The Secret Seven or Secret Seven Society is a fictional group of child detectives created by Enid Blyton and based on the publisher's children. They appear in one of several adolescent detective series which Blyton wrote. The Secret Seven consists of Peter (the society's head), Janet (Peter's sister), Pam, Barbara, Jack, Colin and George. Jack's sister Susie and her best friend Binkie make occasional appearances in the books; they hate the Secret Seven and delight in playing tricks designed to humiliate them, although this is partly fuelled by their almost obsessive desire to belong to the society. Unlike most other Blyton non-school series, this one takes place during the school term time because the characters go to day schools. Continuing Blyton's series, Pamela Butchart wrote two new adventures in the series, adding elements of horror.

Origins

The names Secret Seven and Famous Five had already been used by the author Charles Hamilton, under the pen-name Frank Richards, in his long-running series of stories featuring Billy Bunter and Greyfriars School. The Secret Seven was the name of a secret society that featured in a series of eleven stories published in The Magnet magazine in 1934; the term "Famous Five" dates from 1910 and is applied to a group of the leading characters: Harry Wharton, Frank Nugent, Bob Cherry, Johnny Bull and Hurree Jamset Ram Singh. It is not clear whether Enid Blyton was influenced by Hamilton's work. Blyton's elder daughter, Gillian Baverstock, describes a conversation between the author and her publisher that led to the inception of Blyton's Secret Seven. The publisher's own children, the eldest of whom was named Peter, had formed a secret society with their friends. They met in an old shed, used secret passwords and had badges inscribed with "SS". After corresponding with the real-life Peter, in 1948 Blyton published her first Secret Seven story, which describes how her fictional society came to be formed. This was a short story titled "The Secret of the Old Mill". It followed an earlier short story, "At Seaside Cottage", which introduced the leading characters, Peter and Janet, prior to the formation of the society. There followed a further five short stories and fifteen full-length books.

Shorts

The Secret Seven appeared in seven short stories by Blyton, including a mini-novella explaining how the society was formed. These were left uncollected until 1997, when all but "At Seaside Cottage" were published in a single volume by Hodder Children's Books under the title of Secret Seven: Short Story Collection.

Full-length books

Characters

Scamper – Janet and Peter's pet dog and beloved companion. He is not an official member of the Secret Seven, but the children count him as one, due to his regular usefulness in the denouement of the stories. He has temporarily filled in for members when they have left the group for any reason. He is a friendly golden English Cocker Spaniel. He loves food, especially biscuits.

Supporting characters

French series

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, Evelyne Lallemand wrote an additional series of 11 books about the Secret Seven, nine of which were translated into English by Anthea Bell and published in paperback by Knight Books. The English translations were published between 1983 and 1986. The full French series is as follows:

Pamela Butchart books

In 2018, Hodder Children's Books published The Secret Seven Mystery of the Skull by Pamela Butchart in an effort to augment sales of the series. This was followed in 2019 by The Secret Seven and the Mystery of the Theatre Ghost.

Stage adaptations

The first ever stage adaptation based on The Secret Seven opened in Chester at the city's new Storyhouse theatre from 1 December 2017. It received good reviews.

Audio drama

A dramatized audio drama adaptation of several Secret Seven books was published by Rainbow Communications in 1983.