The Famous Five to be ‘reimagined’ by BBC for ‘progressive’ new audiences
Adaptation will feature books’ original period setting, but is expected to include a diverse cast
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Your support makes all the difference.Enid Blyton’s children’s book series The Famous Five is being rebooted in a “progressive” new adaptation by the BBC.
Released between 1942 and 1961, Blyton’s 21 books centred around four children (siblings Julian, Dick and Anne, and their cousin George) and their dog Timmy as they went on adventures across the UK.
The hugely popular books have been adapted for the screen a number of times, the most well-known being a two-series adaptation which ran on ITV in 1978 and 1979.
Now, it has been announced that the books are coming to the small screen once again in three new 90-minute episodes for the BBC.
The series will be created and executive produced by Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn, who said that he was excited to “reimagine” the stories for a modern audience.
“All my life I’ve fought vigorously to remain a child with a lust for adventure,” he said.
“By reimagining The Famous Five, I am preserving that notion by bringing these iconic stories to life for a progressive new audience, instilling the undefinable allure and enchantment of childhood for current and future generations to come.”
The adaptation will retain the period setting of the original books, but is expected to include a diverse cast to reflect the modern world, The Times reports.
Production company Moonage Pictures are producing the miniseries, with co-founder Will Gould describing it as “a modern, timely and irreverent action series with adventure at its heart”.
The BBC’s director of children’s and education programmes Patricia Hidalgo added: “Bringing these books to life with a new reimagining of The Famous Five is a real treat for BBC audiences and a celebration of British heritage.
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“These stories are loved around the world and bringing families together is a key part of our strategy so we hope it introduces a new generation of viewers to these wonderful adventures.”
In addition to the Famous Five series from 1978, Blyton’s book series has been adapted for the screen a number of times.
In 1995, ITV produced two new series set in the 1950s, which aired on their kids’ channel CITV.
An animated series also aired on Disney Channel in 2008 titled Famous 5: On the Case. Set in the modern day, the show focuses on the children of the original Famous Five: Jo (short for Jyothi), Max, Allie and Dylan. While all the children in the original books are white, Jo is British-Indian.
The series was criticised at the time by members of the Enid Blyton Society, with one member telling The Daily Telegraph : “I don’t really see how you can take the Famous Five out of their era, which is 1940s Britain; anybody can write about four children and a dog, and my concern is that modern kids who watch this will think that the Famous Five is all about gadgets and multiculturalism.”
In recent years, Blyton’s books have been criticised due to their use of problematic stereotypes.
In 2019, plans to give the Noddy creator, who died in 1968, a commemorative coin were halted by the Royal Mint after members said she was “a racist, sexist homophobe and not a very well-regarded writer”.
Two years later, English Heritage updated their profile of the author to acknowledge that “Blyton’s work has been criticised during her lifetime and after for its racism, xenophobia and lack of literary merit”.