Since the 1930s, Enid Blyton’s fantasy and adventure novels have captured millions of imaginations and been a bedtime staple for households. It was therefore to readers’ delight that Malory Towers received the small screen treatment back in 2020 (garnering critical acclaim), however The Famous Five franchise hasn’t been touched since the mid-1990s.
But that’s all about to change because Julian, Dick, George, Anne and Timmy the Dog – arguably Enid Blyton’s most famous mystery-solving crew – have been reimagined by Nicholas Winding Refn (Drive, Bronson) and the result is three feature-length episodes (the first of which is set to premiere on CBBC and BBC iPlayer on 9 December) that will delight both grandma and the kids alike.
The first episode - entitled The Curse of Kirrin Island - sees Julian (Elliott Rose), Dick (Kit Rakusen), George (Diaana Babnicova), Anne (Flora Jacoby Richardson) and Timmy (Kip the Dog) fight to protect George's beloved Kirrin Island from being bought by Wentworth (a moustachioed Jack Gleeson aka Joffrey Baratheon from Game of Thrones) who seems intent on destroying the picturesque location, believing treasure to be buried there.
Grazia caught up with actress Ann Akinjirin (Moonknight, I May Destroy You), who plays Fanny – the mother of George – in the series.
‘All three episodes are brand new stories which is really exciting,’ she explains. ‘We get to make it our own, rather than feeling beholden to what came before. Naturally we stayed respectful to the source material, but we were able to make it special.’
And whilst the idiom goes ‘Never work with animals or children’, those were the two things that drew Ann Akinjirin to The Famous Five.
She jokes, ‘I know they say not to do it, but I absolutely love working with children and these kids are just incredible. They were so much fun to be around. And Kip, who plays Timmy, was just a treat to work with. It absolutely blew my mind how good he was.’
Also a delight to work with was James Lance (Ted Lasso) who plays Ann Akinjirin’s on-screen husband Quentin.
‘I felt really lucky to have had James as my screen partner. We were a very small core cast - the only characters that go across all three episodes were the kids, myself and James so we spent the whole summer together. James and I just got on immediately and we're still very dear friends.
‘We'd never worked together before, but we developed this really lovely, fun, light, mischievous friendship off set and we would constantly try and find ways to sneak that into the way we played Fanny and Quentin.’
The obvious enjoyment that the cast had whilst filming in the South West - we're talking Cornwall, Cardiff and the Brecon Beacons - really comes across on screen in the first episode of The Famous Five, The Curse of Kirrin Island.
Ann Akinjirin agrees acknowledging, ‘It really felt like we were on a summer holiday because we filmed the show over the summer when it was boiling hot and were basically just having a lovely time in all of these beautiful locations. It didn’t feel like we were in the UK at all, but more like we were in The Cayman Islands.’
In fact, the whole series feels a bit like a summer holiday: not everything works as smoothly as intended, but you can’t help feeling – as The Famous Five themselves would say – that you’ve had a jolly nice time. Ginger beer anyone?
The Famous Five will premiere on Saturday 9 December at 5.25pm on CBBC and BBC iPlayer. It will also air on BBC One between Christmas and New Year. Two more episodes of The Famous Five will follow in 2024.
Daisy Hall is a News and Entertainment writer on Grazia, specialising in TV and film meaning that you can count on Daisy for the latest (and best) recommendations.