What We're Watching

Poor old Enid Blyton. The most prolific children's writer of all time and the BBC still doesn't have a good word to say about her.

Made for BBC4, this drama based on the life of a story-telling legend focuses on her torrid love affairs, child neglect and fixation with work.

It seems the lady worshipped for creating The Famous Five, Noddy and The Faraway Tree was less Aunt Fanny more Uncle Quentin.

Enid shows the author abandoning her children in favour of her dog, lover or gin and tonic. Her girls become so tiresome she ships the first off to boarding school before the second ships herself.

If Blyton's popular term-time tales of high jinx are to believed, they were better off there.
And why did no one realise what a monster she was? We are shown a one-woman PR machine indulging her fantasy hungry fans with picnics and posing up family portraits for the glossies.

Helena Bonham Carter heads up the all-star cast. She is fabulously chilling and gripping in her portrayal.

The film goes to great lengths to prove the self styled guardian of children's morals would not know a moral if it slapped her in the face, although the audience would appreciate a little let-up in the onslaught.