Recommended for those aged relatives who remember what it was like to be a child in a gentler world than the one we currently have.

It is an adventure in the true sense of the word, building tension and excitement without resorting to the crude devices that rely on mayhem and destruction to achieve their ends. They discover there are tumble-down shacks on the island, and lots of strange holes leading down into the ground. The rest of the film she’s wearing a pair of knee high white boots – not very practical for scrambling around islands but probably very on-trend. Enid Blyton's beloved works include The Famous Five, The Secret Seven, Malory Towers, The Magic Faraway Tree and the Adventure series. Because a secret passage links the mines with the well at Craggy-Tops, the well-water turns salt, meaning that Aunt Polly and Uncle Jocelyn will have to leave the old house.

I was disappointed that they just climb out of the well shaft in the end, but I suppose flooding it and floating up would have posed some filming challenges. In the car after picking up Philip, Jack and Lucy-Ann from the train station, she spots Philip's mouse and tries to dislodge it from his shirt collar. In this respect Lucy-Ann is the complete opposite of Dinah, who would never openly dote on her older brother. Jo-Jo is a cold, calculating and intelligent man who plays the ‘stupid servant’ role beautifully so he can stay at Craggy-Tops without anyone suspecting he is up to anything.

I was honestly not sure where to start with this review as I have very mixed feelings about this adaptation. Pictorial wrapper is quite damaged, with front flap at one time being completely detached, but has been stuck back on with browning sticky tape. See, and this is a SPOILER, but… Jo-jo’s not actually slow-witted, or at least no more so than any lower-class person (this being the 1940s). This does not continue on from The Island of Adventure, as it introduces the characters to us again and has them meet for the first time as well. When Jack has to go to Mr Roy's house to be crammed, or coached, she goes along too—not to work, but to be with him.Following his first adventure, Jack nearly always carries a rope and his field glasses, among other things, as basic equipment. Just off the coast is the mysterious Isle of Gloom – constantly shrouded in mists it is completely uninhabited, and has been for a long time. She says she's been without him all through the school term and doesn't want to be without him during the holidays too.

He and his sister Lucy-Ann are orphans and used to live with an unfriendly uncle until they are adopted by Mrs Mannering. But Philip, Dinah, Lucy-Ann and Jack are not prepared for the dangerous adventure that awaits them in the abandoned copper mines and secret tunnels beneath the sea. No, Bill is happy to show them how to put up the sail and control the boat, and let them use the boat on their own while he's not around, as long as they promise not to go to the island. There’s a brief scene in the middle of that where we see the minions escaping on dinghies in the dark, then the sun has come up and a submarine emerges only to be blown up by a Navy ship.They can see the sinister Isle of Gloom from their window, covered in mist and harbouring strange secrets. Will Jack be able to rescue the others with the help of his new friends and decide the fate of an entire nation?