it (after looking forward to it). In lots of places it didn't make sense, the story jumped around whilst also being incredibly slow, it was incredibly unsettling. Worst of all, the best children's stories empower children and help them deal with/process scary things in the world in a safe/controlled way - like HP and the actual Famous Five stories. This completely failed to do this and my DD had to re-watch one of the old episodes (the 1970's version!) as she was so unsettled:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiI9yHIbJi24QE-MPT0RNDCm63gpyavqU

Before you continue to YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiI9yHIbJi24QE-MPT0RNDCm63gpyavqU

MissyB1 · 28/12/2023 08:36

I watched it with teen ds. He loved it I thought it was too drawn out and slow. Some funny/silly moments though and we enjoyed laughing at the kids wearing the same clothes for days on end.