Monday #179

Posted on August 22, 2016 by Fiona

OUR NEWS

This week our blog reached the magic number of 200,000 views. This may seem like small change to all those big professional bloggers out there, but we’re thrilled that we have built a small but steady readership for our admittedly niche blog. Our yearly views have continued to increase and we are on track for our best year yet.

COMING UP THIS WEEK

wedfrisun (1)

As you can see, we have an extra post this week! I had an evening of inspiration and couldn’t wait to write about the Blyton books at my library.

HAVE A GREAT WEEK!

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The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat

Posted on August 19, 2016 by pippastef
The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat

The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat

Well it’s safe to say I found my copy of the book, and as I had the day off on Monday due to my tootling up and down the country during the weekend I thought I would get on and read my copy of The Five Find-Outers and Dog; The Mystery of the Disappearing Cat. First of all I had to find the book, I knew it was somewhere, but as I have three possible places for Blyton books, I was going to have to search. Let’s just say by a stroke of luck it was in the second place I looked. Thank gosh it wasn’t the third otherwise I would have been ‘most put out’.

Now my first thoughts when I sat down to read this I couldn’t help thinking what a wishy-washy title it was, it doesn’t sound exciting at all and I hate to say it, I was right. What a let down! Fiona thinks this is weird but if the book is well written but I don’t like the story, I will still read it, and in good time. Now with the Disappearing Cat, the writing is Blyton at her best, the words carry you along and you want to gobble up the story but the actual plot is disappointing.

From the off I could have told you who the crook was, and that Goon was being an idjit and couldn’t see beyond his hatred for the children and their friend Luke. I know no one likes Goon, you’re not supposed to, but why isn’t he disciplined better- he shouldn’t be so dismissive of members of the public and disparaging of the children. If he behaved more like Inspector Jenks then he would get further in his inquiries. I have a hunch it is to show the difference between the educated and uneducated, Goon being the latter and Jenks the former.

You know what – I could go on the clear differences of class for the whole blog if I could, I mean it’s very obvious and even more so in the Find-Outers books than some of the others, I think. If you think about it the fact that the children are smarter than the police constable it’s quite a giveaway. However I should actually go over the story for you.

As with all good adventures it is almost the holidays and Bets is excited for her brother Pip to come home from school, as well as the arrival of Larry, Daisy and Fatty. She has been interested in the young boy next door, who is older than all the find outers, but still a child really. Luke is his name as I’ve mentioned before and he is the gardener’s boy for Mr Tupping who is employed by Lady Candling. Lady Candling is a collector of Siamese cats and has some that make  a lot of money in shows. Her most prized is a cat called Dark Queen who can be identified by having a ring of white fur around her tail where another cat bit her and thus is immediately recognisable. It is Dark Queen as you can guess who goes missing, not once but twice.

Now the way the cat ‘disappears’ under the gardener’s boy’s nose is remarkable, both times, and the children are ingenious at trying to work out how it occurred. Fittingly through all the teasing she endures Bets is the one who finds the main ‘glues’ and helps wrap up the mystery wonderfully well. She notices the smell of turpentine, and that its on a cat that isn’t Dark Queen.

Fatty of course puts it all together before anyone else, and seems to be edging out as the natural leader in this book, even though Larry tries to pull rank by reminding Fatty that he is the oldest. The dynamic of the children has changed from the first book, Fatty is no longer the big outsider, but a settled member of the group now. He is still occasionally boastful and the others tell him to shush, but its not as forceful as before, and as I mentioned he is beginning to take the lead away from Larry. Speaking of Larry, and naturally Daisy, they don’t seem to have much to do with this adventure it is mostly down to Pip, Bets and Fatty – not forgetting Buster  – solve a lot of this mystery without the Daykins having much input.

As someone said in the comments of the Monday post, it doesn’t appear to have a lot of atmosphere, and I have to agree with Chrissie, this is a very flat mystery. It’s all done in back gardens and feels much younger than I suppose it is. Given the age for the target audience is the same as the Famous Five, the Disappearing Cat seems woefully under developed.

Still a good read and I suppose it has decent character development, but the plot is thin, I hope the Mystery of the Secret Room is a stronger story, because its unusal for a series of Blyton’s to lose its spark so quickly.

Anyway, let me know what you think in the comments! Do you like the Disappearing Cat? Am I totally wrong? Let me know!

Next review: The Mystery of the Secret Room

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The Adventure Series on TV – The Island of Adventure

Posted on August 17, 2016 by Fiona

Several people have told me that The Adventure Series got a better adaptation than The Secret Series did, so here I am about to test that theory.

adventure series dvd

FIRST UP: THE THEME SONG

This sounds like it should be part of a classic 80s film montage, but it is actually quite catchy too. It makes marginally more sense than the one from the Secret Series as well. (My boyfriend did complain about the lack of secret encoooounters!)

Wherever we go only the brave will follow.
Together we stand, that’s what friends are for.
Forever we try, we know the final sacrifice.
Whatever the price,
And when the night falls – don’t be afraid.
But whisper that forever you’ll stay,
Whatever the danger you gotta be strong
So trust in your heart
You can’t go wrong, be true
I’ll always stand by you x 2
I’ll always be true
I’ll always stand by you

THE PRE-CREDIT SCENE

As with all the Secret Series episodes this one opens with a short dramatic scene. A man runs along dark, dramatic cliffs carrying a bag. Hulk Hogan, with grey hair badly in need of a cut, is chasing him. The man trips, his bag explodes sending money flying everywhere. Hulk Hogan laughs.

Can't you just tell this is a baddie? adventure series tv dvd

Can’t you just tell this is a baddie?

MEETING THE CHILDREN

They are playing paintball in the woods when we first see them. Kiki startles them and Jack falls from the tree to get shot at. Jack, Lucy-Ann and Philip already know each other from being at this summer activity camp together.

As a token nod to Philip’s animal taming abilities he rescues a ferret from those plastic rings you get on beer cans. “Careful – it’s liable to bite!” Jack warns in a lovely piece of stiff dialogue, but Philip says he’s good with animals. Not that he encounters another animal for the entire episode.

Lucy-Ann is played by the same actress as Laura from the Secret Series, so if I start talking about Laura, I mean Lucy-Ann. Jack is faintly red-haired and so Lucy-Ann is nothing like him – she also doesn’t look any younger than he is.

The reason for the Trents not being able to go home is that their Uncle Peter has chicken pox and can’t fly home, their Auntie Steph is stuck in quarantine with him. I suppose that’s sort of Blytonesque. He could just have broken his leg, though!

Philip has ‘just moved into a massive house’ so instead of the Trents being stuck with an awful neighbour he invites them to stay with him.

Over at Craggy Tops is a blonde woman who must be Mrs Mannering. I suspect there will be no Uncle Jocelyn and no poor Aunt Polly, then. Joe is a pleasant seeming white man who even offers to pick Philip up from the station, and is helping with the opening of the Mannering gallery.

