Enid Blyton’s Famous Five Return To The S.O.U.R.C.E

REMEMBER the Famous Five?

No, not the Fab Four… No, not Five Star…

What, none of you? Doesn’t anybody have any appreciation of our literary heritage?
The Famous Five were Dick (a “clever dick” in the days when that meant something completely innocent), Julian (the sensible leader), George (the sort of girl who would have been called a “tomboy”), Anne (the proper girl who did the washing-up) and Timmy the dog.

They spent their time having adventures which usually involved bringing surly criminals and suspicious foreigners to the attention of the police.

They were the creation of Enid Blyton, whose last Famous Five adventure appeared in 1963. That, as Philip Larkin pointed out, was the year that first Beatles LP was released, and sexual intercourse began.

In other words, the Five were doomed.

Or were they? “Five hit middle age and meet again on TV,” announces The Times. The gang, it transpires, are to return as middle aged incarnations of their former selves, with Timmy “represented by one of his descendents”. Or replaced, to be strictly accurate.

The Times has spoken to “a source”, who says that “it will be interesting to see whether the characters have grown up to be like they were as children.”

This is a rather odd thing to say, given that the Five are, as far as we were aware, a fictional creation. Surely the “source” must be intimately involved in shaping their destiny, and knows full well what lies in store for the middle-aged meddlers.

But wait. That name, “source”. S.O.U.R.C.E….

Of course! It’s a message in code from the Five…

Save… Our… Universe… Resources… Countryside and Environment…

By Jove!

Just as the BBC abdicates responsibility for saving the planet, the Five have come to the rescue.

Hurrah!

Anorak

Posted: 28th, August 2007 | In: Broadsheets Comments (5) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink