Famous Five 1.11
The good elements and the bad elements balance each other out in this one making for a middle-of-the-road episode.
- A lot of the dialogue is stilted and unrealistic.
- The villains are cartoonish. Silly. Lacking menace.
- The climax is muddled. It’s not always clear what’s going on, so there’s never a sense that the youngsters are in danger.
But there is good stuff, too.
- The story is good. The Five are camping inside a deserted cottage, but some crooks are trying to scare them out for some reason.
- The plan the Five have (leaving and then sneaking back) is clever, and makes for some tension when Dick and Julian are inside the house with the crooks.
- The location filming looks wonderful.
- The opening scenes - staying in the cottage on a stormy night with three strangers standing outside - are a great hook for the story to follow.