Philip phones and Mrs M is disconcerted to know he’s bringing ‘two orphans and a parrot’. Joe asks, jokingly, if he won the raffle. And there in an uncle – ‘ancient’ Uncle Joss! I suppose there has to be someone to produce old maps still, unless Jack could have downloaded them to the tablet-type device he has. Uncle Joss is British and a war veteran who is always talking about what fever he had in Rangoon (a little Blyton reference?) and so on. He’s described as seeming grumpy but a good laugh, really.

Surprisingly Dinah runs and hugs Philip – his lack of animals clearly means she likes him more. A somewhat conspicuous open top roadster has been following the Mannerings around – could this be a full-head-of-haired Bill Smugs?

CRAGGY TOPS

Craggy Tops is naturally a bit of a let-down. OK, it’s by the sea but it’s a regular large house – extremely similar to Spiggy Holes. It may actually be the exact same house. It’s neither crumbling nor built into the rocks. I suspect there will be no mattress on the floor of a window-less tower. There IS a cellar at least, which was supposed to be an old smuggler’s house.

"Craggy Tops" and a less than gloomy island. adventure series dvd

“Craggy Tops” and a less than gloomy island.

The Isle of Gloom is rather long and near, and only slightly obscured by fog. Joe openly tells them that it’s no longer inhabited, but there were copper mines over there. He does decline to take them over, though, saying the tides and rocks are too dangerous. I really can’t figure him out. Is he a criminal mastermind? Is he a good guy? Is he a good guy who is being forced into doing bad things?

“BILL SMUGS”

So Bill comes to the gallery opening and introduces himself as Bill Cunningham – not very good secret agent behaviour! He wants to buy a painting of the Isle of Gloom, but Joe tries to tell him it isn’t for sale. Bill charms Mrs M into having the painting now, instead of at the end of the month after the gallery display ends. He takes it back to his shack and lifts the back to reveal… a load of banknotes! I think I see Joe’s part in the illicit goings on now.

Bill, Joe and Allie

Bill, Joe and Allie

Oh Bill… what sort of secret agent opens the front door in the dark and lets himself get cracked over the head? And then lets all the money get stolen! Uncle Joss apparently went out in the night mysteriously… but as I suspected the person who attacked Bill was a woman.

Mrs M takes Bill into town to see about repairing his broken painting frame, but he arouses Jack’s suspicions by coming up with a bird that doesn’t exist. Why he didn’t just say ‘a lot of gulls’ or something… in the book they don’t figure out he’s not a real ornithologist for ages.

Bill and Mrs M are getting on very well, their romance seems to have started already. It’s a real shame they have chosen to make it seem like he could be the bad guy as we then miss out on his natural friendship with the children.

Jake – aka Hulk Hogan – is the framer. The mystery deepens.

SECRET PASSAGES AND THINGS ON THE CLIFFS

The children then do some cave exploring, in a cave that has seaweed six feet long hanging from the ceiling. They also use torches despite it being very bright inside. The hole which is extremely well-hidden in the book could not be more obvious here – it’s the size of a Mini. The boys still manage to blunder into it. At least we get a bit of Dinah/Philip arguing here.

The boys follow the tunnel and end up in the cellars of Craggy Tops.

Uncle Joss goes out wandering at night for some reason and the boys go out as well and see Jake unloading boxes from a boat. He chases them into the caves where they are able to escape to the house. This rather falls flat on screen as unlike in the book he just laughs and leaves them. In the book Jo-Jo sits and waits all day then is horrified that they got past him and back to the house without him knowing.

THE ADVENTURE REALLY STARTS

The children are so suspicious of Bill they want to tell Joe all about it, but Bill then takes them out in his boat. He has a huge motor-boat with a cabin, sat-nav and sonar. This wins the children over a little, though they suspect the sonar-lure they have dropped for him is so he can go back to the island alone and do something nefarious.

I suppose it’s fairly clever – making Bill very suspicious and later having Joe seem suss. I’m sure children who hadn’t read the books wouldn’t know who was up to what. But why does Bill use children he hardly knows to set up the sonar? It seems very foolish.

After the trip Dinah overhears Bill on his radio and sees a gun through the window. The children steal his boat (they feel justified as they “know” he is up to no good) and go to the island. In the mines they all see money being printed and get caught by Jake/Hulk Hogan.

High-tech forgery

High-tech forgery

The mines seem very modern – all brick walls and proper lighting. They don’t seem at all like old under-sea mines. Jack is the only one to get locked in a room.

"Undersea mines"

“Undersea mines”

The others end up in a mine cart and take a dramatic ride out into the open. The enormous boat is not at all visible or suspicious in broad daylight… no surprise Joe sees them coming back without Jack.

Joe cuts the phone wires at Craggy Tops to stop anyone calling for help. Philip goes off to use Bill’s radio (in the book he goes to get Bill’s help as they trust him, and comes acros the radio by chance). Uncle Joss has been tied up and gagged, and Bill drops bombshell that Joe’s a forger.

THE RESCUE

So, how to rescue Jack? Joe has stolen Bill’s boat. Nobody has to pore over old maps, and there is no sense of history at all. Dinah just glances at a framed map on the wall (a really bland detail-less one which had been left by previous owners) and sees a dotted line between the island and the house. Then they easily find an enormous trap door in the cellars.

Bill is a poor secret agent again and is very loud in the tunnels, allowing them all to be caught. There is lots more pointless torch pointing in perfectly well-lit areas.

Too little night-filter

Too little night-filter

Mrs M returns home to find Uncle Joss alone. “You’d better have a ginger nut, my dear,” he says before breaking the news.

The ?army have been drafted in via helicopter to come to the rescue, and the men do plan to blow up the mines. Bill picks the lock and they get out of the room, while Mrs M bravely goes to head down the tunnel. It’s rather late, though, as the explosives have already gone off causing an atrocious CGI flood to rush through the tunnels.

They escape without having to float their way up a mine shaft, to find that most of the men have been caught by the army. Only Joe is missing and he shoots Kiki then runs away and Bill’s first in pursuit… but Joe falls off a cliff in a clumsy moment (think Gaston at the end of Beauty and the Beast).

Don’t worry, by the way, Kiki was fine.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So. That was… ok, really? It was certainly interesting throughout, and enjoyable.

The downside:

It’s a real pity Bill’s role has been messed with so much, I think that is my biggest problem. I don’t mind having Mrs M in it so much, her gallery being used to hide the forged money was a clever tie-in. Philip’s lack of animals and Dinah’s lack of temper are also disappointing. I may have missed a few details but I was left wondering about the identity of the woman who attacked Bill, and whether Uncle Joss ever did go wandering at night.

The up-side:

The acting was better and there were no creepy monks or strange magics. They did retain a great deal of the original characters and plots even if they had to change them around a fair bit.

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Monday #178

Posted on August 15, 2016 by Fiona

It has been a busy weekend for me, back and forth to Derby for my goddaughter’s christening has really left me worn out. Luckily Fiona knows what blog she’s bringing you this week and it’s a review for the first episode of the Adventure Series TV show for Wednesday. I’m sure we’re all dying to find out what its like!

