There is a thread on the Enid Blyton Society’s online forum, in which various members of the society attempt to explain the appeal of the Famous Five books. For the most part, they do a wonderful job, pointing out the spirit of adventure that runs through them, the complexity of George, the moral clarity of the characters and the sense of escapism that must have seemed even more abundant when they were read during the bleak postwar years. The books, the thread claims, are good clean old-fashioned wholesome fun.
But what of the rest of us? The readers who aren’t members of the Enid Blyton Society, who aren’t automatically predisposed to love the Famous Five books? Those of us who have long been disappointed that none of the books ended with Julian discovering that his mother had been fatally stabbed in the throat by a gangster, and reacting by slicing open her abdomen and placing his hands inside her womb in a gory yet gratuitously over-literal metaphor? What of us? Huh?
Well, saints be praised, someone is finally listening to us. The BBC has just announced that it is to make a brand new adaptation of the Famous Five books, made up of three 90-minute episodes. Oh, and they’re going to be made by Nicolas Winding Refn.
Which might not seem like an immediately natural fit, obviously. The Famous Five books revel in the sort of safe home counties nostalgia, full of smashing feats and spiffing feasts, that have not in any way reflected any form of British life for at least half a century. Nicolas Winding Refn, meanwhile, once made The Neon Demon; a film in which one young woman brings herself to orgasm while straddling a corpse, and another vomits up a human eyeball. What I’m trying to say is that the connection isn’t immediate.
But that should be OK, because creatives should be allowed to follow their muse wherever they see fit. Martin Scorsese might be best known for his violent mob dramas, for instance, but don’t forget that he also once made Hugo; a 3D children’s movie about a lovely train station. Was it his best work? No. But did it also feel at times like his most personal? Yes. The same goes for Francis Ford Coppola and Jack, David Lowery and Peter Pan & Wendy or George Miller and Happy Feet. A great director can turn their hand to any type of material, for any audience. And if that means Nicolas Winding Refn making a miniseries about wholesome child detectives, then so be it.
Except, also – and hear me out – maybe not. Based on everything that everyone has said about Nicolas Winding Refn’s Famous Five adaptation, we might not be getting anything close to a straight adaptation. While the BBC has played it safe by describing the series as an “unforgettable odyssey that evokes the power of camaraderie between the fearless young heroes”, and “a celebration of British heritage”, Winding Refn’s own quotes go quite a long way to undoing all of that.
“All my life I’ve fought vigorously to remain a child with a lust for adventure,” he said in a statement. “By reimagining The Famous Five, I am preserving that notion by bringing these iconic stories to life for a progressive new audience, instilling the undefinable allure and enchantment of childhood for current and future generations to come.”
You will have spotted the two phrases in that statement that will have already caused the GB News producers to scheme up several weeks of performative outrage. The first is clear. By calling his films a “reimagining”, Winding Refn is subtly bracing mainstream British audiences for something unrecognisable. While he isn’t explicitly stating that Julian will end up digging around for symbolism inside his dead mum’s womb, he also very deliberately isn’t promising that that won’t happen.
The other cause of potential concern is “progressive new audience”, which is just a masterstroke. Winding Refn has already anticipated and washed his hands of the backlash. If you liked The Famous Five because you read it as a child and have clung to it for comfort as the world changed beyond all recognition around you, you’re going to absolutely hate it. But, on the other hand, if you’re cool and edgy and young and – I’m just spitballing here, based on his other work – not immediately opposed to a scene in which a dog is cut in half with a samurai sword, then you might just get something out of it.
However it turns out, though, Winding Refn’s Famous Five does make some degree of sense. Blyton’s personal reputation has taken a nosedive since her death, thanks to several accusations of racism. So maybe handing the material to someone as uncompromising as Nicolas Winding Refn is the perfect way to address those issues while keeping the material alive. And if it clears the decks for Abel Ferrara’s The Tale of Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, all the better.
• This article was corrected on 26 June. The original stated that Refn is writing and directing the new series. In fact, he is the creator and executive producer. This has been amended.
