The Famous Five
(1978-1979)

TV Series

AKA: Enid Blyton's Famous Five

Country: UK

Genre: Adventure, Family

Synopsis

Four kids - Julian (Marcus Harris), Dick (Gary Russell), Anne and George - together with Timmy the Dog, solve mysteries and fight petty criminals. An adaptation of Enid Blyton's stories in which the setting has been shifted to the 1970s.

Notes

• Of the original 21 novels, only three were not adapted for this series: "Five on a Treasure Island" and "Five Have a Mystery to Solve", because the Children's Film Foundation still had the film and TV rights to the books; and "Five Have Plenty of Fun", because it didn't fit into the production schedule.
• The first episode of this series was entitled "Five Go to Kirren Island", a misspelling of "Kirrin Island".
• The series was accompanied by much merchandise, including jigsaws and annuals (such as the annual shown in the Profile picture on this page), as well as occassional features and a picture strip story in 'Look-in' magazine.
• The theme music for this series (which wasn't sung by the cast, but by the Corona Stage Academy choir) was released as a single in 1978.

Notable Guest Appearances

• Gary Dundavin in episode 1.06 "Five Go Off in a Caravan" 1978
• Simon Adams in episode 1.13 "Five on Finniston Farm" 1978
• Andy Campbell in episode 1.13 "Five on Finniston Farm" 1978
• Rupert Graves in episode 2.12-2.13 "Five Go Down to the Sea" 1979