Famous Five 90s Style: Five Go Down to the Sea, part 1

Posted on October 9, 2015 by pippastef

Five Go Down to the Sea is another two part adventure in the 90s Famous Five listing. A lot of the second series were two parters and not usually for the better but that said, Five Go Down to the Sea works quite well in two parts.

We start with joining the Five on a bike ride down a country lane, which Julian (Marco Williamson) proclaims “All these Somerset lanes look the same!” Now in the book we know, being the clever readers that we are, that the Five are actually supposed to be in Cornwall. Now for those of you who don’t know, Somerset isn’t too far from Cornwall, but it is certainly not where the Five are meant to be.

So, locational issues aside as you can almost forget that Somerset isn’t Cornwall for the purpose of these two twenty-five minutes episodes. The story telling is almost spot on during the two parts and the first episode is quite close to the mark, save the Barnies showing up on the Five’s route into Tremannon Farm, they actually get told about them through a poster in a shop, if I remember correctly.

Ian Brimble makes an excellent brooding Mr Penruthlan, and Maggie Wells is the chalk to his cheese as Mrs Penruthlan who makes up for her husband’s silence by chattering on and on and interpreting his grunts. One of the scenes I find fairly cringe worthy in this episode is where Dick tries to mimic Mr Penruthlan’s grunts and ahs and ums. It isn’t something I see a member of the Five doing. However in the book it is said that they wanted to answer the same way as Mr Penruthlan but didn’t dare. The fact is that in the books, the Five are much politer. In the TV series people have to make them feel more ‘normal’, more ‘human’ and relatable, which is where the very un-1950’s behaviour comes in. This was definitely the screenplay writers way of making the Five a little less polished for a more modern audience.

Anyway, after this part, where I always have to mute, you get the Five going down to a beach and musing about wreckers, who play a big part in the whole story. They start to explore some caves and after some very suspicious editing, the beach which was clear of water is suddenly in danger of being cut off from the mainland. I am only nit-picking I know, but that’s what I’m here for! There is still a lot to fit in 25 minutes.

A character who is very present in the books and in the TV series is Yan, a local boy who befriends Timmy and tags after the Five, much to their annoyance. However, Yan’s grandfather is of great interest to the Five and when they visit him he tells them about the wreckers and how the light shines still on a stormy night. The boys make a pact to go and see the light. This scene with Grandad is good because there are lots of nice props to use; a wooden shepherds’ hut, a shepherds’ crook, and of course, lots of sweets. Apparently these ‘props’ kept being eaten in-between scenes. I suspect someone had to do several sweet runs!

The episode draws to a close with a late night stormy stroll with Julian and Dick, who fail to see the light, but find Mr Penruthlan out in the woods, and almost get caught by him. Could this mean he’s up to no good? And then the next night they take the girls out and again almost get caught. We’re left on a cliff hanger, waiting to see whether the Five are discovered in their little hide away. I suppose we shall have to wait for the next episode to find out!

The Five on the beach in Tremmanan (L-R) Paul Child as Dick, Laura Petela as Anne, Connal as Timmy, Jemima Rooper as George and Marco Williamson as Julian

The Five on the beach in Tremannon (L-R) Paul Child as Dick, Laura Petela as Anne, Marco Williamson as Julian

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The Famous Five Adventure Game book 2 as played by Fiona

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Fiona

Based on Five Go Adventuring Again this seems to be partly a book and partly a game. It’s not quite like the ones where you create your own story by choosing what direction to go in, as it’s based on an existing story. Rather, and this is where it becomes a real game, you have choices to make and can either go from A – B in one go (if you get the question right) or you have to take a series of steps along the way thus picking up red herrings. The less red herrings you pick up along the way, the better your score. That’s how I understand it anyway, having flicked through the first few pages.

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It’s just as well I’m not doing a textual comparison here as the first page is a truly hacked at version of the original – but it gets the point across that they can’t go to Anne’s home over Christmas, but must head to Kirrin where they will have a tutor. The whole story is chopped into fragments, so in order to read it it starts with section 1,  then jumping to 7 then 10 (which is somewhat time consuming!).

In section 10 our first choice comes when they head to the train station. George insists the Kirrin train always leaves from platform 6, but their teacher tells them that’s wrong and it’s platform 8. Which platform do you go to?

I deliberated for a while, actually. George is so hot-headed and stubborn that I wondered if she might be wrong just this once. In the end I trusted her and chose platform 6 (moving to section 14), which turned out to be right.

This is where my problem starts. After section 14, you’re directed back to section 5 and continue the story. But I needed to know what would have happened had I got it wrong (I hate missing part of a story even if it’s just alternate events) so I skimmed through sections 19, 3 and 13 to rejoin the main story at section 5.

RED HERRINGS ABOUND

The next question doesn’t seem to have a right or wrong answer. Either Uncle Quentin is there to pick them up, or he isn’t. I chose to say he isn’t – to match the book. If I had chosen to say he did meet them at the station I would have taken an alternative route through the next sections, and actually pick up one red herring, so it seems that was a wrong answer. (There were two red herrings for picking the wrong platform earlier.)

I’ve picked up a red herring now, though! I honestly didn’t believe that Timmy would bark at Uncle Quentin coming home, but apparently it’s because he’s driven up in his new car. Hmm. (Incidentally they still have the pony-trap which featured in the previous choice for the reader).

I’ve had to stop playing at section 205 (there are 355 in total) as reading it the way I am, it takes a long time! If I’d just going through the sections related to my answers it would have been quicker, but I’m obsessive and I’m reading every section back and forth…

Reading/playing is already slowed down by having to flick pages back and forth to reach each section in turn. Sometimes – regardless of which route I took – I had to jump through four or five sections to get to the next choice but I suppose that might be necessary to prevent cheating. It’s obviously carefully organised so that you don’t reveal any answers too early, and thankfully are never sent more than 15 or 20 pages in either direction at any time. I did sometimes find it hard to remember where I’d come from though. At the start of many sections there was italic text stating “if you have arrived from section#, score 1 red herring”, etc. Considering I was jumping back and forth even more than necessary I struggled to remember what section I had just been on!

I have to say that having read the book many times really helped. I just had to pick whichever answer fitted the book best – like what Mr Roland looked like, or who found the secret items in the farmhouse.

There were sometimes that it was purely luck though. One choice was between turning right or left on the way to the farmhouse – the wrong way would have given me FOUR red herrings, plus another one if I’d answered another question wrongly along the way.

