ENID Blyton's Dorset-inspired Famous Five are to feature in an animated TV serial to be shown around the world.

A number of European countries are lined up to broadcast the series and it may also end up being shown as far away as the USA and Japan.

It is not the first time Blyton's four adventurous youngsters and Timmy the Dog have reached the small screen.

A Southern TV live action Famous Five series broadcast in 1978 was filmed locally at Exbury and in the New Forest, portraying the youngsters in a contemporary 1970s setting.

A newer TV series in 1996 had the characters based in the 1950s - reflecting the years when the books had originally been written.

There was also a Famous Five film in 1957.

Blyton took three holidays a year for 25 years to Dorset, and in particular the Purbeck area.

Landmarks including Brownsea Island, Corfe Castle, Studland, Poole Harbour and the Sandbanks Ferry have been cited as settings used by the prolific writer in her 21 books about the adventures of Julian, Dick, Anne, George and Timmy.

The new animated series is expected to be broadcast in the UK in early 2007 and will be based on the books with 26 half-hour episodes set in the modern day.

The Famous Five books have been popular in the UK and across Europe since they were first written and sell 1.4 million copies each year across the continent.

Vincent Chalvon-Demersay, from TV production company Marathon, said: "Enid Blyton's stories and characters have been an important part of the childhood of European audiences since they first appeared on the continent in the 1950s and no series of adventures has been more popular than the Famous Five."

The Famous Five books were written between 1942 and 1963 and have never been out of print.

Enid Blyton, who once owned the Isle of Purbeck golf club at Studland, died in 1968.

Local author Vivienne Endecott of Lytchett Matravers published a book in 2002 exploring the Dorset locations used by Blyton in her Famous Five series, including the ruins of Corfe Castle, which were the inspiration for Kirrin Castle.

First published: May 27