Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn behind new The Famous Five series based on Enid Blyton books

Enid Blyton book series The Famous Five is being adapted by the BBC for the first time and filming has already started.

Danish filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn, who directed 2011’s Drive starring Ryan Gosling and Carey Mulligan, and Peaky Blinders producer Matthew Read have created the show for the broadcaster.

The three-part show The Famous Five will follow five young adventurers who are exploring the world around them in an odyssey-style story and is being shot across the south west of the UK.

Refn, also an executive producer of the series who worked with Read on Valhalla Rising, said: “All my life I’ve fought vigorously to remain a child with a lust for adventure.

Nicolas Winding Refn is behind The Famous Five adaptation. PA Media

“By reimagining The Famous Five, I am preserving that notion by bringing these iconic stories to life for a progressive new audience, instilling the undefinable allure and enchantment of childhood for current and future generations to come.”

Producers, Moonage Pictures, will create the three 90 minute-long instalments to be shown on the BBC in the UK and TF1 in France.

Episode one of the series has been written by Read, episode two by Priya K Dosanjh and episode three has been written by Being Human producer Matthew Bouch and Read.

Patricia Hidalgo, director of BBC children’s and education, said that the series will introduce the books to a new generation of children.

She said: “Bringing these books to life with a new reimagining of The Famous Five is a real treat for BBC audiences and a celebration of British heritage.

“These stories are loved around the world and bringing families together is a key part of our strategy so we hope it introduces a new generation of viewers to these wonderful adventures.”

Will Gould, co-founder of Moonage Pictures, said the show will have “adventure at its heart”.

He added: “Moonage Pictures was created to provide the right creative environment to explore ideas without limitation and this provides us with exactly that opportunity… This Famous Five will be a modern, timely and irreverent action series.”

Blyton, also behind The Secret Seven, wrote 21 installations of The Famous Five and her first ever book, Five On A Treasure Island, was published in 1942.

There have been numerous interpretations of The Famous Five over the years, including continuation novels written by French author Claude Voilier.

TV adaptions have included a previous ITV series, which came out in 1978, a CITV series that was launched in the 1990s and a 2000s Disney cartoon series, Famous 5 On The Case.

In recent years, spoof versions of the Famous Five have been sold across high street stores in the UK that explore satirical themes to do with politics and culture.