Basically picking a wrong answer leads to a longer story, full of plotlines that aren’t from the book. If you say that the angry voice in the hall is “someone else” rather than “Uncle Quentin” you get led down a side-track about sheep which have escaped their pen, picking up multiple red herrings along the way. That would make it easier to guess, I think, as some would clearly add more to the story.

All of those factors make me confused as to how this is supposed to be a game with a score. There’s no puzzle factor to the questions, simply choices like which room to look in first. It’s so arbitrary and random sometimes that to get red herrings seems very unfair! There are even one or two instances where the “correct” route and the “wrong” route are the same length and have arbitrary differences, so it makes red herrings even more redundant.

TEXT AND ILLUSTRATIONS

The main text is lifted from the real book, but as I mentioned at the start it is pretty much mutilated. It has to be shortened to fit in – as this book is already 366 pages long. Around 30 or 40% is additional material for the red herrings, which unfortunately doesn’t leave room for the less essential parts of the story. It’s all there, but only in a bare-bones sort of way. Plus it’s horribly updated with “mum” and “dad”, torches instead of candles and there are even shell suits in the illustrations (if you’re going to use ‘modern’ illustrations at least use ones from the current decade! These game books were originally published in the 80s, so I’m assuming these are the original illustrations that came with them. It’s such a pity Hodder didn’t reinstate the Eileen Soper ones.)

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According to Goodreads I’m almost 60% of the way through the book and at my count I’ve picked up six red herrings. I’ll let you know how many I’ve accumulated by the end of the book – I’m aiming to be under 25 so I can consider myself “very good indeed”.

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First Monday of October

Posted on October 5, 2015 by Fiona

After Stef hurriedly threw together a Monday post last week we’ve switched so it’s my turn now. No wonder neither of us ever knows if we’re coming or going! Anyway, we do have a plan for the week:
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So we’ll see how that turns out.

In other news: Blyton made it to #20 in a list of the 50 greatest Britons, and Hachette have revealed some of their ideas for adding to the ‘Blyton Brand’.

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Stef’s six favourite Blyton books

Posted on October 2, 2015 by pippastef

So Fiona did her favourite six books for you last week and I promised I would do the same this week, so here goes. It is quite hard doing six! That sixth favourite was quite a hard choice to make.

The first book on the list is: Five on a Hike Together.

Five on a hike together audioHike has been one of my favourite Famous Fives since I came back to the books at about age eleven. I mostly think this was because I developed a bit of a crush on Marco Williamson who played Julian in the 90s TV series and the copy of Hike that I had, had him on the front. The story however remains one of my favourites, even after the crush faded, because its like a proper mystery, with the escaped convict, the treasure hunt and the villains, Dirty Dick and Maggie. A proper get your teeth into it, Famous Five adventure.

The second book on my list is: In the Fifth at Malory Towers

In the Fifth at Malory Towers has always been a fun story for me. I had it on cassette when I was little and used to listen to it over and over, and I would love the imagery of the pantomime coming together and the girls finally being old enough to see very grown up and sophisticated to little me. I loved the fact that Mary-Lou comes out of her shell and becomes the lead in the panto and that Alicia is finally humbled. Its such a colourful story that its my comfort reading. I love going back to In the Fifth, it feels like home.

In the Fifth at Malory Towers 1957 reprint by Lilian Buchanan

In the Fifth at Malory Towers 1957 reprint by Lilian Buchanan

My third book is: The Circus of Adventure

Now as you progress into the Adventure series people don’t seem to like them  very much, but Circus to me seems to have a real draw to it. Possibly because we get to really understand Jack Trent a bit more, and admire his absolute derring-do! What with Kiki on his shoulder he makes an amazing asset to the circus in which he travels and we have to follow Jack on his travels before everyone is reunited. The series could have ended there as River seems to pale in comparison to the others, and Circus could have been a very strong finish for the series.

The Circus of Adventure Dustjacket

The Circus of Adventure Dustjacket

Book number four is: Five go to Demon’s Rocks

Dustjacket of Five Go to Demon's Rocks

Dustjacket of Five Go to Demon’s Rocks

This is a book I love for the imagery. I love the idea of staying in a lighthouse, and the dramatic pictures of the wind and the rain against the windows of the light house and the dramatic ending. This is a five book that has it all, tunnels, treasure, escapes, rescues, thefts, in fact the only thing I think it doesn’t have is a kidnapping! With such a thrilling adventure with fun around every turn and plus the wonderful world of light houses at your fingertips, who can blame me for loving this story?

 

 

The fifth choice is: The Castle of Adventure

Illustrated boards by Stuart Tresilian

Illustrated boards by Stuart Tresilian

I enjoy The Castle of Adventure. I always imagine the whole story set in the Scottish borders, or up by Shropshire in the border with Wales, where ruined castles are the norm. In fact the old castle in the book is reminiscent in my head of Clun Castle in Shropshire (Can you tell I read Malcolm Saville as well?) The thrillingness of the story envelopes you, even though it all starts off a bit slowly, and at times stalls. Jack’s work with the eagles is wonderful to imagine and I’m jealous that he has the patience to sit in that hide all day and watch for the eagles. Again its one of Blyton’s best for scenery and imagination. The landscape in my head is of an unrivaled beauty and that, I’m sure, is what she was hoping for when she wrote her stories; that children could take her words and make the magic happen in their own heads. I’m sure we can all say, that is exactly what has happened.

My sixth and final choice is: Third Year at Malory Towers

Now this one I like because one my favourite characters is introduced, Wilhelmina Robinson, otherwise known as Bill. Bill is one of my favourite characters because she never becomes one of the silly girls. She’s a nice strong independent woman who knows her own mind and will think nothing of breaking the rules if she thinks something is unjust. The devotion between Bill and her horse, Thunder, is lovely to see as well. I’m one of these people who can appreciate the beauty of the horse from the right distance away, but I’m not any good up close and personal with them. I admire people who are though and who have that special bond with animals to make them fall under their spell. I also like this story because it has a nice dramatic ending which isn’t really seen in the last three novels. The late night dash through the rain to find the vet, is very much a vision of my dreams, especially as a child, such language and imagery created the perfect setting for a young, moldable mind.

Third Year at Malory Towers, dustjacket by Lillian Bouchanan

Third Year at Malory Towers, dustjacket by Lillian Bouchanan

So there you are, my six books! Do you agree with any of them? What would your six be and why? Drop us a comment or a blog and let us know!

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My twentieth Noddy book – Noddy and the Tootles

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Fiona

I can’t believe I’m almost done with the Noddy series now. I only have one more that I can review, then I’ll have to source the three I’m lacking. (Those would be Noddy Meets Father Christmas, Noddy and Tessie Bear and Cheer Up Little Noddy. I do have the last one but it is missing the first 18 or so pages!)