I don’t know what I’ll do yet, I shall have a proper think when I’ve had some sleep and see if I can find some books I should read and review. In fact, I shall try and review the second Find-Outers book, as it has been quite a while since I looked at the first one.

I shall leave you with some meadow flowers and blue skies I took some pictures of some time ago in the sun. Hope it brings our sunny weather about once more!

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The Famous Five 70s Style: Five Go Off to Camp, part 2

Posted on August 12, 2016 by pippastef

L_Dvm140003dLast week I brought you part one of Five Go off to Camp, and this week it’s time for part two.

I suppose the question we’re asking this week is: can the second part of the adventure be as true to the book as the first? Shall we find out?

The start is strong, with a recap of the previous episode and then we start with the boys heading back to camp with Jock after they have been to spot the spook train for the first time. The nighttime filter at this point isn’t too bad, and you can see all three boys clearly as if the scenes were being shot at night, or at least early evening. I suspect by this point the idea is that it’s early the next morning and in the summer things might be getting lighter.

The row between the boys and George kicked off in the last episode, and comes to a head in this episode when Julian, Dick and Jock decide to give the string George has tied across the entrance to their tent a quick tug to wake her up. Poor George is furious unsurprisingly when she realises the boys have been and gone without her. Unlike the 90s episode we are not privy to the row that happens  between them, which is one of my favourite parts. Anyway George goes off in a huff and spectacularly manages to find herself in the tunnel with the spook train!

This second episode feels a bit rushed, as if the producers suddenly realised all they had to fit in, Jock for example is barely given any screen time, or lines, and just follows Julian and Dick around like a young kid brother – in fact the height difference does rather suggest that he was younger than the other two.

Most the the bits and pieces in the tunnel are hard to make out, I don’t know where they filmed that, whether it was actually in tunnels or a set, but the pitch black really doesn’t help the filming. However we do have some good acting from the cast, really working to make themselves look and appear afraid when the men come pouncing out of the tunnel. There isn’t a lot of actual interest in the train, as in the book they get on board to see what the gang are smuggling. That doesn’t happen here, almost immediately after the boys are captured, George frees them and the hunt to get out of the tunnel is on. As I’ve said before its almost as if the producers realised how much they had left to put in and just rushed through the ‘exciting’ stuff.

Overall its a neat little episode, some of the content however could have been used to better effect in the first episode, had some of the faffing around been taken out, but close to the book still, but none of the real excitement and tension you get from the book when the train is discovered and the boys are walking the railway tracks. Some of Enid Blyton’s best scenes (in my humble opinion) are in this book and they don’t seem to have made their way into this adaptation. Maybe it didn’t translate onto the screen, maybe it just wasn’t possible to recreate some of these bits and pieces, which is a shame.

Overall it’s a solid episode but not as good as the first part, which took it’s time, used the best scenes but may have just dallied a little bit when more important pieces of the story could have been used. Anyway, as I say, a solid episode, just a shame it felt so rushed.

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The Ragamuffin Mystery

Posted on August 10, 2016 by Fiona

And so I have reached the final book in the series. As with many of Blyton’s series the last book seems to be thought of as the weakest, yet I’m sure there will be some people who will hold this as their favourite.

the ragamuffin mystery

A CARAVANNING HOLIDAY

Roger, Diana and their mother along with Miss Pepper are going caravanning for three weeks. Mr Lynton was supposed to be joining them but had to go off to America instead (amazing how often parents and relatives have to rush off to the United States when it’s convenient to the plot) and his place has been taken by Miss Pepper. Surprisingly the children are actually disappointed by their father’s absence as apparently he’s ‘so much fun on holiday’. I can only imagine that for holidays Mr Lynton is replaced with a much more pleasant person, as he has only ever seemed grumpy, cross, impatient and, as Diana would put it – mouldy.

Anyway, man or no man, the holiday is on. Mrs Lynton and Miss Pepper are to share the driving. There is only enough room in the caravan for three, so poor Roger will have to sleep in the back of the car. They only manage a brief period of idyllic hols, eating, bathing, and so on before it’s rather spoiled. Mrs Lynton’s sister has been taken ill, and Mrs Lynton has to rush off to her. That leaves Miss Pepper, Diana and Roger with a caravan but no car.

Here the ‘girl power’ of Miss Pepper fails us entirely. We are used to her being no-nonsense and quite capable but now she quite falls apart. While she does make some contingency plans, the only reach as far as hiring a car and taking the caravan back to her own home for the remainder of the three weeks. They can’t go back to the Lynton home as it is shut up and – shock horror – cook’s away so they would have to fend for themselves. Probably one of the most upper-middle class bits of any Blyton story when a nanny can’t fathom taking care of herself and two children without hired help.

Then, Mr Martin (Barney’s father) steps in and Miss Pepper practically swoons at her knight in shining armour. He has a car. He will boldly and bravely drive them to a peaceful sea-side location for their holiday and then collect them at the end of it. He even makes telephone calls to check on Mrs Lynton and her sister, and gets everything organised.

As you may have noticed, someone, or rather two someones are missing. Barney and Miranda turn up with Mr Martin of course, but where are Snubby and Loony? For once they are not with the Lyntons for the hols. Don’t worry, though, Mr Martin even has Snubby and Loony’s whereabouts in hand.

PENRHYNDENDRAITH

He takes the three stranded carvanners into Wales and to a little place called Penrhyndendraith (which I cannot even try to pronounce) where there is an old, half-ruined inn (think Craggy Tops except less wind-swept) an ice-cream shop and lots of golden sand.

The inn is run by Mr and Mrs Jones (look you, whateffer… sorry, wrong book). Mr Jones is a very good cook, his cooking is very good. Very good cooking, he trained in London, he is a very good cook. Mrs Jones is hard to shut up, but eventually she lets them upstairs to pick rooms. Miss Pepper wants the one with the best view, but Mrs Jones is quite insistent that they take their Best Room.

Here’s the next strangeness. Miss Pepper has now regained enough of her peppery-ness to argue with the owner of the inn. She demands to have the room she wants. To be fair, Mrs Jones’ arguments are not the most convincing (why she didn’t just say that room was reserved… well, we know why. It would have ruined the mystery.)

So by now we know there is something up with Miss Pepper and Diana’s room. Mr Jones tells them there are noises to be heard. (Twang dongs, perhaps?)

Barney and Roger are camping in the caravan outside, and soon Snubby arrives by train. Snubby had been staying with the aunt who was taken ill – and needed to be out of the way. Like his first arrival in The Rockingdown Mystery he gets a different train and arrives early. This time he arrives looking even more like  a dirty ragamuffin as he has travelled the rest of the way by hay cart.

And here, at last, the true mystery begins. His clothes are yet to be sent on and the ones he is wearing need washed so he goes to the shop and buys second hand fisher-boy clothing. Thus clothed like another boy in the area, who also happens to have a small black dog, he is ready to be involved in a case of mistaken identity.

