Thought I would do a slightly less "web warrior" review to stand alongside the others. This was the first in a long series of shows and is one of the best. It did get quite a bit of notoriety on transmission partly due to it's chosen subject of the Famous Five and being the nascent genre of alternative comedy. It was produced and broadcast with the approval of the Enid Blyton estate so if anything proved they had a sense of humour.
The main joke is, of course, four obviously grown adults pretending to be innocent pre-teen children on an impossibly naive, anachronistic adventure. The book series started in wartime 1942 and was nostalgic even then so although reviewers have said it was set in the 1950's a more accurate description would be pre-war England. That also adds to the humour since nobody in 1982 spoke or behaved that way so with the cast hamming it up extensively it certainly found a chord with rebellious teenagers / young adults which is what the series aimed at.
It did cause a stir when broadcast as the book series was popular and fondly remembered by many and was still being read and dramatized up to the late seventies. It wasn't the first programme broadcast on C4 (that was the first episode of Countdown) but it was on the first night and the whole nation did not tune in expecting to see a faithful reproduction of the books (the title gave that away). However many of the jokes became part of the school children's staple humour of the time.
To get most of the jokes you really have to be familiar with the books and their tone to see why jokes about 'George' possibly being a lesbian (actually based on Enid Blyton's tomboyish childhood) , Dick being a closet homosexual (can't remember that from the books), Anne being a 'wet' girl & Julian being unbearably precocious hit their mark. Also the hilariously dumb & inept criminals and Uncle Quentin (who was a genuine character in the books) turning out to be not quite as 'in love' with his wife Aunt Fanny as you would expect (again no link with the actual books) are funny in their own right without any need to justify them with political correctness.
The other episodes of similar calibre (in my opinion) are "A Fistful of Travellers Cheques", "Strike". "Bad News Tour" & "More Bad News". Probably the biggest ironic joke of them all is that having started out as daring "Alternative Comedy" the genre, this series (and cast) became the new "Mainstream Comedy" and to be subversive and daring in 2021 all you actually have to do now is watch episodes of any sixties / seventies comedy series which was then considered innocuous tea time entertainment.
The main joke is, of course, four obviously grown adults pretending to be innocent pre-teen children on an impossibly naive, anachronistic adventure. The book series started in wartime 1942 and was nostalgic even then so although reviewers have said it was set in the 1950's a more accurate description would be pre-war England. That also adds to the humour since nobody in 1982 spoke or behaved that way so with the cast hamming it up extensively it certainly found a chord with rebellious teenagers / young adults which is what the series aimed at.
It did cause a stir when broadcast as the book series was popular and fondly remembered by many and was still being read and dramatized up to the late seventies. It wasn't the first programme broadcast on C4 (that was the first episode of Countdown) but it was on the first night and the whole nation did not tune in expecting to see a faithful reproduction of the books (the title gave that away). However many of the jokes became part of the school children's staple humour of the time.
To get most of the jokes you really have to be familiar with the books and their tone to see why jokes about 'George' possibly being a lesbian (actually based on Enid Blyton's tomboyish childhood) , Dick being a closet homosexual (can't remember that from the books), Anne being a 'wet' girl & Julian being unbearably precocious hit their mark. Also the hilariously dumb & inept criminals and Uncle Quentin (who was a genuine character in the books) turning out to be not quite as 'in love' with his wife Aunt Fanny as you would expect (again no link with the actual books) are funny in their own right without any need to justify them with political correctness.
The other episodes of similar calibre (in my opinion) are "A Fistful of Travellers Cheques", "Strike". "Bad News Tour" & "More Bad News". Probably the biggest ironic joke of them all is that having started out as daring "Alternative Comedy" the genre, this series (and cast) became the new "Mainstream Comedy" and to be subversive and daring in 2021 all you actually have to do now is watch episodes of any sixties / seventies comedy series which was then considered innocuous tea time entertainment.