That famous author who fired children’s imagination (including mine), Enid Blyton, lived in London from 1897 to 1968, and had seen two great wars. Yet, her stories – Five Findouters set in the fictional village of Peterswood and The Famous Five, which unfolded in Dorset – never had the slightest of inkling of the horrors of these wars. On the contrary, they were full of joy and adventure. Now, The Famous Five will be on the BBC soon. And here comes the surprise. Nicolas Winding Refn, the Danish director known for his ways with sex and violence – in a very sophisticated and stylish manner – will adapt The Famous Five novels for the BBC. What a turn around!
Known for Drive, Only God Forgives and a biopic of Charles Bronson he will produce and create the Blyton stories, and the shoot has just begun in the south-west of England. It will be a mini-series of three episodes of 90 minutes each. We do not know – yet – which of the 21 Famous Five novels have been chosen. But, of course, each is thrilling to the core, set outdoors on Kirrin Island – unlike The Five Findouters that happens in a small village.
The Famous Five plots, about siblings Julian, Dick and Anne and their attempts to thwart kidnappers, thieves and smugglers around the Cornish coast with their cousin, George, and her dog, Timmy, were written between 1942 and 1962. Even today, these books are children’s favourites, and walk into any bookstore, you would find an array of them.
In a recent interview to The Guardian, Winding Refn said: “All my life I’ve fought vigorously to remain a child with a lust for adventure,. 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.”
In an article in Escape Kerry Parnell wrote some delightful descriptions of The Famous Five: “The children looked out for it as they drove along the coast. Then Julian gave a shout. ‘There it is – that must be Kirrin Bay’… Anne was staring out over the blue bay. At the entrance to it lay a curious rocky island with what looked like an old ruined castle on the top of it.‘Isn’t that a funny place?’ she said. ‘I wonder what it’s called.’ ‘It’s called Kirrin Island,’ said George, her eyes as blue as the sea …. ‘It’s a lovely place to go to. If I like you, I may take you there some day.’”
Seventy-five years after Blyton gave us The Famous Five – for the first time – in Five on a Treasure Island, the Dorset coast, where the children’s adventure takes place still looks divinely pretty.
We know Blyton went on a holiday to the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset on England’s south coast, and no wonder so many of her Famous Five stories are set there. There are green hills, thatched cottages, castles in ruins and sandy bays – all of which excite children.
I am sure, they still do. What do you say?
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