heirs had the final word on one of the most controversial comedy debuts in British TV history - and it wasn't what outraged fans expected. The Comic Strip Presents' Five Go Mad in Dorset aired on 's launch night in 1982, and instantly caused a storm. The sharp, surreal parody tore into Blyton's Famous Five stories with scenes that shocked audiences and left some demanding it be taken off air. Despite the backlash, the Enid Blyton estate had no complaints - in fact, they loved it.

According to production notes; "the estate of Enid Blyton loved Five Go Mad in Dorset." That official blessing came even as Channel 4 was forced to hold crisis meetings over viewer complaints. The episode reimagined the iconic child sleuths as borderline caricatures of post-war British values, riddled with sexism, snobbery and queasy innuendo.

Adults played the children, with lines like "Julian is very well developed for a ten-year-old" and a running gag about Timmy the Dog constantly dying and being replaced.

A fan later recalled: "Any one remember the comic strip presents with this p**stake on famous five with French and Saunders etc including Aunt Fanny, Uncle Quentin (world famous homosexual) and Robbie Coltrane (dressed as woman in local shop) not to mention Anne who would make a good housewife someday with Timmy the Dog constantly dying but they always bought a new one?!! Couldn't stop laughing when I heard it!!"

The show's outrageous tone wasn't just for laughs - it was a deliberate satire aimed at what the creators saw as outdated values baked into the original stories.

Five Go Mad in Dorset was penned by Peter Richardson and Pete Richens and starred some of the biggest names in alternative comedy.

Some notable names included Jennifer Saunders, Dawn French, Adrian Edmondson, and Nigel Planer. Robbie Coltrane also made a memorable appearance in drag.

While The Comic Strip Presents... built a cult following with episodes like The Bullsh**ters and Detectives on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, it was Five Go Mad in Dorset that established the tone of anarchic, irreverent, and always just one complaint away from controversy.

Notably, the team had even planned a follow-up entitled Five Go to Hell, but it never made it to screen.

But any concerns the comic team may have had about offending Blyton's legacy were quickly put to rest. Not only did the estate give permission for the episode to air - they praised it.

And while angry viewers may have dialled up Channel 4 to vent, those behind Blyton's legacy were laughing along.