Watch:
Availability:
5 days left to watch (or download at BBC iPlayer).
Last broadcast on Saturday, 21:00 on BBC Four (see all broadcasts).
Synopsis
Illuminating and surprising drama telling the story of arguably the most popular children's storyteller of all, Enid Blyton.
It reveals how Blyton became the writer who would capture more youthful imaginations than anyone else, following her career from ambitious, driven and as yet unpublished young woman to household name and moral guardian, while glimpsing her own childhood - a dark time, far from the carefree, happy idyll portrayed in her books.
Through marriages and children, the roles of Enid the wife (to Hugh and then Kenneth) and mother are portrayed, ones she struggled to fulfil while balancing them with her extraordinary output.
The film also uncovers a strong and resourceful woman; a woman who never really grew up; a woman who rewrote the endings of many chapters of her real life, sometimes with cruel and hurtful results; and a woman whose legacy has often been criticised but whose success cannot be argued with, who gave children the stories they wanted.
Women We Loved
This film is part of Women We Loved - a season of three major dramas on BBC Four about the careers of British female icons Margot Fonteyn, Gracie Fields and Enid Blyton.
Photo: Enid Blyton with her daughters
Enid Blyton (Helena Bonham Carter) pictured with daughters Gillian (Sinead Michael) and Imogen (Ramona Marquez).
Photo: Enid's picnic
Enid Blyton (Helena Bonham Carter) stages an indoor picnic for some young readers.
BBC Archive: Enid Blyton - The woman behind the stories
Discover the reasons for Enid Blyton's success, and explore the difficult life of this prolific storyteller, in a collection of recordings from the BBC archives - which feature the author herself, her family and friends, as well as her critics.
Visit Enid Blyton - The woman behind the stories on the BBC Archive
BBC Archive: Blyton and the BBC
Read letters from Enid Blyton herself, and view internal BBC documents, as part of a collection which tells the story of the writer's battles with the corporation and how her determination to broadcast on the BBC was rebuffed.
Trail: Enid
Previewing the BBC Four drama about Enid Blyton, starring Helena Bonham Carter as the hugely popular children's author.
Credits
- Enid Blyton
- Helena Bonham Carter
- Hugh Pollock
- Matthew Macfadyen
- Kenneth Waters
- Denis Lawson
- Dorothy
- Claire Rushbrook
- Hanly Blyton
- Joseph Millson
- Imogen
- Ramona Marquez
- Gillian
- Sinead Michael
- Theresa Blyton
- Pooky Quesnel
- Thomas Blyton
- Philip Wright
- Enid (aged 19)
- Lisa Diveney
- Enid (aged 12)
- Alexandra Brain
- Hanly Blyton (aged 8)
- Samuel Hilton
- Carey Blyton (aged 4)
- James Warner
- Maid Maggie
- Eileen O'Higgins
- Mrs Waters
- Gabrielle Reidy
- Director
- James Hawes
- Producer
- Lee Morris
- Writer
- Lindsay Shapero
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~45~RS~){kind=small}