The Famous Five - Julian (Peter Richardson), Anne (Jennifer Saunders), Dick (Adrian Edmondson) and George (Dawn French)

Five Go Mad in Dorset was the first of the long-running series of Comic Strip Presents... television comedy films. It first aired on the launch night of Channel 4 (November 2, 1982), and was written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, and directed by Bob Spiers. The Comic Strip is a group of British comedians, best known collectively for their television series The Comic Strip Presents. ... Channel 4 is a public-service television broadcaster in the United Kingdom (see British television). ... November 2 is the 306th day of the year (307th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 59 days remaining. ... 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Peter Richardson born 15 October 1951 in Devon, Britain, is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer. ... Pete Richens is best known as the writing partner of Peter Richardson, writer/director/star of the long-running TV series The Comic Strip Presents. ... Bob Spiers is a British television director, who is best known for his work on various sitcoms and other comedy programmes. ...

Plot and satire

The film is an extreme parody of Enid Blyton's Famous Five books, in which the titular Five - children Julian (Richardson), Dick (Adrian Edmondson), George (Dawn French), Anne (Jennifer Saunders) and their dog Timmy - investigate the disappearance of their Uncle Quentin (Ronald Allen). Daniel Peacock and Robbie Coltrane also made appearances, the latter in his first television role. Parody of Back to the Future In contemporary usage, a parody is a work that imitates another work in order to ridicule, ironically comment on, or poke some affectionate fun at the work itself, the subject of the work, the author or fictional voice of the parody, or another subject. ... The Mystery of the Vanished Prince (1951) Enid Mary Blyton (August 11, 1897–November 28, 1968) was a British childrens author. ... The Famous Five is a fictional group of child detectives, composed of four children (Julian, Dick, Anne and George) and their dog Timmy, created by Enid Blyton. ... Edmondson (left) with Rik Mayall in Bottom Adrian Edmondson (sometimes credited as Ade Edmondson, born 24 January 1957 in Bradford, West Yorkshire) is a British actor, comedian, director, and writer. ... Dawn French CBE (born 11 October 1957 in Holyhead, Wales) is a Welsh comedian and actress best known as one half of the comic duo French & Saunders, the other half being Jennifer Saunders of Absolutely Fabulous fame. ... Jennifer Saunders Jennifer Jane Saunders (born July 6, 1958 in Sleaford, Lincolnshire) is an English comedian, actress, and comedy writer. ... Ronald Allen Ronald Allen (16 December 1930- June 18, 1991) was an established British character actor. ... Daniel Peacock is a British actor, writer and director best known for his work with the team of The Comic Strip Presents. ... Robbie Coltrane as Rubeus Hagrid Robbie Coltrane, OBE (born Anthony Robert McMillan on March 30, 1950) is a Scottish actor. ...

The satire on display was seen as particularly brutal, parodying established aspects of Blyton's books in addition to placing newer, sinister overtones onto them. Examples of the former include repeated demeaning reference to Anne as a "proper little housewife", the gang's propensity for overhearing shady conversations between criminals (portrayed in the film by burly thugs muttering "Blah blah blah, stolen plans, blah blah blah, missing scientists" and so on) and their taste for outdoor picnics of "ham and turkey sandwiches, bags of lettuce, heaps of tomato, hard-boiled eggs and lashings of ginger beer". However, the film also portrayed Uncle Quentin as a "screaming homosexual" and his wife Fanny as an "unrelenting nymphomaniac", as well as strongly implying a homosexual relationship between Dick and Julian and a bestial one between George and Timmy. In addition, much was made of the children's apparently racist and extreme right-wing views - a reference to the controversy that has retrospectively haunted Blyton's work. Despite all of this, however, Blyton's estate were said to have "loved" the film.[1] Ginger beer is a type of carbonated beverage, flavored primarily with ginger, lemon and sugar. ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ... Hypersexuality describes human sexual behavior at levels high enough to be considered clinically significant. ... Look up Bestiality in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... 1. ... In politics, right-wing, the political right, or simply the right, are terms which refer, with no particular precision, to the segment of the political spectrum in opposition to left-wing politics. ... The Mystery of the Vanished Prince (1951) Enid Mary Blyton (August 11, 1897–November 28, 1968) was a British childrens author. ...

Controversy

Upon transmission, the film attracted some controversy among the British press for its treatment of the well-loved books (although much of the satire, particularly the Five's apparent racism and extreme class-consciousness, could be said to be a reflection on wider perceived 1950s prejudices rather than a specific attack on Blyton's characters), particularly as it had come from a set of comedians who at this point were not hugely well-known. However, the film also received a large amount of critical praise, and was instrumental in launching the successful careers of many of the team - and to this date, it remains among the most well-known of all the Comic Strip Presents... films. Social class refers to the hierarchical distinctions between individuals or groups in societies or cultures. ... The 1950s was the decade spanning from the 1st of January, 1950 to the 31st December, 1959. ...

Five Go Mad on Mescalin

A sequel, Five Go Mad on Mescalin, was produced for the second Comic Strip series in 1983, but was seen as a poor imitation of - and unworthy successor to - the first, despite being created by the same writer/director team. Notably, it infers that the Five might have sympathised with Nazi Germany because the Nazis were not as "vulgar" as Americans. For some, this was a comparison too far. Nazi Germany, or the Third Reich, commonly refers to Germany in the years 1933–1945, when it was under the firm control of the totalitarian and fascist ideology of the Nazi Party, with the Führer Adolf Hitler as dictator. ...

Cast

• Julian — Peter Richardson
• Dick — Adrian Edmondson
• George — Dawn French
• Anne — Jennifer Saunders
• Uncle Quentin — Ronald Allen
• Aunt Fanny — Sandra Dorne
• Toby — Daniel Peacock
• Shopkeeper / Gypsy — Robbie Coltrane
• Dirty Dick — Ron Tarr
• Fingers — Nosher Powell
• Police Inspector — Raymond Francis