Tag: Famous Five

Five Go to Mystery Moor

Five Go to Mystery Moor

by Enid Blyton (Hodder & Stoughton, 1953); audiobook read by Jan Francis (Bolinda, 2021)

Book cover: “Five Go to Mystery Moor” by Enid Blyton (Hodder & Stoughton, 1953); audiobook read by Jan Francis (Bolinda, 2021)

The children’s classist (pitched as precocious) assumption of superiority remains off-putting, but the supporting characters are memorably drawn and the set-up pays off in a sudden breathless rush, transforming the meander into a boys’ own (and girls-as-boys’ own!) adventure with real stakes.

The Famous Five: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

The Famous Five: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know

by Normal Wright; ill. Eileen Soper (Hodder, 2000)

The Famous Five: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know, by Norman Wright (book cover)

An odd, rather pointless reference book, bolstered by colour illustrations and snippets of information about Enid Blyton’s life and inspirations, yet mainly just a plodding recapitulation of Famous Five characters, plot lines and themes—which readers would already know from the novels.

Five Run Away Together

The Famous Five: Five Run Away Together

dir. James Gatward; adapted by Gail Renard (ITV, 1979)

Five Run Away Together (1979)

The character interactions are stilted and the story is heavily abridged. However, this is the one episode of the 1970s Famous Five adaptation worth sitting through—for Patrick Troughton’s comparative masterclass as the understated yet commanding, henpecked yet still villainous Mr Stick.