Posted by Robert Hill on January 14, 1998 at 16:26:59:
In Reply to: Re: BBC series posted by Alan Hakim on January 13, 1998 at 18:52:16:
From the archives of the board I see that the question has previously
been asked why this series was called "Swallows and Amazons Forever"
when it comprises only two of the books, neither of which features
any Swallows or Amazons. I believe the answer to be that it was
originally intended to do the other books later, within
the same overall title. I think this was stated in the Radio Times
(the BBC's schedule magazine) when the series was first brodcast,
but clearly the plan was later abandoned.
Presumably the original reason for doing Coot Club and The Big Six
first was that once they had been done the producers would be able
to simplify their logistics by forgetting about the Broads and the
actors who played Tom, Port, Starboard and the Death and Glories.
I saw most of the episodes when it was first shown in the 1980s
(I don't own a video recorder). My recollection is that it was
reasonably good, given that I usually dislike TV versions of familiar
books, especially if child actors are involved, and that CC and tB6
are my least favourite books in the series. However I think
the girls playing Port and Starboard were far too young.
I think it would be extremely difficult to film the whole series if
one tried to use the same child actors throughout - either the filming
would take too much time away from their education, or else it would
have to be spread over so many years that they would be implausibly old
by the end.
To continue the answer to the question that started the current thread,
there was also a black-and-white BBC TV serial of Swallows and Amazons
in the 1960s.