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As with Noddy and the Bunkey I start with a question before I’ve opened the book. What, or indeed who, are the tootles? Judging by the cover they’re some sort of musical people, and I’m sure I will discover more as I read.

The tale begins with Noddy in trouble for speeding (yet again!) and then comes along a horse-drawn caravan, also speeding. Out of it pours a band of raggedy children (at least 8 as shown in the illustration). The driver of the caravan introduces himself as Mr Tootle. His occupation: tootling. His children – or indeed his toots – are Tommy Toot, Timmy Toot, Tilly Toot, Tabitha Toot… 

As silly as it all is I do like all the alliteration and all the toot/tootle/tootlings.

So Mr Tootle has a tootle which is a sort of recorder or flute which he plays. It is somewhat Pied-Piper like as suddenly even Mr Plod wants to dance along. Dancing does not put him in a good mood, however, and he refuses to let the Tootle family park up their caravan and stay in Toy Village.

There wouldn’t be much of a story if the Tootles obeyed Mr Plod and really went away, though! So naturally Noddy discovers they have set up camp in the field at the bottom of his garden. He, Bruiny Bear and Bumpy-Dog pay them a visit and the little toots persuade him to bring his little car around to drive them about. This goes fine until three of them drive the car themselves and run it into a ditch. Mr Tootle promises to have it pulled out by the garage but it isn’t done by Noddy’s bed time and so he goes home without his car.

I was already getting a bad feeling about the Tootles. Mrs Tootle is not ill, despite what her husband said to Mr Plod while asking to stay. He also seems to not try very hard to get Noddy’s car sorted.

It comes as no surprise really, when the next morning the car is missing. Mr Plod is completely unsympathetic to Noddy’s plight; blaming him for getting involved with the troublesome Tootles in the first place. He certainly doesn’t intend to go traipsing about the whole of Toyland looking for them, no, Noddy can just make do with using the Tootles’ old horse that they left behind.

The Tootles’ horse has a terrible case of the sneezes, however, and rather enjoys eating leaves from trees instead of actually travelling from a to b. After an unfortunate crash with Big Ears the horse bolts, and leaves Noddy without even a sneezy mode of transport. He and Big Ears try to follow the horse and happen across the Tootles and more importantly his car. They claim he willingly swapped his car for their horse, and Noddy is rightfully outraged.

Mr Tootle, as if he is being so very generous, says Noddy can have his car back IF he returns their horse. Of course the horse has run off though, so it all seems hopeless. Using his tootle Mr Tootle tootles and makes Big Ears and Noddy dance, preventing them from doing very much about the car. It has the side effect of bringing the horse to them, though!

This is another story with a bit of a wishy-washy ending. Ok, so Noddy gets his car back but the Tootles intend to move off the next morning before Mr Plod could do anything about the theft. They never admit to having done anything wrong, nor do they apologise. Mr Tootle has left a little tootle for Noddy, though, as if that then makes it all fine.

Maybe it’s just me but I think such blatant wrong-doing deserves punishment!

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Whoops! It’s Monday!

Posted on September 28, 2015 by Fiona

So, er, yes; We forgot it was Monday today! Silly us! As Fiona has a busy morning ahead of her before she starts work, I’m just stepping in to bring you the schedule for this week.

Fiona will be bringing you her next Noddy review, which should be Noddy and the Tootles. I shall try and pick my six favourite Blytons to go with Fiona’s post from last week!

Oh! And for all of you who need to know, the cherry cake was lovely and moist but a little dense.

With that said, here’s one of my favourite pictures from a walk I did a few weeks ago, and I found this little snail clinging to a dead flower. Hope you like it!

Snail on Dead Flower by Stephanie Woods

Snail on dead flower by Stephanie Woods

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Making Blyton’s Food: Cherry cake

Posted on September 25, 2015 by pippastef

This week as I mentioned on my Monday post, we’ve got an extra special Making Blyton’s food because this cherry cake recipe comes from the woman herself!

The cherry cake recipe, which I found in the Enid Blyton Society Journal was actually first published in a book called ‘As We Like it’ Cookery Recipes by Famous People which was published in 1950.

How could I resist baking the actual cake that Blyton used to bake or had baked for tea and supper? Well, I couldn’t quite frankly but there was a problem. Due to my lateness in finding the recipe, I seem to inadvertently missed cherry season. There is not a supermarket down here in the south east that seems to have cherries in anymore. So I had to go to my fall back option: glacé cherries. In fact it was Fiona’s suggestion because I was panicking that I wouldn’t be able to make the cake.

So, let’s start with the ingredients Blyton provides us with:

  • 1/2lb of margarine (or 226g. Also I used butter)
  • 6oz of Castor sugar (or 170g)
  • 6 oz of Flour (or 170g)
  • 3 Eggs
  • 6 oz of Cherries (170g)
  • Few drops of Vanilla essence.

As you can see, its a fairly simple ingredients list and at first I wondered about not having any visible rising agent in the mix, but as the baking progressed it turned out not to be a problem.

So, worry not as I discovered. Now here’s your method:

  1. Beat the margarine and sugar til soft and creamy.
  2. Drop in eggs one by one and beat well in between each.
  3. Add flour gradually
  4. And lastly cherries and flavouring.
  5. If too stiff, add a little milk
  6. Bake in a moderate oven (I used gas mark 6) to start (about 30 minutes) and then drop to Regulo 3. (I took this to mean gas mark 3. Seemed to work well!)
  7. It takes about 1 and a half to 2 hours to bake. (In my oven it took an hour before the skewer came out clean- but see how you go!)

And that is literally all to the cherry cake! Such a simple thing! However there is no note of how big the tin ought to be, or how you should go about greasing the tin. I chose a smallish tin, with a removable bottom which helped with getting the cake out after baking and greased the tin with a little bit of the butter I used for the mixture.

Anyway the cake rose nicely and looks like a lovely vanilla-y sponge with some cherries inside. I’m just sorry that I didn’t get to make it with fresh cherries. However, next time!

Let me know what you think of the cake, and give it a try! We as Blytonites should have a proper go at this cake as it was written by our favourite author!

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Fiona’s six favourite Enid Blyton Books

Posted on September 23, 2015 by Fiona

I was rather stuck for a post this week as I didn’t want to subject you all to Noddy too many weeks in a row. This post was Stef’s idea as I hadn’t thought of anything myself and she assures me that she will do a post of her own at some point.

I’m actually pretty terrible at picking favourites (just think back to my three favourite characters post…). Ask me my favourite book and I’ll look horrified. I can’t even pick a favourite song (though I do have a favourite band)… and I’m just as bad with TV shows and movies. If you narrow it down to favourites from a particular author or genre I can sometimes come up with something, though.

