Enid Blyton’s iconic series of adventure novels, “The Famous Five,” is being made into a TV series, thanks to a pact forged by the BBC Studios, Germany’s ZDF and Spain’s The Mediapro Studio, in the latter’s continued bid to partner in more English-language productions.
Produced by Moonage Pictures and Nicolas Winding Refn’s byNWR, the series is an ambitious adaptation of the iconic children’s adventure novels by the English author.
Said The Mediapro Studio CEO Laura Fernández Espeso: “This significant agreement with BBC Studios to co-produce forward ‘The Famous Five’ aligns seamlessly with our objective of augmenting English-language content production at the company.”
“It not only contributes to our international expansion but also solidifies a partnership with an exceptionally prestigious collaborator, engaging in a major production inspired by a literary saga of immense global acclaim,” she added. The Mediapro Studio will hold distribution rights to Spain, Portugal and Latin America as part of the deal.
Published between 1942 and 1963, the series of novels follow four kids and their pet dog who go on adventures, relatively free of adult supervision. The series will star four upcoming young actors who take on the key roles: siblings Julian (Elliott Rose, “The Northman”), Dick (Kit Rakusen, “Foundation”) and Anne (Flora Jacoby Richardson) and their cousin George (Diaana Babnicova,“Don’t Breathe 2”), plus Timmy the Dog.
Rounding off the cast areJack Gleeson(“Game of Thrones”) as the evil Wentworth,Ann Akinjirin(“Moon Knight”) as Fanny,James Lance(“Ted Lasso”) as Quentin,Diana Quick(“Father Brown”) as Mrs. Wentworth andWilliam Abadie (“Emily in Paris”) as Boswell.
The 21 stories published by Blyton take place during the children’s school holidays, which they spend together at George’s family home, Kirrin Cottage.
Nick Percy, President Global Markets, BBC Studios said: “The Famous Five’ is iconic IP and Enid Blyton is one of the most translated authors of all time, with hundreds of millions of books sold all over the world. BBC Studios is proud to be able to bring this new take on ‘The Famous Five’ to audiences in Spain, Portugal, and Latin America through our deal with The Mediapro Studio.”
“The global appeal of the cast – hailing from previous work such as ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Ted Lasso’ and ‘Emily in Paris’ – reflects and adds to the huge potential reach of ‘The Famous Five’ around the world,” he added.
Sarah Muller, senior head of BBC Children’s Commissioning 7+ and the commissioning editor for the BBC, Amy Buscombe commissioned the “The Famous Five” (6x 45’ or 3x 90’) series.
For ZDF, Frank Seyberth, head of International Coproduction, is responsible for the series together with Katharina Kremling as commissioning editor.
The pilot episode is directed byTim Kirkby(“Fleabag,” “The Pentaverate”). Asim Abbasi(“Churails,” “Cake,” “Count Abdulla”) andBill Eagles(“Beautiful Creatures,” “Gotham,” “Pennyworth”) will direct the other episodes.
BBC Studios, which holds a minority stake in Moonage, will oversee international distribution.
