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The Famous Five (1970s TV series)

Famous Five
Famousfive1978.jpg
Genre Adventure, Children's
Written by Enid Blyton
Starring Michele Gallagher, Marcus Harris, Gary Russell, Jennifer Thanisch
Theme music composer Rob Andrews, Les Spurr
Country of origin UK
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 26
Production
Producer(s) Don Leaver, Sidney Hayers
Camera setup Multi-camera
Running time 25 minutes
Release
Original network ITV (Southern Television)
Audio format Mono
Original release 3 July 1978 – 8 August 1979
Chronology
Related shows

The Famous Five is a British television series based on the children's books of the same name by Enid Blyton. It was broadcast on ITV over two series in 1978 and 1979. It was produced by Southern Television in 26 half-hour episodes.

Production for the series began in 1977, with filming commencing during the Summer of that year. The series was produced by Southern Television in a co-production with a German company. The episodes were recorded on location and on (rather than the more usual video tape), making it the most expensive children's television series ever produced at that point. Each story was adapted from one of the original novels and featured the same main characters; George, Julian, Dick, Anne and Timmy the dog.

The first series was produced by Don Leaver, while the second was produced by Sidney Hayers. The executive producer was James Gatward. The stories were adapted for television by a number of writers and directors and starred many notable actors in guest appearances including; Patrick Troughton, Cyril Luckham, Brenda Cowling, Geoffrey Bayldon, Brian Glover, Ronald Fraser and an early appearance by Rupert Graves.

The television scripts were amended slightly from the books to give them a contemporary, 1970s setting. Of the original 21 novels, three were never adapted; 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, while Five Have Plenty of Fun didn't fit in the production schedule. Due to the success of the series, Southern Television were keen to make another season of episodes, but the Enid Blyton estate forbade them to create original stories. One criticism of the series was that many of the episodes featured scenes set at night-time which were badly lit to the point that it was difficult to see what was happening. These scenes were actually shot in daylight, but a heavy filter was placed over the camera to give the impression of darkness. The series was filmed mostly on location in Christchurch and the New Forest with many of the indoor scenes filmed in Exbury House, where the house doubled as many different dwellings.


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