So I have picked six, and I considered ranking them 6 to 1 but I think everyone knows what would come in at number one. With that in mind; in no particular order…

FIVE GO TO SMUGGLER’S TOP

This is my favourite Famous Five book, my favourite Enid Blyton book and one of my all time favourite books. I’m not sure I can explain why, it just has always been my favourite. I’ve always enjoyed the scene at the start with Julian waking up the sleeping household to warn them about the falling ash tree, and Smuggler’s Top has secret passages galore which I love. Block is a sinister (and clever) baddie and some combination of all those factors just puts this one at the top for me.

Julian warns everyone about the falling ash tree in "Five Go to Smuggler's Top" illustrated by Eileen Soper.

Julian warns everyone about the falling ash tree in “Five Go to Smuggler’s Top” illustrated by Eileen Soper.

THE CIRCUS OF ADVENTURE

My favourite title from the Adventure Series. Again, if you put it under the microscope it’s hard to identify exactly what makes it my favourite. I just love Kiki vs Gussy in the early chapters and then Jack insinuating himself into the circus to rescue the others. Then there’s that brilliant scene with Philip taming the bears, plus all the fun of disguising Gussy and the others as circus-folk to escape.

The Circus of Adventure without Dustjacket

Philip and the bears on the board of The Circus of Adventure

FIVE ON A HIKE TOGETHER

Another Famous Five title, but I can have 2 out of 21, cant I? I love this one for the thrill of an escaped convict and secret messages in the night. Two Trees, Gloomy Water, Saucy Jane, and Maggie knows as well! Treasure hunting at its finest.

Dick receiving Nailer's message in Five on a Hike Together

Dick receiving Nailer’s message in Five on a Hike Together

SECOND FORM AT MALORY TOWERS

I tend to like Malory Towers as a whole rather than adoring any individual book but I do have a soft spot for the second form in particular. It introduces Belinda, who along with Irene, is a great source of mirth. Plus it contains what has to be the most exciting scene from any Malory Towers book – Daphne rescuing Mary-Lou from the cliff top in a storm.

Second Form at Malory Towers dust jacket 1957 reprint by Lilian Buchanan

Daphne and Mary-Lou on the cover of Second Form at Malory Towers

HOLLOW TREE HOUSE

This was one I read over and over as a child. I loved the idea of making a house in the woods (I was one of those girls who was always playing ‘house’ and ‘mother’ in whatever tent I could rig up or shed I could get into) and my favourite parts of this book are actually the packing, moving and making of their new home.

Armada Paperback of "Hollow Tree House" cover uncredited.

The Armada paperback I had as a child.

THOSE DREADFUL CHILDREN

I also read this time and time again as a child. I know the title is meant to be ambiguous – we aren’t meant to know which set of children truly are the “dreadful” ones. As a child though, I always assumed it referred to the Taggertys as they were wild and grubby. It’s only as an adult that I can see that the prissy, sensitive Carletons are just as dreadful, just in a different way. Anyway, I always loved this story of two sets of children learning to get along despite their differences.

Armada paperback of "Those Dreadful Children", cover uncredited

Armada paperback I had as a child.

Posted in Personal Experiences, Reading Recommendations | Tagged , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Monday Again

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Fiona

Once more we are faced with another Monday and another week of blogs.

This week I am going to try and bring you a cherry cake from a recipe in the Enid Blyton Society Journal. This is a recipe that the woman herself supplied for a book, and I’m hoping to try and replicate. Its a shame that I discovered it just at the end of cherry season! Still I hope I can find some in the supermarkets!

Fiona will surprise us all (and herself I suspect) with a blog this week as she isn’t quite sure what she’ll be doing!

This week I’m leaving you with a few pictures from a walk of mine to a place called Sonning a few weeks ago. These are some of the pictures from the church yard. Hope you like them!

 

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Famous Five 90s Style: Five Have a Wonderful Time, part 2

Posted on September 18, 2015 by pippastef

After promising you this blog last week and failing to write it, I hope you don’t mind me bringing you the second part of Five have a Wonderful Time, part 2. Part 1 can be found here if you need to refresh your memory.

So we start the episode with Dick on the phone to Julian, updating him on their progress and the face at the window of the tower at Faynights. Julian, in his wheel chair at the holiday cottage, warns them to be careful and its clear to see that he’s fed up of being at home while the others are off having a wonderful time (see what I did there? ;)) However, here isn’t much he  can do and hangs up, not before we get a lovely little domestic scene between Uncle Quentin and Aunt Fanny. Basically it seems to be that Aunt Fanny is at the end of her tether with Quentin’s absentmindedness and is blinkered view of the world. Its not a scene that would really happen in the books because Aunt Fanny seems to be the most patient of souls but I suppose everyone has their breaking point. Its a funny little scene to inject some humour into the episode, although you would have thought with Dick being in charge there was enough of that going on!

Sniffer plays a big part of this episode, more than he did in the other one, mostly because in the book Jo steps up to a bigger role, and the absense of Julian means that there is more scope for Lee Turnbull as Sniffer. Turnbull and Paul Child (Dick) almost have to compete with each other for the lead of the Five. Jemima Rooper and Laura Petela as George and Anne respectively just seem to be the steadying influence to the boys and let them bicker before settling on a decision. Its a shame that we don’t have more of a feisty George from Rooper because a three way battle to lead the Five would be something worth watching.

Another thing I have noticed about the second series that Rooper’s George becomes much more mature and doesn’t have the temper tantrums that she does in the books and in the first series. Maybe it was because the characters seemed to mature between series or maybe it was to show the Five in a different light. Again, its one of the questions I would love to ask the producers. Perhaps I shall have to dig out my Sherlock Holmes style detective skills and see if I can track anyone down for a Q&A!

The episode feels fairly clunky if I’m honest, the viewing of the castle, the arrival of Timmy in the castle and then the discovery of the secret passage is… not the most elegant. The secret way into the castle turns out to be an old wooden door that, literally anyone playing around near the castle could have found, and its sort of an anticlimax. There is very little excitement in the discovery, and the exploration of the secret passage. Its all done very methodically and carefully, taking the fun out of the episode. Unfortunately I can see why this one has been made into a two parter, but I wish it hadn’t. Had it not been for Marco Williamson’s (Julian) broken leg, the episode would have fitted quite simply into one 25 minute episode, and given that there are other books that would have benefitted more from a two parter, its a shame that this one had taken up that option for other adaptations.