Dai, the fisher-boy in question has been asked by his uncle – the terribly un-pc Morgan the Cripple – to pass on a coded letter to someone else.  This someone else is a bearded man who finds Snubby trying to decipher a perfectly innocent coded message from a school chum. Naturally he assumes Snubby is Dai and snatches the letter away.

Snubby is only baffled until he spots Dai and they work out what has happened. It’s all a little too easily worked out, and Snubby getting the letter from Dai is similarly overly easy.

By now two famous and important men are staying at the inn – one of them being the coded-letter recipient. Snubby manages to hide from him for a day or two but is finally spotted. The two men seem shady, and are proved to be so when the famous ornithologist is easily tricked by a few questions about made-up birds.

The two men also hold very loud conversations with Morgan about the missing letter which explains what will happen on Friday night. It’s all far too easy for the children to overhear this and go exploring on Friday night. In a scene almost straight out of Spiggy Holes they go into a cave and up tunnels, then get trapped by the tide. Going the other way, they find a trap door and end up back in the inn.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think as my review/synopsis shows, there’s a great deal of inconsequential fluff at the start, then the actual mystery is quit short and lacking in depth. There are no real twists or turns. There was scope for the decoding of the letter perhaps or at least some sort of obstacle thrown in their way.

Barney has lost some of what made him different, too. He is now as bland as Roger unfortunately, a little too sensible and ready to squash Snubby’s enthusiasms. He also telephones his father very quickly to ask for help investigating the two men at the inn.

There are also little things clearly re-used from previous Barney books without anyone noticing. The little shop that sells everything is just like the one from Rockingdown, and not too dissimilar from the one at Ring ‘O Bells also, yet they are all amazed. Diana even makes her witches and fairytale comments, without any real merit.

Something I haven’t even mentioned is Dafydd – the little boy at the inn. He and his goose add little to the story other than to pad it out with scenes of Miranda and Loony chasing the goose. He does let Loony out of the caravan, making Snubby identifiable to the men, but Loony could have escaped due to a faulty lock. He also shows them where the tunnel is from the cave – but that’s something they were more than capable of doing themselves given the opportunity.

So yes, unfortunately this is rather a weak end to the series. It’s not a particulary satisfying mystery, it lacks a lot of the humour of earlier titles (Loony doesn’t steal a single mat, brush or towel at the inn) and it is padded out a great deal with the early caravanning to-ing and fro-ing and then the silliness with Dafydd and his goose.

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Monday #177

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Fiona

So here’s what we’ve got coming up this week:

wedfri4 (2)

P.S. Is it wrong that I want to print off some of these Enid Blyton activities and do them myself?

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Famous Five 70s Style: Five Go Off to Camp, part 1

Posted on August 5, 2016 by pippastef
L_Dvm140003d

Famous Five DVD cover part one.

Five Go Off to Camp has been split into two parts – good! I say. It’s one of the more mysterious mysteries, and one that I cannot help but be drawn to. The 90s take on the book was unfortunately short because of the time restraints but there are so many levels to it that some were neglected, such as Anne thinking she’s sitting on a volcano. This is why I am so delighted that the 70s adaptations decided to make it a two parter, written by the very talented Gail Renard, who I have had the pleasure to meet on an Enid Blyton Society Day.

The detail in this episode is next to perfect, there are all the signs of a proper Blyton mystery, Mr Luffy being late to pick up the children, the funny old car that he drives with the trailer attached. Its all very true the book. We don’t see much of the jounrey but when they arrive the children get to camp a little way away from Mr Luffy and their adventuring really begins.

Very quickly the Five discover the deserted railway yard with the bricked up tunnel. They also meet the one-legged watchman, Wooden Legged Sam. He is quite a bit more like the description in the book, being tall and gangly, whereas the 90s series casting doesn’t do him justice. John Barrett was a superb piece of casting. Barrett only makes two brief appearances in the first part of Camp, but they’re enough to get the story moving and make an impression. Wooden Leg Sam is the one to tell the children about the spook trains and that starts the adventure.

I enjoy this story a lot because of the ghostly element to it; the feeling that there could be something completely un-explainable about these trains. I mean the first time I heard the story as a child. I was completely entranced in the ghostliness of it. I wanted to go hunting for the spook trains with the Five.

We meet Jock, who in the books I always assume is older than he appears in the episode. In fact he even looks younger than Jennifer Thanisch who plays Anne, but I am pretty sure in the book that he comes across at least as old as Dick. Jock shows them around the farm and they come across the vans in a barn when one of the puppies decides to run inside. This, as avid readers know, has masses to do with the trains but they are rather forgotten by the Five, especially when the idea of food comes into their heads. Over dinner, when telling Jock about the spook trains Mr Andrews turns up. Now he is very much like he appears in the book, but I found that he didn’t have the gravitas of the character. He is supposed to be the ‘cat’s paw’ but still the man is organizing men, he needs to have a spark. It’s not there unfortunately.

Last but not least (as we have another episode to look at next week) the blow up between George and Julian about George accompanying the boys to the railway yard at night and leaving Anne behind on her own. It’s handled well by Marcus Harris and Michele Gallagher who both know how to act out an argument convincingly. The only thing I didn’t like about this argument is that it took place at the lunch table, and I’m pretty sure in the book it takes place without the possibility of grownups overhearing. Its always an argument that bugs me because common sense dictates that really, they should either pair off, or all go. Now Anne won’t go, and that’s fine, but George could really do with being gracious enough to realize that. However without her hot temper and attempts to follow the boys we wouldn’t have the second part of the adventure really.

Overall, it’s a positive adaptation from the book for Camp, well the first part anyway. We shall see what happens with the next part next week, but so far the 70s series is really coming off as the better adaption of Blyton’s books than the 90s series. Let’s hope the praise continues.

 

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Noddy at the V&A Museum of Childhood

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Fiona

Two weeks ago on my trip to London, I visited the Victoria and Albert Museum of Childhood at Bethnal Green. I had hoped to see one or two Blyton-related items, and I was not disappointed.

The first thing I found was a double jack-in-the-box toy, in the moving toys gallery. It has Noddy and Big Ears as the jacks.

According to their website it was made around 1960, by Lyons. There isn’t a traditional handle on this, instead there are two catches on the front. The red oval reads press down catches one and two, up pops Noddy – Big Ears too.

Also amongst the moving toys was a Noddy friction car.

noddy friction car

Then I spotted a 1961 Noddy kaleidoscope in what is called the ‘look see’ gallery.

In amongst the soft toys and dolls was another Noddy.

This soft toy doll is by Merrythought in the 1960s.

I couldn’t get a good picture of the next Noddy toy I spotted, as it was in between other items, but there is a boxed Stick Picks game.

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Another game I saw was Little Noddy’s Train Game.

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This was made by Bestime in 1958 (though the card in the museum reads 1957).

