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The Famous Five: teaser

A reimagining of Enid Blyton’s children’s novels will screen in December.

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Part I of new family series The Famous Five will premiere this December on Stan, same day as the U.K.

The series offers a cinematic reimagination of the Enid Blyton’s children’s novels, for a modern audience in three x 90-minute feature-length instalments.

Five daring young explorers embark on adventures, mysteries, danger, and secrets in an odyssey that evokes the power of camaraderie between the young heroes.

Starring as the five explorers are Diaana Babnicova (Don’t Breath 2) as George, Elliott Rose (The Northman) as Julian, Kit Rakusen (The Midwich Cuckoos) as Dick, and newcomer Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne -plus Kip playing Timmy the dog.

The Famous Five also stars Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones, In The Land of the Saints and Sinners) as Wentworth, Ann Akinjirin (Moon Knight, I May Destroy You) as Fanny, James Lance (Ted Lasso, Bronson) as Quentin and Diana Quick (Father Brown, Forever Young, Houdini and Doyle) as Mrs Wentworth.

Across three instalments, The Famous Five will see the intrepid gang trapped by a cunning treasure hunter on an eerie deserted island, caught up in a fiendishly complicated secret service mission, and race to find a mysterious manuscript as the threat of war looms large. Friendship, fantasy and good old-fashioned fun combine in this dazzling take on the classic novels. Part one will premiere on Stan this December with parts two and three coming to screens in 2024.

A co-production between BBC and ZDF, the series will be executive produced by Nicolas Winding Refn (byNWR) & Matthew Read (Moonage Pictures) and is based on Enid Blyton’s 21 stories.

The series was commissioned by Sarah Muller, Senior Head of BBC Children’s Commissioning 7+ and the Commissioning Editor for the BBC is Amy Buscombe. For ZDF, Frank Seyberth, Head of International Coproduction, is responsible for the series together with Katharina Kremling as Commissioning Editor.

The first episode is directed by Tim Kirkby (Fleabag, The Pentaverate) and produced by Moonage Pictures and byNWR Originals. Asim Abbasi (Churails, Cake, Count Abdulla) will direct the second episode and Bill Eagles (Beautiful Creatures, Gotham, Pennyworth) will direct the third episode. Episode one is written by Matthew Read, episode two is written by Priya K Dosanjh, with episode three written by Matthew Bouch and Matthew Read.

Executive Producers are Nicolas Winding Refn, Matthew Read, Will Gould, Frith Tiplady, Tim Kirkby, Christina Bostofte Erritzøe, Kimberly Willming and Matthew Bouch. Producer is Sophie MacClancy. BBC Studios, who have a minority stake in Moonage, will oversee international distribution.

A date is yet to be confirmed.

5 Responses

  1. Showing my age now…my mother used to buy me Golden Books of Noddy and Big Ears before I graduated to Famous Five and Secret Seven…I collected most of her books over the years..my favourite was Mallory Towers…unfortunately like most stories from that era some have been rewritten to please those who find certain aspects “offensive” that don’t fit in with modern day standards they perceive is acceptable to kids today….. but what is unacceptable to me is trying to rewrite them because they loose the original context…it’s sad when people think it’s okay to try and change the past..just leave the the past alone because you can’t change it.

  3. I grew up loving the Famous Five. That tiny trailer does nothing for me. It’s a nothing trailer.

    ” for a modern audience ”

    The charm of the books for me growing up was precisely that they were not contemporary.

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