The rest of the episode gallops through rather quickly, not really spending a lot of time looking at the finer parts of the story. Julian however has given the others a two hour time limit to do some exploring and then phone back. However surely he must know that’s not long enough?

However, given that the others and sniffer get themselves into a bit of a pickle, maybe its a good think Julian only gives them two hours to get back to him. At least then it means that he’s perfectly justified in telling the ‘responsible’ adult a.k.a Aunt Fanny and Uncle Quentin of what has been going on.

Well long story short, the episodes of Five have a Wonderful time, could be much better executed but its all really down to the fact that Williamson had a broken leg and so much had to be changed to accommodate the injury.

What are your thoughts on the episodes? Do you think they did alright? Let me know in the comments.

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Noddy Goes to Toyland – How has Blyton’s original text fared in a modern edition?

Posted on September 16, 2015 by Fiona

A while back I picked up a 2007 “classic treasury” of Noddy in a charity shop. It contains the first five books (which I already have) but at £3 it seemed a bargain for such a big chunky book. I’m aware that some newer editions of Noddy have been altered beyond just removing the gollies so it will be interesting to see what this one is like.

DSCN3716 (640x480)I think I’ll deal with the text first then do a bit about the illustrations. At first I thought there weren’t going to be any and this would be a very short blog, then they started appearing!

A couple of changes seem to have been introduced for clarity. When Noddy is riding behind Big-Ears on his bike it originally said he [Noddy] clutched at his pointed ears in fright, which could I suppose be mistaken for Noddy clutching his own ears. It has become he clutched at the brownies’ ears, although in the next sentence Big-Ears is scolding him for holding his ears and so makes it clear anyway.

Also, when Big-Ears takes Noddy house hunting it was said that it was no good, there were families in each one [house]. That could sound like there was more than one family in each house and so has become there was  a family in every one. 

Gollies have been removed from the text completely. Golliwog Town has been replaced with Monkey Town, with three monkeys rather than gollies boarding the train there.

Gay wooden carriages are now bright, and for some reason it is now Toy Town and not Toy Village. (Perhaps to tie in with Monkey Town/Toy Cat Town etc?) At the station there is a Bouncing Ball (and a spinning top) with the capitals being lost in the treasury which makes sense, I think.

Originally the pair are advised to go to the market as the shops are so dear. In the treasure it is because it’s much cheaper there. When they go to buy bricks to build a house there saw that a toy soldier guarded the place. This has become a toy soldier stood on guard outside. 

Mr Tubby’s wife was once much fatter than he was. Now she is just as fat as he was. At least they aren’t Mr and Mrs Healthy-weight-for-their-height. After that she is referred to as his wife, instead of his fat little wife. 

The usual modernisation have occurred with some hyphens being removed (side-window is now side window) and there are no longer full stops after Mr and Mrs.

Finally, the judge at the end of the story has become a woman. She was the judge instead of he. Instead of sir/ Mr Judge, she is called miss/ Miss Judge which seems a little odd.  Surely the equivelent should be madam? Teachers are sir/miss usually but when women hold important offices they’re not usually called miss.

A few mistakes have crept in too. A new speaker is not given a new line at the end of a chapter (almost looks deliberate to keep it from going over onto the next page) prompting me to think NSNL! Or maybe it was NSNNL – New speaker needs new line as was so often scrawled in homework jotters! Also thinking has been misprinted as thiking at one point.

Onto the illustrations, then. All the illustrations have been reproduced, bar the very last one with Noddy in his chair asleep. That’s been replaced with a plain picture of Noddy.

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All the illustrations have been enlarged to fit the pages which are twice the size of the originals. They appear to be the originals by Beek as his signature appears in some (he didn’t sign all the illustrations in the original but there are some in the original which feature a signature which is missing in the treasury). They do appear to have been touched up slightly, however as some have bolder outlines in places. The colours have been altered too, and given a paler tones. For me they have lost much of their warmth and no longer capture the bright, jolly atmosphere of Toyland.

The gollies have been removed from the illustrations too – or at least those that accompany the first story. There is a golly on the contents page still.

Gollie replaced with dark-skinned doll
Gollie replaced with doll
Gollie replaced with monkey and elephant
Gollie replaced with monkey
Gollie replaced with monkey
Gollies replaced with monkeys

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So we can see the gollies have been replaced with a variety of other Toyland inhabitants. In pretty much every scene the new character is in the same position and is a like for like swap but the Gollie Town/Monkey Town scene has been entirely redrawn as shown below.

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The Toyland triangular trees have been replaced with ‘regular’ shaped ones and several characters are completely different like the mother and child instead of a bike rider. It doesn’t resemble Toyland at all, now.

So those are all the changes I could see. Incidentally the stories began perfectly aligned (and I mean perfectly word by word), which made it much easier to read and compare but as it went on it somehow began to slide. There’s one page which has the illustration above instead of below the text as well, and the full-page illustrations have been given captions.

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Monday

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Fiona

Last week was a wash-out blogging-wise so this week we’re just going to attempt to  do what we were supposed to have already done? Clear as mud? Good.

mintblog

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Apple Song – A poem by Enid Blyton

Posted on September 11, 2015 by pippastef

I’m bringing you a poem today about apples from The Enid Blyton Poetry Book. I decided on this poem over others because there are so many apples around at the moment, falling from wayside trees and leaving a plentiful bounty for those happy foragers to pick that I just had to share it!

Apple Song

Apples on the apple trees, brown and red and yellow,
Apples on the grass below, juicy, sweet and mellow,
Apples in our baskets, apples by the score,
Apples in the apple-room, hundreds there and more!

Apples on the sideboard, polished till they gleam,
When the firelight flickers, how they wink and beam!
Apples in the kitchen, shivering in their skin,
Wondering why Cook has fetched her biggest baking-tin!

Apples in an apple-pie, baked a golden brown.
Apples in a dumpling, with a sugared crown.
Apples in a pudding, with custard for a tweet,
Apples raw and juicy, crisp and very sweet!

Oh, sing a song of apples, the nicest fruit of all,
Apples big and rosy, apples round and small,
And when we’ve finished singing, we’ll go and help ourselves,
And choose some lovely big ones from the store-room shelves!

So there we are, doesn’t it make you want an apple right now? And does anyone know what an “apple room” is, as mentioned in line four? Is it just basically a pantry?

Hope you enjoyed the poem.

 

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First Monday of September

Posted on September 7, 2015 by Fiona

Well we have reached September, the weather has been increasingly colder and I’ve already dug out my winter jumpers and pyjamas. Have you been getting cold?