The only non-Noddy Blyton item was this jigsaw:

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It didn’t have any information beside it in the display, but you can’t fail to recognise it as Eileen Soper’s work. The museum clearly haven’t read anything illustrated by Eileen Soper, as they have this in their archive, with artist unknown!

On browsing the museum archives, they have a lot more Blyton items than they have out. There are cards, posters, books, games, jigsaws and more.

From top left: Noddy in Toyland poster, Noddy lotto game, Noddy stereoscopic slide set, Famous Five poster, Noddy jigsaw, Noddy xylophone. 

If you’re ever in London, I would definitely recommend the Museum of Childhood. It’s free and it will give you at least a couple of hours of fun as you recognise your  childhood favourites and spot some weird and wonderful items you weren’t lucky enough to have.

 

Posted in Personal Experiences, Toys and Games | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Monday #176

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Fiona

Back to another Monday and another exciting week here at World of Blyton. Fiona’s back from her trip as you know and she’s sorted her pictures and because of this she will be bringing you a piece about the Museum of Childhood, with a look at the Noddy exhibition pieces. I’m certainly looking forward to that blog!

I will be looking at Five Go Off to Camp 70s style as my blog this week, specifically part one because it was split into two parts. Lets hope its as good as Five Go Off in a Caravan was.

I shall leave you with some more of my pictures of Stonehaven and Dunottar castle this week, as once again I’ve not managed to get round to editing any others.

I hope you like them!

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If you like Blyton: Dead Man’s Cove by Lauren St John

Posted on July 29, 2016 by pippastef

Dead-Mans-Cove-HBB31-403x600I swear I had been planning to review this book a while ago, and by a while, I mean almost two years ago! I certainly have read it before, but I think I just never got around to it.

It doesn’t matter anyway, because I’m going to do it now. So, working in a library gives me the scope of finding these children’s gem’s without necessarily paying to get my own copy. This comes in handy when you’re just not sure how much you’re going to enjoy the book you’re thinking of reading.

In fact, just generally I need to be better all together and remember to check at work for a book before I buy it, but I digress.

Lauren St John is a fantastic children’s author and writes a huge breadth of material, appealing to all children and age groups. The Laura Marlin Mysteries is a series that was born in 2010 and won the title “Favourite Story” in the Blue Peter Book Awards 2011. Now if that’s not a recommendation enough, on the front cover there is a quote from a review from The Times which says “Dead Man’s Cove will delight fans of Enid Blyton.” That was what caught my attention the first time around and I brought it home, read it and clearly forgot to blog about it. How silly of me! Let’s get on then and have a look at the story and characters involved.

Laura Marlin is an eleven year old orphan; her mother died when she was born, and she never knew who her father was – it’s hinted at him being an American soldier who is not likely to know that Laura even exists.  We join Laura on the morning of her moving out of her orphanage to go and live with a long lost uncle who has agreed to adopt her. She gets driven down to St Ives in Cornwall to meet her uncle, Calvin Redfern. He is a bit of a mystery and claims to work for the fishery department keeping an eye out for people bringing in too many fish over their quota, but as you’d expect it doesn’t quite work out that way.  You’re left guessing as to what exactly Calvin is doing for a job and even at one point if he is the baddie in the story, but that’s all part of the classic children’s mysteries that Blyton gave us.

St John gives us plenty of characters in Dead Man’s Cove to keep us guessing as to the actual bad guys. You’re lead to believe that it could be Laura’s Uncle Calvin, the sulky housekeeper Mrs Webb (who reminds me of Mrs Stick in Five Run Away Together,  as in she can cook exceptionally well but has the blackest of moods and is generally very grumpy), and then there are the Mukhtars who run the local store in St Ives.

The Mukhtars are supposed to be the parents of the only friend Laura makes in St Ives when she arrives, Tariq but thanks to the village gossip, Mrs Crabtree, Laura finds out that Tariq is probably adopted and may really be their nephew. Laura also believes quite strongly that they are abusing Tariq and there is something under the apparently innocent facade that is putting her friend in danger. However before she can delve deeper into that situation, Tariq supposedly changes his mind about being friends with Laura and asks his ‘uncle’ to get rid of her for him. Now we’re heart broken for Laura who really needed Tariq’s friendship. After this, secret messages start appearing for Laura and we begin to get embroiled in this massive adventure around the corner.

Without giving everything away I can’t say much more, but all you need to know, World of Blyton readers, is that you need to read this book. It’s a little more modern than I would usually recommend but oh boy, The Times was right, Dead Man’s Cove WILL delight fans of Blyton. You have the absent parents/guardians, a self sufficient heroine, the loyal sidekick in the form of her adopted dog Skye, and plenty of twists and turns. You will never guess the ending and to be honest, given the time between reads I had forgotten what the ultimate ending was. I am tempted now to go and find the second book and carry on reading about Laura and what she gets up to. Just like I did with Helen Moss’ Adventure Island series I now own the whole set and was lucky enough to find most of them in a charity shop in Alton when out with a friend once. Will I be adding Laura Marlin to the collection? I think its a very high possibility.  Please do check it out and let me know what you think!

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The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage: How has Blyton’s original text fared in a modern edition?

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Fiona

On Monday I said that I would be comparing The Twins at St Clare’s. Only I discovered, at the last minute, that I had in fact already completed that back in May. I spent about five minutes going what am I going to do instead? as well as saying you idiot to myself. After that, I searched the spare room and found a very modern copy of The Mystery of the Burnt Cottage, kindly donated to the cause by Stef. So that is what I am going to look at instead!

My own copy is a Methuen from 1957, and is the 12th reprint/impression of the original edition. The new copy is the most modern of any paperbacks I have used so far, and is an Egmont copy from 2014.

 

CHAPTER ONE: THE BURNING COTTAGE

Unusually there is no chapter list in the Methuen edition so I will just have to wait and see if any of the chapter headings are altered as I go along.

As with all previous books I have compared, hyphens have disappeared from a large number of phrases including half-past. Other separate words are joined – some one to someone. I’ve rarely see some one as two words.

Hallo is changed to hello each time, which makes their greetings sound awkwardly formal at times. Hallo sounds jolly and friendly, while hello can sound quite stiff. Lighted becomes lit (again this is usually the case, though both are correct).

Efforts seem to have been made to make the parents look less negligent. Larry and Daisy sneak out to see the cottage on fire, saying Mummy and Daddy are out, so they won’t notice their absence. It doesn’t say, however, that the children are home alone. Presumably the house-parlourmaid or cook would be there, given what we know about the Daykins from other books. Modern children would probably assume that there is a babysitter there.The Egmont edition reads Mummy and Daddy are busy, with the same line about them not noticing the children have gone out. To me, that sounds even worse! If your parents are home and yet don’t know that their two children have wandered off into the night…

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After that, they wonder if Mummy and Daddy are back yet. This has become if Mummy and Daddy are looking for us yet. Again, what’s wrong with two adults going out for a meal or a trip to the theatre? It never states the children were alone in the house.

