Once again Zenith North, the UK-based production team for this series of the televised Famous Five books, has excelled. True to the books in all but a few minor details, this series takes us back to the 1940's idyll in which children played from dawn till dusk in the heat of a glorious British summer. In this double-bill, we meet the Five - Julian, Dick, George, Anne, and Timmy the dog - on their way to "Smugglers Top", a "rambling sort of a place", according to the children's Uncle Quentin, where they have been sent for the summer holidays. But all is not well at this ancient smugglers' haunt, where strange lights, mysterious marshes and underground tunnels abound. Team up with the Famous Five and discover who is responsible for the mysterious disappearances in the dead of night.
Full of the mystery and suspense which characterizes this series, Smugglers Top captures the imagination and resurrects the charm and familiarity of a bygone era. I found the characters well cast for their roles, and agree with Gillian Baverstock - Enid Blyton's daughter - who, on her first sight of the actors, said that her mother would have been delighted with their depiction. I heartily recommend it to children of all ages, and those who are still young at heart.
