As so often is the case Stef had a good idea for a blog and now I am going to shamelessly copy her and do the exact same. Strangely, coming up with three favourite adults has been a lot easier than coming up with three favourite characters was for me.
BILL CUNNINGHAM AKA BILL SMUGS
Don’t forget Bill Smugs! Bill once shouted, from a helicopter atop a dangerous mountain no less. And indeed, how could anyone forget Bill Smugs? A daring secret-agent of unknown origins, yet he’s affable and friendly and even willing to take on four teenage children as his own. Bill is brave, resourceful and yet he is not infallible. He does make mistakes upon occasion, but always owns up and tries to fix them.
MAM’ZELLE DUPONT
Mam’zelle Dupont also features on Stef’s list, and I’ve chosen her for much the same reasons. Mam’zelle Dupont, the younger and fatter of the two French mistresses at Malory Towers is by far the better tempered. She sounds like a great teacher to have – even if only because she likes to tell long rambling stories about her chers nièces and other family members, meaning everyone gets out of work for a while. She even takes most of the ‘treeks’ played on her by the girls in good humour. Her mistakes with the English language are an absolute hoot, as well. Who wouldn’t laugh at her mistaking stones for pebbles and asking how many pebbles Amanda weighs? Or her talking about Alicia and her measle. And as Stef mentioned, Mam’zelle’s final revenge in playing her own trick is très magnifique.
JEREMIAH BOOGLE
There are several good characters in the ‘knowledgeable old man’ vein amongst Blyton’s books, but for me Jeremiah Boogle is the best. The others like him would be Yan’s Grandad from Five Go Down to the Sea, Great-Grandad from Five on Finniston Farm and Old Grandad from The Ring O’ Bells Mystery for a start. For me, though, Jeremiah is the best. He might be old and spend much of his time sitting around the docks, but he also elevates himself beyond being just a source of old story and memory. He is the one who gives the Five a tour of the underground tunnels around Demon’s Rocks, and even gets into a scuffle or two with the baddies of the story. His granddaughter may think he’s a bit of a hopeless old man who’s in need of coddling but he proves that he is still brave and capable in his old age. I would have loved for him to make another appearance in a Famous Five book.
And so those are the best three Blyton adults, in my humble opinion. Who would you choose?
Find more favourite characters here.
Fiona
pippastef
worldofblyton
World of Blyton 
When you say “best” adult, do you mean most likeable and agreeable, or the best as a character, which need not be always in a positive way? If it’s the latter, Uncle Quentin might be a good contender too – although most people probably would not find him a very good character in the first sense of being agreeable and pleasant. It’s difficult to disagree with Bill and Mam’zelle Dupont in this category, but I’m not quite so sure old Jeremiah Boogle struck me quite that much.
As for the knowledgeable old man type, I would also include Ben the blacksmith from “Five Go to Mystery Moor” – and possibly old Tucky from “Five Go off to Camp”, although perhaps his wisdom was more limited to an understanding of trains and the old tunnels under the hill that played such an important role in that story. But I consider him to be at least a related type of character.
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Whatever makes an adult “best” to you, and why they would be a favourite. I chose people I like, rather than people who made good protagonists or antagonists. The necessary traits for your favourites would be entirely up to you though.
Demon’s Rocks is amongst my favourite Famous Five books, and I don’t like Mystery Moor or Camp nearly as much so that’s probably why Jeremiah has stuck with me as a great character. You could also include Lucas from the golf course in Mystery to Solve.
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Bill is my all time number one and Allie (although not appearing so much) would closely follow him but Aunt Fanny must also be included – hospitable, kind and long suffering (I would have loved an aunt like her). Bill is very dashing, brave and exciting and Allie is sexy and alluring but also kind and clever.
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Francis – of course you are right about Fanny and Allie – and I’m sure we could come up with lots of others, too. On forums, mailing lists, and the like, I always have great difficulty trying to answer questions of the sort that go, “What are your X favourite stories/characters?”, because it forces me to exclude so many that are just as deserving, or very nearly as deserving. This is sometimes to such an extent that often I do not even attempt to answer such questions.
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Well, it’s only a bit of fun. I usually decide on some favourites before I declare a number otherwise it can be difficult to cut the options down enough. I also struggle if the options are too wide to begin with, like ‘what’s your favourite book or song?’, but ‘favourite character’ or ‘favourite Famous Five book’ isn’t too bad. People’s favourites probably change to some extent over time. More recent reads might appear nearer the top for a time or old favourites might be pushed out by a new discovery.
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