Likewise, Fatty’s words about his parents have been ‘updated’ too. He said I’m all alone at that hotel originally, meaning that during the day he didn’t have any company. That’s become just I’ll be in the hotel. He also tells the others that his mother and father are out golfing all day. To ‘improve’ that, they have changed it to my mother and father will be out playing golf. So they are still leaving him; but only for some of the day. That’s better, isn’t it?

A couple of references to being fat have been removed (I suspect this will be a common theme). Mr Hick’s cook is originally described as  poor, fat, trembling, and the fat has been removed for the paperback. Fatty is also just a conceited creature, not a conceited fat creature now.

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Lastly, the inn that Fatty’s staying in has been changed to hotel – though it is called a hotel by Fatty in both editions.

CHAPTER TWO: THE FIVE FIND-OUTERS – AND DOG

I was right about the fat issue. The children thought it was a shame that Buster had such a silly fat sausage for a master, now they think it’s a shame he had such a silly master.

 A couple of other lines are cut entirely :

  • the dog’s young master did look rather sausagey and fat.
  •  “I am rather fat, aren’t I?” he said. “I’ve an awful appetite , and I expect I eat too much.”
  •  He had already been Tubby and Sausage at school – now he would be Fatty in the holidays. 

Also, Daisy remarks that F-A-T describes you [Fatty] rather well. This is now it could be a nickname. When Fatty is called plump, conceited and stupid, it is changed to conceited and the rest.

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I’m somewhat torn over all this. On one hand, I hate the amount of ‘body shaming’ that goes on in the media and amongst everyday people. It may not be healthy to be overweight, but that doesn’t mean we should go around shouting fatty at people. Saying that, children can be unkind and will find something horrible to say about other children no matter what. It is also clear that the first unkind references are more because they just don’t like Fatty’s conceited attitude, and are therefore acting as children will and calling him names.

On the whole I would have to come down on the side of leaving the books as they are, as I don’t feel the fat references amount to bullying. Nor at any point is it suggested by the children or the narrative that his weight makes him bad or worth less as a person. He’s simply fat, the same way someone is tall or red-headed.

Incidentally, one reference to the plump boy and one to the fat boy have been left alone. If you’re going to go on a mission to eradicate fat-talk, at least be consistent! From the ones that have been left in it’s clear enough that Fatty as a nickname isn’t just about his initials.

Moving on, the annoying habit of removing italicised emphases is back. The children are shocked that someone would set a fire on purpose. Something is lost when the italics are removed. Consider (not a quote) He did it on purpose? and He did it on purpose? The second conveys much more surprise and disbelief. Likewise, Bets insists that Pip gets Buster a bone and a biscuit. Without the italics, you lose her emphasis on him having to bring both.

In a similar move, some text has been made lower-case. Daisy says that they should set ourselves to find out “WHO BURNT THE COTTAGE”. The capitalised text becomes almost a book-title, it’s certainly an important question. The Egmont edition simply reads
to find out who burnt the cottage. No emphasis whatsoever, and it becomes bland and flat.

Lastly, there are a few minor changes and one correction. Fatty calls Buster sir from time to time, and the one instance in this chapter is removed. I do find it odd that anyone would say come here, sir to a dog, but it clearly did happen at some point in the past. Continuing that line of thought – Fatty is still Buster’s master in the Egmont edition. I’m surprised that isn’t owner now, and Mr Hicks is still the cook’s master, and not employer or somesuch.

Fired, in the sense of some one having fired that work-room on purpose is updated to having set fire. I can’t say I have seen or heard anyone using fired in that context in recent years but it’s clear enough what it means.

The small correction is made to why should be do it? which should of course be why should he do it? It would be interesting to know if that mistake appears in other Methuen editions also.

There was certainly plenty to write about in those two opening chapters. I make that twenty-two changes. As with previous series, I won’t count every time a hyphen or other small change is made, but I will try to only count ‘new’ and ‘unique’ alterations. The only exception to that rule is I will count every time fat/plump etc are removed or replaced, out of interest to see how often they are actually used. I did the same with references to Jo-Jo being black.

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Monday #175

Posted on July 25, 2016 by Fiona

I’m back from my holiday, so we’re back to our usual schedule again this week. I haven’t yet sorted through all the photos I took, but I will perhaps share some on my next Monday post.

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Famous Five 70s Style: Five Go Off in a Caravan

Posted on July 22, 2016 by pippastef

Five Go Off in a Caravan is one of my favourite stories; I love the magic of the circus and it feels like a proper adventure mystery, the characters are full of charm, wit and villainy. Tiger Dan and Lou are two of Blyton’s scariest creations, clever with an air of bumbling about them which makes it possible for them to be under estimated.

Now both adaptations of the  book onto screen do the adventure part fairly well, apart from in the 90s version Marco Williamson had a broken leg (see here). Marcus Harris does not have one in this version which is good because we get to see some of the heroic jumping about that Julian gets to do in the book. Unfortunately Harris still doesn’t get to throw himself off the top of a caravan to help Nobby, but then given that the production wouldn’t let them film at nighttime, you can hardly blame them for not wanting one of their stars up on the roof of a caravan.

We start half way through the first half of the book in this adaptation, with the Five already on the road in their caravans. This time they have two, one for the girls and one for the boys each drawn by a horse. The introduction to Nobby comes when they spot an elephant bathing in the stream. In the book as you probably know the elephant plays a big role because it’s the first thing they see of the circus passing their house so it ties up quite nicely to the book in that respect.

I know i have viewed the series backwards in effect because I watched the 90s TV series first, but the 70s version seems much less cringe worthy. Mostly because the lines weren’t being hammed up and laced with double meanings. The actions seem very smooth and genuine and there’s a great big gripping story line to work with as well, which always helps.

As I said earlier the two villans in Caravan are by far same of the best ones Blyton created, up there with Rooky and Perton in my humble opinion, and Brian Glover and Sean Lynch give very good page to screen translations as Tiger Dan and Lou the Acrobat respectively. They have the right edge of nasty and cunning, even if Glover’s Dan can come off a little bit thick sometimes when you consider that in the book he’s the brains behind it all. At least they weren’t made into a comedic duo by the writer Richard Sparks which is a trap that some of the writers, especially twenty years later, fell into. The rogues aren’t meant to be funny, they are meant to be deadly and scary, so this is a very well written episode.

There are a few slip ups from the cast when it comes to the names of the animals. Gary Dundavin has two that I noticed clearly. First of all he calls his dogs Barker and Growler by different names when he wants them to do a trick to impress the Five when they first come to the camp, and secondly he calls the chimp playing Pongo a “lucky girl”. Now I know in reality the chimp was probably a girl which is why he said “lucky girl” and this assumption of mine might be wrong but I always assume that Pongo is a boy! Now it’s late and I haven’t got my copy handy so feel free to correct me if you have a copy at hand to check, but I just feel that is something that could have been picked up on.

I rate this episode quite highly in the scheme of the series, it’s good, thorough and sticks to the storyline really well. A few over sights and bits cut off and moved around but only because they had that silly twenty-five minute episode length to work with but this episode really works, all the key components are there and the cast are on top form. Lets see if its the same story for Five Go Off to Camp next time!