Anyway way we’re up for an exciting week this week. Fiona is going to do a comparison between old and new editions of Noddy books, and I shall be reviewing the second half of Five Have a Wonderful Time from the 90s TV series.

I don’t think there’s much news again this week, so I’m going to leave you with a selection of pictures from a recent trip to Oxford.

The Ashmolean Museum
War monument
One of the Oxford Colleges (I can’t remember which!)
The Pitt Rivers Museum
Postbox set into the wall
The Bodleian Library
Church steeple in nightlight

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Famous Five 90s Style: Five Have a Wonderful Time, part 1

Posted on September 4, 2015 by pippastef

George, Anne, Dick and Julian, after Julian's "Accident".

George, Anne, Dick and Julian, after Julian’s “Accident”.

I have decided to do Five Have a Wonderful Time in two parts, because it is a two-part episode and because I think that this adaptation needs to be looked at in two different chunks. A lot of character development and shifting of control in the Five happens in these two episodes all for one actor’s little mistake.

The actor in question is Marco Williamson, who managed to break his leg at some point between filming episodes for the second season. This disrupts the smooth running of the story lines, particularly in this episode and Five go off in a Caravan. This episode starts out fineish, with the Five sitting on some old steps in a church yard and moaning about the fact that there is nothing to do on this holiday while they are staying at the rectory. I assume by this point in filming that the lack of motion from the Five and the fact that you never actually see them moving around that Williamson had already broken his leg and they were doing their best to hide it.

Anyway this is the first major change in this episode because George isn’t the one who’s ill and joins the others later on. They all start off on holiday together. Uncle Quentin isn’t supposed to be working of course, which is the whole point of this holiday, but he has invited colleagues to the house which annoys Aunt Fanny (she gets into a rare mood with him- frustrated at his lack of holiday mood I suppose) and then invited the scientists, Derrk Terry-Kane and Jeffery Pottersham to dinner.

The Five are bored stiff at the conversation betwen Pottersham and Uncle Q, but Terry-Kane tries to talk to George about Timmy before he’s rudely interrupted by Pottersham saying that he thought they were discussing science.

We switch scenes to the Five being in bed and the assumption that its late at night or possibly early in the morning as it seems quite light outside. Julian wakes from his sleep when he hears people leaving the house, climbing out onto a tree outside his window he observes that the scientists are being kidnapped and in trying to get a better look at a clue “falls” out of the tree. In all honesty I am assuming this was a stunt double because I do genuinely think that Williamson had broken his leg before filming.

This however, is the way in the story that Julian breaks his leg. He makes up the story with Dick’s help that he was climbing the tree (in the middle of the night), fell out and broke his leg while watching the scientists being led away. Uncle Quentin doesn’t believe him however and raves about how rude it was of them.

With one thing and another the other four, Dick, George and Anne with Timmy get to go off camping with Julian being left behind. They take tents, another deviation from the book where they camp in caravans, but still have the problems with the fair folk in the same field. The reason they decided to go and camp where they did, at the bottom of a ruined castle, is because Julian’s clue that he discovered on his fall from the tree, is where the scientists are being kept there as prisoners.

The adventure seems to be over before it begins however because the fair folk seem determined to rid themselves of the Five from their field. The day is saved however when Sniffer turns up and tells the fair folk that Dick, George and Anne are his friends.

A big change from the book as I’m sure you know. Chronologically we’ve not met Sniffer properly yet (played by Lee Turnbull) because his only proper adventure with the Five is in Five Go to Mystery Moor. For some reason the producers decided not to use Vanessa Cavanagh as Jo and replaced her with Sniffer. This is one of those non-nonsensical changes that probably made sense at the time of filming but without any notes or information to hand, seems baffling to a fan. Anyway, here is Sniffer, who saves the day with the fair folk and gives the remainder of the Five chance to investigate.

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A new dynamic comes out in this episode, and in fact starts to appear as a reoccurring theme throughout the second series, with Dick having to be in charge, because he’s the boy. Paul Child gives a good go of a young boy muddling through without his elder brother, having waited for this moment all his life to be in charge, but then not really delivering the result his sister and cousin are used to. George and Anne tease him something rotten about how Julian would have figured this all out quicker, and dismiss his theories about the missing scientists.

From this however, comes a changed Dick where he begins to override Julian, take charge more and challenge his brother. For Julian this is all a bit sudden, new and strange, and you can certainly see that in the later episodes. Five on a Hike Together is a good example on how Julian reacts to the challenge in authority.

From the point of the fair folk and exploring the castle, the story seems to be mostly faithful to the book, but there are a few fair niggly bits for a fan like me. Why Sniffer for example?

Anyway. That’s all for now, and I shall review part two of Five Have a Wonderful Time, very soon! What do you think of part one though? Can you see why Sniffer was chosen over Jo? If you can, please let me know what you think in the comments.

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My nineteenth Noddy book: Mr Plod and Little Noddy

Posted on September 2, 2015 by Fiona

I’m hoping this book isn’t going to be continuing the feud between Noddy and Mr Plod as I wrote enough complaints about it last time. The fact that the cover features Mr Plod in hospital doesn’t fill me with confidence! Noddy and Mr Plod really remind me of the relationship between Mr Goon and Fatty though I usually felt Mr Goon deserved the bad treatment he got a lot more.

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After several absences we are back to a typical start with the Milkman’s morning visit and Noddy’s nodding head. The main plot of the book is really about paint and not Mr Plod. A better title would have been Noddy and the Paint, perhaps!

First Noddy is sent off to fetch paint for the Tubby Bears next door and end up getting himself some paint, too. He worries Mr Plod might stop him for driving too fast but as it turns out Mr Plod is up a tall ladder painting the police station. From there he can see the whole of Toy Village and the visitors arriving at Noddy’s house.

Noddy heads home to greet Tessie Bear and Bumpy Dog who is as badly behaved as ever. Bruiny Bear (I can’t recall ever seeing that name before for the Tubby Bears’ son?) has returned Noddy’s red stool to him so they sit inside before Noddy has to go stop Bumpy Dog digging up his garden. Only then does he discover he has been sitting on a freshly painted stool and now has red paint on his shorts. Bruiny Bear strikes a second time while Noddy’s looking at the mess, and paints red spots all over Bumpy Dog.

Before anything can be done about it though, the news comes that Mr Plod has fallen off his ladder. Given their previous animosities Noddy was rather considerate earlier, hoping that Mr Plod wouldn’t fall off the ladder. When he hears that the policeman has hurt himself however, he begins to gush.

Well- I’m VERY VERY sorry… Mr Plod is cross with me sometimes, but I do like him, Big-Ears, and I think he’s a good policeman. I’m SO sorry he’s fallen off his ladder. I’ll take him to hospital at once in my car.

