In Germany the series was dubbed over in the German language with German voice actors. Except for Rodgers and Uncle Quentin, they were dubbed over by the original actor.
Although the show was adapted from books set in the 1940s and 50s, no attempt was made to create a period piece, with all the characters wearing contemporary late 1970s clothing. Despite this, the scripts were very close to the original novels, with only very minimal changes made to account for the change in era.
Because the production was co-funded by a German TV company, Southern Television was obliged to cast at least some German actors to secure the finance - hence German actor Michael Hinz playing the English character Uncle Quentin (and making no attempt at an English accent). Michelle Gallagher, who was cast as George, had a German grandparent, and was counted as the second German actor in the regular cast to fulfill this quota.
The show shared much of its incidental music with Prisoner (1979), despite the latter being a very adult-orientated prison-based drams produced in Australia, as both series relied heavily on pre-composed stock library tracks available to any production.
The show's theme, "We Are The Famous Five", was released as a 7" single in 1978 by Philips (6006 604).