h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: 'Five Children and It' - the Television Series - A87888208
Author: Bluebottle - U43530

A magical children's television series that is all you could wish for.

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Excellent choice for an entry

Very nice, and made me laugh. As Elektra says, 'Nobody makes tables like Bluebottle.'

I enjoyed the information about E Nesbitt's importance to the UK aside from her children's books. The fact that you buried the Labour Party and the London School of Economics in the middle there just added to the enjoyment...

I've read the books, not seen the television. I did see the film, and while I agree 100% that it was dreary in the extreme, I don't really think you should say 'lacks the charm of the series' in a Guide Entry without backing it up in some way. Could you give a reason, or say it wasn't very popular, or damn it with some quantifiable form of faint praise? I have nothing against opinion, I just think we should be sneakier about it...

I was trying to keep the entry quite short – although Edith Nesbit's definitely someone who deserves an entry of her own. I just wanted people to know that she's not just a woman who wrote stories about girls waving pinafores at trains.
Still, I've added a little bit more factual detail about the film. So Bob, have you seen the television series?

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Good deal!

Yes it was very enjoyable series. I thought it deserved more attention

It was the BBC series in the 90's

I think I saw some but not all of this series, as I can visualise it, but didn't know much of the details about the wishes so I enjoyed this Entry.

"at dusk they would turn to stone " - perhaps need to clarify here that it is the prehistoric animals rather than the children that turn to stone.

I like the summaries of the people - E Nesbit's life sounds complex indeed... Good to learn more about Helen Cresswell, too.

"As the Psammead lived in a gravel pit, a special hole was dug in the gravel on location so that the team of six puppeteers would be able to operate the puppet on location"

Where else was the Psammead filmed apart from on location in the gravel pit?

"For instance, when the children go to the fair" - Is there something missing here? Is the For instance something to do with changes made for reasons other than to fit the story into the six episodes?

I like the last section - the Psammead definitely looked as good as a Jim Henson creation, and I even thought it was

Thanks for your comments – tweaks have been made.
I'm certain that the closing song, once seen, is never forgotten.

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Excellent tweak about the dinosaurs

"As the Psammead lived in a gravel pit, a special hole was dug in the gravel on location near Wolfeton, Dorset so that the team of six puppeteers would be able to operate the puppet on location"

Just need to delete the last 'on location' then, or change it to 'there' or something.

As long as it is clear that the location of the hole was on location located in the gravel pit location. I wouldn't want anyone not to realise that that is where it was located.

I couldn't resist adding a sneaky Brontosaurus

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Congratulations! Excellent to see the Psammead heading into the Edited Guide