It first aired on the launch night of Channel 4 (2 November 1982), and was written by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens, and directed by Bob Spiers.

The film is a parody of Enid Blyton's Famous Five books, involving siblings Julian (Richardson), Dick (Adrian Edmondson) and Anne (Jennifer Saunders), and their cousin George (Dawn French) and her dog Timmy.

At the shop, they encounter a rude but rich boy, Toby (Daniel Peacock), whom the children at first refuse to accept into their group due to his obnoxious behaviour and also their cliquish nature.

[4] Reviewing Channel 4's launch night for the Financial Times, Chris Dunkley wrote that it was a "deliciously accurate parody of Enid Blyton's mind-numbingly repetitive adventure stories", but compared it unfavourably to Ripping Yarns.

The plot, involving a pushy rich American with a spoiled son, is loosely based on Enid Blyton's Five on Finniston Farm (1960).

George and Julian have been committed to an alcoholics' sanatorium, the latter owes a large debt to African gangsters, and Anne recently served a prison sentence for setting her nanny aflame.

There they are kidnapped by Toby (Daniel Peacock), who reveals his plan to imprison his childhood tormentors in a museum display prison.

He also reveals that he has been grooming his own children to serve as replacement version of the Famous Five, under the guise that the world has forgotten the original group.