Just so...so bad

Absolutely amazing

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

This 90's series is on the whole very well done, although it's so fast paced as to be almost absurd, in order to fit the programme into a 25 minute slot. Within seconds of arriving at wherever it's supposed to be, the kids and Timmy have found secret passages/treasure/spies.Some of the story lines become absurd in the way the bad guys behave, for instance, in one episode they simply allow the kids to wander about their grounds without giving them a good hiding, or tying them up.As an adult watching this, it's impossible not to think of the Comic Strip spoof on the Famous Five, and it's almost like this 90's series, made a long time *after* the spoof is trying reverse spoof the spoof, if that makes sense. You half expect the baddies to say "blah blah blah", and they nearly do. When Timmy falls ill, you've an expectation that Julian will say, "Don't worry we'll get another." The difference between this version and the 70's one is this doesn't try to be contemporary, rather it goes for the nostalgia of the late 40's, early 50's, and so you can't throw a cry of "unrealistic dialogue" at it. One thing that drama producers in the 90's and beyond have got licked is getting young people to act, especially good is George, played by Jemima Rooper, who at 15 was considerably older than her portrayed character - if she looks familiar, it's because she was Bobby in a remake of the Railway Children.

When I was younger, this used to be on CITV (Children's Intergallactic Television) quite a bit. When it was on it was quite an interesting show of kids against adults. Basically four kids and one dog (making five) solve mysteries even though their parents tell them not to meddle in other people's business. That's the thing, they never listen and the parents never let them. But they always managed to solve the crime in the end, catch the bad guy/girl. I did like some of the story lines, but after a while it started to get a bit boring so I only watched it when I felt like it. The only annoying thing about it was I couldn't tell if George was a boy or a girl. Worth watching!

It's a good mini series with young actors that have a lot of talent. All is filmed in beautiful landscapes in the west of England. I have appreciated it very much because that's like the books of Enid Blyton (I have all the collection of these books). If you like the adventures of "the famous five", you will enjoy this series.