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Reblog: The search for Kirrin Island – Memories by Hans van der Klis

Posted on July 20, 2016 by Fiona

I’m on a city-break this week without a laptop, and so instead of attempting to blog from an ancient tablet or tiny phone I have chosen to bring you a reblog instead. You may have seen our last reblog from Hans, about a short adventure he and his wife had one day in the woods.

He has written again, this time about searching for Kirrin Island;

Childhood farewell, but not quite, for this older-young-lad that Kirrin Island remains still interesting and attractive, I would like to go to visit it, but how to achieve, it seems not present somewhere along the English coast, if I believe the sober truth. Only, I do not want to accept it, yet, not yet. I still believe in the illusion. So I have read recently “Five on a Treasure Island” and several other books of “The Five” again, with other, older eyes, with nostalgic feelings, but great mindfulness. And a head brimming with ideas, energy and adventure spirit, I am again end up by the question;

How should the island look like and where is it situated?

I think we have all longed to visit Kirrin at some point in our lives, though I don’t know if any of us have the skill required to navigate through the wicked ring of rocks to the safety of the sandy cove. You can read the rest of Han’s post here, and it looks like there will be a part two along at some point as well.

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Monday #174

Posted on July 18, 2016 by Fiona

Once more its beginning to look like summer and the weather seems to be improving. This month is usually one of the most vibrant when we’ve visited Old Thatch in the past, but unfortunately Blyton’s old home is no longer open for business. There would have been nothing better than to stroll down to the River and then up to the beautiful gardens in the sunlight, and warmth. However we shall just have to be content with pictures from last year.

This week, Fiona is down in London having lots of fun so she will be doing a reblog for Wednesday on The search for Kirrin Island – Memories by Hans van der Klis so I hope you all tune in for that.

I will be bringing you another review of Five go off in a Caravan, 70s style on Friday.

With that I shall leave you with a few of my favourite pictures of Old thatch gardens from the last couple of years.

The Daisy Statue at Old Thatch
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Famous Five 70s Style: Five Go to Smuggler’s Top, part 2

Posted on July 15, 2016 by pippastef

Last week I did a review of the first part of Five go to Smuggler’s Top and now I’m going to bring you  a review of the second part.

We start this episode off with a recap of what happened the ‘week’ before, so Uncle Quentin arriving, the run-ins with Block and Mr Lenoir and the realisation that something funny is going on.

I must say some of the best bits of the book were left out of this adaptation, including the bit where Timmy is supposed to be smuggled into George’s room for the night and the five children create a distraction because Block is lying in wait for Timmy, and the brave dog bites the villain on the ankle as he’s dragged by. That has to be one of my all time favourite scenes out of the book, and in the 90s version but its never replicated in the 70s one.

Another point to make on characterization is that Block, played by Ron Pember, is a very good actor but doesn’t fit the mental image of Block. He’s not scary, just weird. Pember does invoke the mistrust of Block that the children pick up on straight away but the whole point of Block is that he is supposed to be terrifying, at least that’s what I think, there is something you’re not supposed to trust about him, this silent pale man who supposedly can’t hear a thing. One thing we can say for Blyton is that when she wanted to make it obvious who the villain was, she was excellent at creating a really effective baddie. However it is a hard sort of thing to translate onto the screen. Pember did a good job, even though you get the feeling it was simplified a bit.

One of the other things that is a constant source of frustration about this series is the use of dark filters over the camera lenses which make the nighttime scenes extremely hard to see and you lose so much atmosphere from these shots that it’s easy to lose interest. I understand that the actors were not allowed to work more than a certain number of hours a day and certainly not at nighttime, as I understand it, but someone should have seen that the filters were too heavy. However I suppose that might just be to my young and modern eyes as I’m used to a different type and quality of filters but I can’t be the only one who thinks they were a bit heavy handed on the dark filter. Surely there must have been some compromise?

Anyway, back to the actual story. We stick to the book quite closely in the second half which makes it an edge of the seat situation, especially with the missing Sooty and Professor Kirrin, though their wander through the catacombs is unfortunately cut short. The use of the fog is good, but rather than Uncle Quentin suggesting they wait until it lifts so they can see their way a little better around the marshes, he decides he wants to risk it. Without Timmy to help (as he’s found them and then run back to George) the likelihood of them being caught in the marsh and lost forever is a very real danger. You would think that a professor who was visiting to talk about draining the marshes would know that it was better to stay put than to attempt to walk over them; however this is Uncle Quentin, he does try to put mustard on his toast. To play devil’s advocate however Michael Hinz always seemed to play Uncle Quentin as a much more steady, clued up Quentin that Christopher Good ever did. Which means that the danger of the marshes should have been at the front of his mind. Anyway, you do have to admit that seeing Hinz walk around in those paisley pyjamas and a bright red tartan rug is one of the best things to have a giggle at (it comes second to the star jumps Marco Williamson does in Five go to Billycock Hill in the 90s adaptations)

With that all said, its a decent adapatation of the book, with a few areas and maybe some artistic licence with the characters and a few bits and pieces in the storyline which is understandable. Still, its watchable, nostalgic and the Famous Five we all love! Right?

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Who couldn’t resist a giggle at these pj’s? Even George is despairing of her father’s fashion choices!

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The Rat-a-Tat Mystery

Posted on July 13, 2016 by Fiona

This is a bit of a strange one. I’ve always heard (or indeed read) that the series takes a dip in quality after Rubadub. Ragamuffin always seems to come last in the popularity stakes – but I believed Rat-a-Tat wasn’t far behind. And yet – I’ve seen two people already this week who profess Rat-a-Tat to be their favourite! I’m not convinced it’s the best of the series, but after re-reading it I can’t say it pales in comparison to early entries.

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There are plenty of classic Blyton elements throughout, for a start. Loony continues to be Loony, taking up hall-sliding and ice-sliding in equal measures. Snubby is still irrepressible, having added a real mouth-organ to his repertoire, as well as furniture rearranging. Miranda is possibly even more naughty then ever with her new habit of blowing candles out. There’s night-time escapades, detective work following mysterious footsteps, an old village tale of traitors and a mysterious disappearance,

There are also several elements that have been seen in previous books, or would be seen in those to come. The snow house built by the boys reminded me of the one built by the toys in Naughty Amelia Jane (1941) though they didn’t use ice for glass in the window or accidentally melt it with a fire. The lake with its boat-house (and hidden loot) could be Gloomy Water if Five on a Hike (1951) was set in the depths of winter. The criminals are smuggling large quantities of guns somewhat like in The Adventurous Four (1941) and the plot of them being hidden in the cellars of an abandoned house then lowered down a hole could be seen as similar to the events of The Rockingdown Mystery (1949). The snowy retreat with tobogganing is one that is revisited by the Five in Five Get Into a Fix (1958) as well – though they don’t have a pond to skate on at Magga Glen.

