jyanendra This is one series that has the power to literally transport one in time back to his or her childhood of growing up with Enid Blyton books. The Famous Five along with other book series as the Five Find- Outers, the Secret Seven and others had the power to captivate the growing child's mind and deliver them into the arenas of adventures that are truly captivating and thrilling. It was therefore tremendously exciting for me to discover that the Famous Five made it into a television series towards the end of the seventies. Who can ever forget the fact that the actors in these adventures are children just like us living ordinary lives in rural England. Even though I was growing up in India at that time, somehow Blyton's mode of description enabled me to instantly relate to those kids and the adventures they fell into. I read almost all of Enid Blyton by the end of the early seventies. The Famous Five provided endless excitement and portray no-nonsense kids having excitement in the course of their daily lives. It is regrettable that today's kids mostly cannot relate to children half-a-century ago. And who can fault them? Times change. Today is the day of the iPad and the iPhone, fast food and an even faster life. We are living in an era where we are witnessing the transition of generations. Soon, many would not even know who Enid Blyton was. Except for old codgers like me who grew up with her great storybooks.

Rueiro I was 9 when I read my first Famous Five book, which I borrowed from a friend. It was the adventure of the scientist being held kidnapped in the old castle and the Five's troubles with the fairground people. From that day on I became an addict. Enid Blyton certainly had the knack for creating interesting stories with a great deal of suspense that kept you in tenterhooks. In a little over four years I managed to gather the entire collection of the FF books, 1980s hardback Spanish editions which I still own today. This series was first broadcast in Spain in 1978 -I was too young at that time but I remember it-, and then again in the summer-autumn of 1987, when I was 14 and had read all of the books. I loved it right away, although I found the contemporary settings with bottom-bell trousers, long-haired boys and the Ford Fiestas and Cortinas a little funny. Still, the kids' acting is all right, they had talent: George is the stubborn tomboy but quite likable, Anne (fortunately!) is a lot more mature than in the original stories, Julian is the same I-know-everything bossy type but still fine, and Dick (my favourite) is very much like in the books too, always in the background and under Julian's authority but yet he saves the day quite a few times. Michael Hinz makes an excellent Uncle Quentin, since he brings to the character some real-life maturity he has not in the books. I wonder why the screenwriters created the Rogers character instead of having Joan the cook, but I like him all right and his scenes are often comical since he is a bit of a fool. And then what a cast of guest actors to play the baddies: Ronald Fraser, Patrick Troughton, Brian Glover, the always posh James Villiers... You will never see a cast like this in a children's series nowadays.

Harpreet Singh The Famous Five were the first 'novels' I had picked up to read when I turned eight. Enid Blyton's Five brought a lot of adventure into my life and I couldn't wait to read all of them...and then this series was aired on our telly as reruns in the early '80's, every Sunday morning at 10:00 am. The first thing I still remember about this series is the song: We are the Famous Five, Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy the dog.Michelle Gallager as George and Timmy are the two characters I really liked in the adaptation. Marcus Harris was also another child actor who I immediately liked...the story lines were well adapted, as far as I remember - from the perspective of a kid, these episodes were sensational. I watched parts of these shows on youtube again a while back and they still are full of memory. The food that the children eat, the places they have their adventures in, the characters that they portray are all wonderful and take one back to the time when we were children and would love to be a part of one of the Five's fabulous adventures!

juho69 I remember being extremely pleased when I saw that Enid Blyton's 'Famous Five' was to be televised. Like so many children growing up in the 1970s, I loved Enid Blyton's books and still have most of my collection. I could never understand - and still cannot - why so many people sneered at her writing.The 1970s series had a contemporary setting which meant, obviously, that some aspects of the books had to be updated. Nevertheless, the televised stories lost none of the appeal of the books. One could identify even more closely with the exploits of the Five as they whizzed down hills on their bicycles, devoured their cream teas and brought the local crooks to justice.Additionally, the characters were well cast and remained true to the books. Eldest child Julian (Marcus Harris) was still the intelligent, sometimes over-authoritative leader whilst Dick (Gary Russell, previously Cyril in 'The Phoenix and the Carpet') was the gentler, thoughtful younger brother. Anne (Jennifer Thanisch) was more mature (thankfully!) than her book character. She still tended to prefer to opt out of the adventures although it was usually she who ended up saving the day for the others. George (Michelle Gallagher - spelt correctly?), plus her sidekick Timmy the dog (Toddy), remained the most complex character - the headstrong, fearless, loyal, truthful tomboy - based as she was on the young Enid Blyton. Sue Best was suitably maternal as Aunt Fanny whilst Michael Hinz added an element of mystery to the character of the absent-minded scientist Uncle Quentin Kirrin.I bought four episodes of the 1970s series on video in the early '90s but do not know if it is still available. My favourite 'Famous Five' book was 'Five Go To Smuggler's Top' and it was given prominence as one of the few two-parter episodes of the t.v. series. Block the butler has to be one of the most enduring characters in children's literature!I should be interested to know what became of the child actors, who would be around the forty mark now. Marcus Harris appeared on 'After They Were Famous' a couple of years ago; he was working with computers and writing a book. Does anyone know where the others are?