Five go mad in Dorset was the first "The Comic Strip Presents..." episode. It featured Peter Richardson, Adrian Edmondson, Dawn French and Jenifer Saunders. It was a parody based on Enid Blyton's The Famous Five.
Plot[]
Julian (Peter 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. This was Coltrane's first television role.
Trivia and controversy[]
The film 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.