THE MAIN PLOT

To quickly recap  – the Lyntons – and Snubby and Loony – are getting under each others feet after Christmas. Well, mostly Snubby and Loony are being difficult and are in danger of being shipped off to Aunt Agatha. This means that Barney can’t come to stay with them, but luckily instead, he invites them to come visit him. They go and have lunch at the Martins’ home and meet Mr Martin and Barney’s grandmother, then the children go off to a lakeside house that belongs to the family for some winter sports. Mrs Tickle, the woman there to cook and generally keep an eye on them, tells them the local legends about Mr No-One who knocks on the front door when there’s a traitor around. They dismiss this as nonsense and carry on with their plans to toboggan, skate, throw snowballs and build a snowman.

However, late one night there is a sudden and deafening RAT-A-TAT at the front door. Bravely the boys look out and see no-one there. Mr No-one? Investigating the next day they find enormous footsteps in the snow going up to the door, yet, mysteriously, there are none going away. Then the snowman disappears only to amble past the kitchen window and terrify Mrs Tickle, and they realise that something sinister is going on. With the phone lines down and the roads impassible it is up to the children to find out what’s happening.

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SPOILER ALERT!

What is happening is that two men have hidden several large, heavy boxes in the cellar and are desperate to scare away the house’s inhabitants. When that has failed, they are forced to sneak in anyway to fetch their cargo. It is Snubby who catches them in the act – and then ends up caught himself. He ends up trapped in the cellar for the night, and then in the morning when he is freed, they all go hunting for the boxes. They have no luck but by this time the phone is back on and so they can summon help. The police arrive by helicopter with Mr Martin, and by a bit of luck – and a stubbed toe – they find where the boxes have been hidden.

FINAL THOUGHTS

The story is somewhat chilling at times, with the children and Mrs Tickle trapped out in the middle of nowhere while an unknown person spies on them from outside. Miranda provides plenty of amusement, and the children have good clean fun in between strange occurrences. Some good detecting is done, though sometimes they seem very slow to have their great ideas, and the main resolutions come about mostly by accident. The most disappointing thing is the ending. The boxes have been located, and the police decide to leave them there so that the men can return for them and be captured. And that’s where we leave it. Can you imagine if the police in Five On a Hike had said “oh, Dick and Maggie are stuck in the marsh, we’ll go back and get them later,” and we had not had the report of a successful capture?

There are also a few minor niggles – Miranda and her paws constantly being referred to as small and particularly tiny began to grate around half-way through the story. There are a few other phrases and situations which I’m sure are used too many times but I can’t remember what they were.

Not necessarily a criticism of the book but I found Mr Lynton particularly objectionable in the opening chapters. He is, in past tales, grumpy and easily irritated and he is exceptionally bad-tempered here. Despite only seeing his children during school holidays, and his nephew (his orphaned nephew) a few times a year, it hasn’t taken him long to become sick and tired of the children’s chatter and noise. He is even willing to invite boring Great-Uncle Robert, knowing fine well that Snubby will then have to go elsewhere, to a miserable aunt who makes Loony sleep in a kennel. Mr Martin is much more amiable and pleasant, yet even he is quite happy to pack Barney and the other children off to the middle of no-where instead of going with them.

This wasn’t a terrible book by any means, but it didn’t quite live up to its potential either. Surely there was room for a secret passage, a trifle more danger and some quicker thinking from our seasoned mystery solvers?

Next review: The Ragamuffin Mystery

 

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Monday #173

Posted on July 11, 2016 by Fiona

Back to Monday and we have some awesome blogs for you this week. Fiona will be blogging for Wednesday and bringing you a review of The Rat-a-Tat Mystery.

I shall be reviewing the second part of Five Go to Smuggler’s Top, 70s style. Part one can be found here.

We had a good weekend sports wise in the UK. Andy Murray won the men’s tennis final at Wimbledon, the mixed doubles titles were taken by Heather Watson and Henri Kontinen and Lewis Hamilton won the Grand Prix. So we’re doing rather well!

I shall leave you with a picture of Murray’s crowning moment for this week’s picture.

Wimbledon - All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club

Britain Tennis – Wimbledon – All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, Wimbledon, England – 10/7/16 Great Britain’s Andy Murray celebrates winning the mens singles final against Canada’s Milos Raonic with the trophy REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

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Famous Five 70’s Style Five Go to Smugger’s Top, part 1

Posted on July 8, 2016 by pippastef

Now I know I did the 90s series in strict Blytonian order but as a pure mistake (or was it careful planning?) I ended up looking at Five Go to Smuggler’s Top Part 1 instead of Five Run Away Together which was filmed for the second season. Strangely both versions of Five Run Away Together are both placed in the second series of their respective adaptations.

Anyway enough about Five Run Away Together for now, we’ll pick that up another time.

Fiona’s favourite book is split into two parts in both adaptations which means that we’re able to have the characters explore the storyline in a lot more depth than a standard 25 minute episode. Both sets of episodes have their positives and negatives, so lets start with part one’s positives.

The house used in this version is very close to how I imagined the actual Smuggler’s Top. It has the big and rambling feel to it and has the hidden tunnels and passages. We have all the bits such as the tower for the flashing lights, and Sooty’s carefully set up buzzer to tell him when someone is coming into his room. However that thing is so loud I am never sure how the people approaching don’t hear it!

However that is neither here nor there! We at least have a full compliment of characters for this series.We have the usually forgotten Marybelle, and I say usually forgotten because I honestly do forget she exists sometimes. She doesn’t play a big part in the books and quite frankly isn’t missed much from my point of view. She doesn’t add much to this adaptation apart from being an apparent link to Anne, I think they’re supposed to go to school together. It links them in I suppose but it doesn’t really allow for George in the picture because she seems not to acknowledge Marybelle.

Michele Gallagher’s George once again feels underwhelming, as her reactions as George leave lots to be desired. In the book, George is at her most explosive, worried about Timmy, worried that they’ll be found out to be having him in the house and panicked when she can’t get to him. This leads to one of the most explosive scenes in the book becoming very very tame with no real oomph in it at all. George is at her rudest and fiercest when she tries to rescue Timmy through Mr Lenoir’s study and gets caught, but we have none of that here. The scene where she discovers her father and Sooty missing is also underwhelming as there is no real panic to her acting. Not that Gallagher wasn’t a fantastic George in her ways but this was not her crowning glory.

One thing that bugs me about these episodes is that the children were not allowed to film at night so filters had to be used which makes the night episodes very dark. Not to mention that during other supposed night shots the curtains aren’t drawn properly and you can see daylight though them which spoils the illusion. You can see this clearly in the scene after Sooty has seen the lights on the marshes and from the tower and he shows Dick and Julian and they get caught by Mr Lenoir. I mean they could have at least blacked out the windows surely?

So there we are for the moment, not a highly atmospheric episode with some let downs on the acting and staging side, but otherwise quite true to the book! Next week, I shall look at part 2 and we shall see how the story concludes.

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