Well that’s a rather abrupt change of tune. Perhaps it’s just his impetuous nature but in previous stories Noddy has said some fairly harsh and angry things about Mr Plod.

Anyway, the toys of Toy Village are up in arms now that Mr Plod is in hospital.

Who will protect them against robbers? Who will direct traffic and make sure cars don’t go too fast? Who will stop Mickey Monkey being rude and pulling faces? they ask. Seems like Mr Plod is an exceptionally busy policeman. The answer, perhaps surprisingly, is that Big Ears will do the policing!

He’s certainly fierce but he can’t be everywhere at once (goodness knows how Mr Plod manages it) and there is a spate of robberies all of a sudden. Noddy does the investigating while Big Ears directs traffic, and he is remarkably clever in his deductions. Probably cleverer than he ever has been before and it isn’t long before he has rounded up the criminals (showing more bravery than ever before!)

So for a book with Mr Plod in the title he doesn’t actually feature very often! It’s a reasonable story if a little segmented. It would actually be useful as a story for showing children that hospitals aren’t scary as several characters say how awful it must be to be in hospital, then they find out Mr Plod is having a wonderful time. It might be an idea to omit the mention of his favourite cigarettes sitting on his bed, though!

One strange thing I noticed is when it comes time for Noddy to confront the thieves the book suddenly switches to Blyton talking to Noddy and it goes on for almost a whole page of “Be careful, Noddy… Hurry Noddy…” and so on. Then, instead of going back to the usual past-tense narrative (Noddy walked along the road) we have the rest of this chapter in present tense (Noddy walks along the road). Then in chapter eight we go back to past-tense. I’m sure children won’t notice that, but I did!

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Last Monday of August

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Fiona

August (and the bit of summer that finally arrived) is almost over now. August saw the 13th and final instalment of The Island of Adventure comparisons – a project I started in October last year. So September will mean a new title for me to work on.

Coming up this week:

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I’ve even checked my book has all its pages this time, that’s how organised I’ve been!

My new flat is in the perfect place to capture the suns setting over Dundee and the Angus hills so I will end on a few photos taken from the hill just behind where my books and I live now.

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The Trials of Aunt Fanny – Feeding the Five (and Quentin)

Posted on August 30, 2015 by Fiona

Excerpts from Aunt Fanny’s 1956 diary.

JULY 18 1956

I spent all day in the kitchen with Joanna. We prepared six large hams, fourteen pies, eighty four rounds of sandwiches and they demolished it all in ten minutes. Quentin forgot to eat anything, of course and so I had to take him mustard on cornflakes in the evening – he’s developed quite  a liking for them. I’m going to bed early as I’ll need to make a start on breakfast at five am. Any later and I won’t have enough ready by the time the Five rise.

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JULY 22nd 1956

I managed to persuade Quentin to go for a walk this afternoon to clear his head. He’s been stuck on some problem with his work and I thought it would do him good to get some fresh air. It also allowed me to sneak into his study to tidy up a little. I found a plate of roast beef (from two days ago!) mouldering in one of his desk drawers, countless half-drunk cups of tea littering every surface and at least four half-eaten sandwiches on his desk. I offered the stale remains to the children but for once they didn’t seem hungry. Timmy wasn’t so discerning, though. Better than a rubbish bin, that dog.

JULY 28th 1956

The children aided in rescuing a run-away horse earlier this week (thank goodness it didn’t turn into one of their full-blown adventures!) and so Lord Daniron himself came around to say thank-you this afternoon. Of course I had to put out one of my best cakes and it was all gone within minutes. The Lord has quite an appetite, and the Five helped too, naturally. I always bake several cakes at a time when the children are home and there was another one for after dinner thankfully.

AUGUST 9th 1956

That dratted dog! I forgot to lock the larder door this afternoon, in my rush to answer the telephone. It was one of Quentin’s colleagues who just couldn’t understand that Quentin wasn’t at home. It took me quite five minutes before he agreed to call back tonight, assuming he will actually remember. By the time I got back to the kitchen Timmy had gobbled down an entire meal’s worth of sausages. Now there will only be the meat pies, salad and two loaves of bread. Everyone apart from Timmy and I will be starving!

SEPTEMBER 3rd 1956

Thank goodness the children have gone back to school! Now it’s just Quentin I have to worry about. Our food bill has gone back down to around a tenth of what it is during the hols – thank goodness for those gold ingots – they’ve been keeping the children fed over the summer! Joan and I will finally have time to do something other than cook and clean, now. Perhaps I’ll get on with weeding the garden. 

scrap-paper

 

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Making Blyton’s Food: Heroic Chocolate Cake by Jane Brocket

Posted on August 28, 2015 by pippastef

Well I managed to make a cake, but its not strictly Blyton. I reverted to Jane Brocket’s book after my foray into Delia last time, but unfortunately the baking Blyton saviour did not have a Blyton Chocolate cake, and we do know that Joanna, the Five’s busy cheerful cook, makes some smashing chocolate cakes.

So I had a problem. Who’s recipe was I going to follow? I combed all the books we had at home, but only a few yielded a decent chocolate cake recipe. I even tried the numerous cookbooks by Mary Berry, who many of us Brits know from her amazing long spanned career and time on the Great British Bake off, and unfortunately she couldn’t provide a basic chocolate cake. Hense why I’m back at Jane Brocket.

However I have had to use her recipe for Roald Dahl chocolate cake from Matilda and specifically the scene where Bruce Bogtrotter is forced to eat a massive chocolate cake in front of the whole school by Miss Trunchbull. Before  you despair however, this chocolate cake is worthy of our lovely Joanna and if you use the full quantities will make a cake that serves it would even defeat the Five I’m sure!

I halved the quantities because I knew that I didn’t have 12 to 16 people to feed it to right now (given that my entire family unit is now on a weight loss program) and I didn’t want use to scoff the lot. I shall give the amended quantities for the cake I made as well as the one in the book. The larger amount may be best used for a special occasion where there would be lots of people to enjoy it and share! Unless of course you are greedy and can eat that big a cake!

Anyway, onwards with the recipe.

Part One: To make the cake

  • 350g /or to halve: 175g of Soft Brown Sugar
  • 350g /175g soft butter
  • 6/ 3 eggs
  • 270g/135g self-raising flour
  • 80g/40g good quality cocoa powder
  • 1 teaspoon of baking powder (this stays the same)
  • 2-3 or 1-2 tablespoons of full cream milk
  • Optional: Chocolate buttons or Maltesers (or anything you fancy) to decorate

Part Two: To make the Filling and Topping
N/B if you’re doing the half quantities of cake mixture you need to use a QUARTER of the buttercream for the topping because you won’t be able to cut the cake in half if you use a shallow tin for baking.

