The Famous Five (1978 TV series) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Famous Five |
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| Genre | Adventure, Children's |
| Written by | Enid Blyton |
| Starring | Michele Gallagher, Marcus Harris, Gary Russell, Jennifer Thanisch |
| Theme music composer | Rob Andrews, Les Spurr |
| Country of origin | UK |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Don Leaver, Sidney Hayers |
| Camera setup | Multi-camera |
| Running time | 25 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV (Southern Television) |
| Audio format | Mono |
| Original release | 3 July 1978 – 8 August 1979 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | |
The Famous Five is a British TV show based on the popular children's books by Enid Blyton. It was shown on ITV in the UK during 1978 and 1979. The show was made by Southern Television and had 26 episodes, each about half an hour long. It followed the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, their cousin George, and her dog Timmy.
Meet the Cast
The young actors who brought the famous characters to life were:
- Michele Gallagher as George
- Marcus Harris as Julian
- Gary Russell as Dick
- Jennifer Thanisch as Anne
- Toddy (a smart Border Collie) as Timmy the Dog
About the Show
The Famous Five first aired in the UK on July 3, 1978. The first episode shown was Five Go to Kirren Island. The show quickly became very popular with viewers.
Because it was so successful, the first six episodes of the second series were shown later that same year. The rest of the second series came out in 1979.
The series was also sold to many other countries. It was shown in places like Ireland, Canada, and Australia. It was even dubbed, meaning the voices were changed, into languages like German, French, Italian, and Spanish for European audiences.
The show led to lots of cool merchandise. You could find Famous Five jigsaws and annuals. A magazine called Look-in even ran a picture story about the show for almost two years! The catchy theme music was released as a single, but it didn't become a chart hit. Fun fact: the theme song was sung by the Corona Stage Academy choir, not the cast members themselves.
The writers who turned Enid Blyton's books into TV scripts for the first series included Richard Sparks, Gail Renard, Richard Carpenter, and Gloria Tors.
Episode Guide
The series had two seasons, each with exciting adventures.
Series One
- Five Go to Kirrin Island: Part 1 (First shown: July 3, 1978)
- Five Go to Kirrin Island: Part 2 (July 10, 1978)
- Five Go Adventuring Again (July 17, 1978)
- Five Go to Smuggler's Top: Part 1 (July 24, 1978)
- Five Go to Smuggler's Top: Part 2 (July 31, 1978)
- Five Go Off in a Caravan (August 7, 1978)
- Five Go Off to Camp: Part 1 (August 14, 1978)
- Five Go Off to Camp: Part 2 (August 21, 1978)
- Five on a Hike Together (September 4, 1978)
- Five Go to Mystery Moor (September 11, 1978)
- Five on a Secret Trail (September 18, 1978)
- Five Go to Billycock Hill (September 25, 1978)
- Five on Finniston Farm (October 2, 1978)
Series Two
- Five Get into Trouble - Prisoners (First shown: November 19, 1978)
- Five Get into Trouble - Conspiracies (November 26, 1978)
- Five Get into a Fix (December 3, 1978)
- Five Are Together Again: Part 1 (December 10, 1978)
- Five Are Together Again: Part 2 (December 17, 1978)
- Five Have a Wonderful Time (December 31, 1978)
- Five Fall into Adventure: Part 1 (June 27, 1979)
- Five Fall into Adventure: Part 2 (July 4, 1979)
- Five Run Away Together (July 11, 1979)
- Five Go to Demon's Rocks: Part 1 (July 18, 1979)
- Five Go to Demon's Rocks: Part 2 (July 25, 1979)
- Five Go Down to the Sea: Part 1 (August 1, 1979)
- Five Go Down to the Sea: Part 2 (August 8, 1979)
What Happened Next
Even though ITV wanted more episodes, no new ones were made. This was because the people in charge of Enid Blyton's books didn't want new stories written.
The four main actors met up again in 1980 for a newspaper story. At that time, only Gary Russell was still acting, but he later stopped too. The four actors never met up all together again after that. However, Gary Russell, Marcus Harris, and Jennifer Thanisch have met several times for interviews.
Here's what some of the cast members did later:
- Jenny Thanisch (born April 24, 1964) became a mother and works as a school teacher.
- Gary Russell (born September 18, 1963) stopped acting in the mid-1980s. He focused on writing and edited several magazines. He was also the script editor for the popular 2005 return of Doctor Who.
- Marcus Harris (born April 19, 1964) started different businesses and later became a town councillor. He even had a small role in a German movie based on the series, called Fünf Freunde 2, released in 2013.
- Michele Gallagher (born April 4, 1964), who played George, did not stay in the public eye after the show ended. Marcus Harris confirmed in 2012 that she had passed away some years before. The IMDb lists her passing year as 2000.
- Toddy Woodgate, the dog who played Timmy, passed away shortly after filming for the series finished.
The Famous Five books were made into another British TV show in 1996. Unlike the 1970s series, this one was set in the 1950s, just like the books. More recently, an animated version was made by a French company. This cartoon featured the children of the original Famous Five characters.
For many years, the 1978 series wasn't available on DVD. This was due to issues with who owned the rights to the episodes. However, in October 2010, the whole series was released on DVD in Germany. It even included interviews with the original cast! France released their version in 2011. Finally, the complete series was released on DVD in the UK in June 2012. This UK release also featured a new interview with the original cast members.
