Adventurers get ready: The Famous Five will return to CBBC and BBC iPlayer on 23rd December, with Mystery at the Prospect Hotel, a new feature-length film to enjoy this Christmas.
Mystery at the Prospect Hotel is the first of two new films in the second series of The Famous Five, the BBC’s reimagining of Enid Blyton’s iconic stories created for television and executive produced by Nicolas Winding Refn (byNWR) & Matthew Read (Moonage Pictures). It follows the highly successful first series which aired on the BBC in 2023 and 2024; its premiere, The Curse of Kirrin Island, became CBBC’s number one rated episode in 2023.
Images courtesy BBC/Moonage Pictures
Whilst studio filming for series one took place in Cardiff, Bristol’s Bottle Yard Studios hosted sets and production offices for series two. Filming took place on ‘Kirrin Cottage’ sets in the studio and at locations across Wales and the South West of England, including Gloucestershire’s Berkeley Castle, Chavenage House (which doubled for The Prospect Hotel) and Whitminster House.
Go behind the scenes on The Famous Five sets with BBC News (broadcast 19th December 2024 on BBC Breakfast and BBC Points West:
Video courtesy BBC
Frith Tiplady, Moonage Pictures MD and Exec Producer, says: “We always jump at the opportunity to take a Moonage Pictures show to Bristol and the South West. The South West is blessed with extremely talented crews we love working with. This teamed with the abundance of fantastic filming locations and The Bottle Yard Studios who have already homed three Moonage shows, with another filming next year, makes Bristol one of the most film friendly cities and regions in the UK.”
In Mystery at the Prospect Hotel, it’s summer 1940 and the Five are reunited at a grand hotel on Cragstone Ridge. An old foe, Thomas Wentworth, awaits them as he needs their help. Wentworth has had a vision of the future and thinks he has seen the murder of famous jazz singer Cab Vee, who is visiting the hotel. With a host of likely suspects, each with their own motive, can the Five figure out who is trying to kill him?
Video courtesy BBC
Diaana Babnicova returns as George, alongside Elliott Rose as Julian, Kit Rakusen as Dick and Flora Jacoby Richardson as Anne. Making up the fifth member of The Famous Five and the gang’s faithful furry friend, is Kip, the Bearded Collie Cross playing Timmy the dog. Joining the core cast are Jack Gleeson, Maria Pedraza, Amir Wilson, James Wilby, Rita Tushingham, Jonathan Aris, Jamie Andrew Cutler and Jemima Rooper. The Famous Five is a Moonage Pictures and byNWR production (2 x 90’) for the BBC in the UK, in co-production with The Mediapro Studio.
Mystery at The Prospect Hotel is available on CBBC and BBC iPlayer at 5.25pm on Monday 23 December. It will also air on BBC One at 10.20am on Tuesday 31 December.
Episode two of series two, Big Trouble on Billycock Hill, will air in 2025.