  • 350g /45g icing sugar
  • 115/29g good quality cocoa powder
  • 150g/40g soft butter
  • 3-4/ 1-2 tablespoons of milk

You will also need 26cm round cake tin, greased with butter and lined with grease proof paper.

Steps:

  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C or Gas Mark 4
  2. In a large mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter until light and fluffy (Muggins here decided that I was going to do this with a wooden spoon, felt very proud when she managed it, feeling like a proper cook and then realized I could have used an electric whisk! Bother!)
  3. Add the eggs to to the mixture one at a time, beating well in after each addition.
  4. Measure out the flour, cocoa and baking powder in a bowl, then sift them into the large bowl (with the other mixture).
  5. Spoon the mixture into the tin and level the surface.
  6. Bale for 50-55 or 30-40min (depending on what quantities you chose to bake with) until a metal skewer or sharp knife inserted in the cake comes out clean.
    a: Check the cake after 30 or 15 mins and if necessary place a sheet of foil over the top to prevent it from burning.
  7. Leave the cake in its tin on a wire rack to cool completely and then turn out
  8. To make the filling and topping, sift the icing sugar and cocoa powder into a large bowl and add the butter and 2 tablespoons of milk.
  9. Mix well with a round-ended knife or electric whisk, adding more milk if necessary to make the butter icing soft and easy to spread (I used a spoon for the whisking).
  10. Taste, and adjust flavour with more icing sugar or cocoa if necessary.
  11. Only do this step if you have enough cake to cut in half!: Carefully cut the cake into two layers. Spread a good quantity of the butter icing on the bottom layer, replace the top layer and cover the whole cake with the rest of the icing.
  12. If you’ve used the half and quarter quantities, just but a layer of icing on the top and around the sides of the cake. Or just on top if you’d rather, like I did.
  13. Optional Step: Arrange chocolate buttons and/or Maltesers on the topping if using.

And there we have it. Your very own delicious, Joanna would be proud of, Roald Dahl inspired (but we know Blyton would love it) chocolate cake.

And my word it is delicious!

Let me know if you make it! I would like to know what everyone else thinks!

 

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The Island of Adventure – How has Blyton’s original text fared in a modern edition? part 13

Posted on August 26, 2015 by Fiona

We are finally in the home stretch for this lengthy comparison. There were only three chapters left of the book and I got them all done tonight! For my next comparison series I will pick something short – I’m thinking Noddy!

All the previous posts can be found here, in parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven and twelve.

My own copy of the book is an 8th impression from 1955 (it was my mum’s before it was mine) and the modern copy I’m comparing it to is a Macmillan one from 2001 (one I borrowed from Stef).

Ready to finish
Island of Adventure Millennium edition by Larry Ronstant

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: A LOT OF THINGS ARE MADE CLEAR

I only spotted two changes made to this chapter. The first was a standard replacement – weird for queer. The second was one of the ones that actually made sense as much as I hate to admit it. The original text the boys are talking about the counterfeit money being used by the thieves or their masters. The word thieves has been replaced with crooks in the millennium edition. Crooks may well be a more accurate word as we have no evidence that the men have stolen anything, merely that they are producing fake money.

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: TRAPPED

Just as I was thinking the last few chapters would make for a short blog I started finding changes on nearly every page.

Jo-Jo’s words about killing Kiki have been changed from I’ll pay my debt now to I’ll pay me debt now. Some of his more colloquial language has been written out already so I can’t understand why poor English has suddenly been inserted now, unless it’s just a mistake.

Instead of Kiki flying as silently as a bat she flies as silent as a bat. 

Several descriptions of Jo-Jo get altered. Black is removed from his black face gleaming in the moonlight, and white is removed from showing his white teeth. Amazingly white is also removed when he shows his teeth again, and rather than being a stupid, half-crazy fellow he is now a stupid, grumpy fellow. 

Hyphens continue to be removed from some phrases like bank-notes but one instance of queer is left in place.

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: ALL’S WELL THAT ENDS WELL

There are plenty more changes to end on in this final chapter! One thing that wasn’t changed, though, was the one instance where Lucy-Ann is simply referred to as Lucy. I’ve never noticed that before I don’t think!

Bill no longer talks about dear Jo-Jo’s boat, he just says they’ll take  Joe’s boat. Obviously the dear is sarcastic but I don’t think it was necessary to remove it.

A lengthy speech from Jack about Mrs Mannering also gets cut : She’s just wasted as a business woman I think,” said Jack to Philip. “She’s a mother and she ought to live like a mother and have a nice home of her own and you and Dinah with her.” Clearly this tripped the gender equality sensor and therefore got cut down to: “It’s a shame your mother can’t have a nice home of her own and you and Dinah with her,” said Jack to Philip.

After that Dinah says that is the plan and there is enough money so that Mrs Mannering can stop her hard work. Instead now she can stop working so hard. 

I can see why this has been changed. The editor has looked at it and said “we can’t promote the stereotype of women staying at home and being mothers and  home makers.” By making this change they rather imply that all women ought to go out to work and have joined all the people who make working mothers feel guilty about leaving their children to earn an income. If Mrs Mannering has chosen to stay at home with her children who she has barely seen over the past few years then I say good for her!

When Woffly (the mouse) runs out at the dinner table it upset Dinah and made everyone laugh. Perfectly fitting given Dinah’s dislike of Philips creatures but the millennium edition merely reads that it made everyone laugh. The original text may give the idea that people are laughing at Dinah’s discomfort but it can also be read as two separate things that happen at the same time. Either way, it is not a necessary change.

More hyphens are removed, this time from well-water, motor-boats and ginger-beer, and for a fitting end the final sentence is altered. Like earlier in the book Kiki’s cry of God save the king becomes God save the queen.

I’m going to count that as nine changes which brings us to a final tally of 128. Out of interest I have done a quick count of two words: queer and black. Queer appeared 40 times in the original text – 28 were changed to something else while 12 were left alone. Jo-Jo was referred to as black 35 times all of which were changed.

To compare the number of changes across all the books I’ve done so far:

First Term at Malory Towers – 133

The Island of Adventure – 128

Five on a Treasure Island – 117

The Secret Island – 59

The order changes however if you calculate how many changes we get per chapter (on average):

Five on a Treasure Island – 7

First Term at Malory Towers – 6

Island of Adventure – 4.5

The Secret Island – 3

So the fight for the most altered Blyton novel continues!

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