''Just William'' is a United Kingdom television series first broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

in December 2010. The series is based on the ''

Just William ''Just William'' is the first book of children's short stories about the young school boy William Brown, written by Richmal Crompton, and published in 1922. The book was the first in the series of William Brown books which was the basis for ...

'' series of books by Richmal Crompton. This latest adaptation is written by

Simon Nye Simon Nye (born 29 July 1958) is an English screenwriter, best known for television comedy. He wrote the hit British sitcom, sitcom ''Men Behaving Badly'', and all of the four ITV Pantos. He co-wrote the 2006 film ''Flushed Away'', created an ad ...

. It is the first adaption of the books since a

children's television series Children's television series (or children's television shows) are television programs designed for children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the early evenin ...

in the 1990s. The series stars

Daniel Roche Daniel Peter Roche ( ; born 14 October 1999) is an English actor, known for playing Ben Brockman in the BBC One sitcom '' Outnumbered''. Life Roche was born on 14 October 1999 to an English mother and an Irish father. He grew up in north London ...

as the title character, eponymous character William Brown, with Rebecca Front and Daniel Ryan as William's parents.

Caroline Quentin Caroline Quentin (born Caroline Jones; 11 July 1960) is an English actress, broadcaster and television presenter. Quentin became known for her television appearances: portraying Dorothy in ''Men Behaving Badly'' (1992–1998), Maddie Magellan in ...

and Warren Clarke appear as the parents of

Violet Elizabeth Bott The ''Just William'' series is a sequence of thirty-eight books written by English author Richmal Crompton. The books chronicle the adventures of the unruly schoolboy William Brown. The books were published over a period of almost fifty years ...

(played by

Isabella Blake-Thomas Isabella Rose M. Blake-Thomas (born 21 September 2002) is an English actress, known for her roles as Princess January in ''Secret Society of Second-Born Royals'', Young Zelena in ''Once Upon a Time'', Peggy Kendall in ''Game Shakers'' and Sam i ...

), neighbours of the Brown family. It is directed by Paul Seed and produced by John Chapman. Martin Jarvis, who voices the radio and audio CD adaptions of ''Just William'', acts as the narrator. Various sources suggest that the series will not be returning.

Background

British author Richmal Crompton had a series of books published between 1919 and 1969 about the adventures of schoolboy William Brown and his group of friends, also known as the "Outlaws". Crompton, a schoolteacher, wrote her first novel in 1922 and went on to sell over 12 million copies of her books in the United Kingdom. The first film adaption of the novels, titled ''

'', was released in 1940, and this was followed by two further films in 1948. A radio series was also broadcast on the BBC around the same period. The books were also adapted for television, firstly as ''

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

'' in the 1960s, then as ''

'' in the 1970s and again under the same title in the 1990s.

Production

The producers chose to set the film in the 1950s, just following the conclusion of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, despite many of the books being written in the preceding three decades. The series was filmed in the Home Counties. The screenplay was written by

was cast in the title role as William Brown, the main character and leader of "The Outlaws" along with his friends Ginger, Douglas and Henry. Ten year old Roche had received critical acclaim for his performances as Ben in the BBC comedy series '' Outnumbered''.

, who appeared in the

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

television film '' Enid'', got the part of

, William's neighbour. Due to the setting of the series, Roche had to have his trademark curly hair cut short.

Cast and characters

as William Brown * Daniel Ryan as Mr Brown * Rebecca Front as Mrs Brown *

Lily James Lily Chloe Ninette Thomson (born 5 April 1989), better known by her stage name Lily James, is an English actress. She studied acting at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London and began her career in the British television series ''Ju ...

as Ethel Brown * Harry Melling as Robert Brown *

Bertie Carvel Robert Hugh Carvel (born 6 September 1977) is a British actor. He has twice won a Laurence Olivier Award: for Best Actor in a Leading Role in a Musical for his role as Miss Trunchbull in ''Matilda the Musical'', and for Best Actor in a Supporti ...

as Uncle Neville *

as Violet Elizabeth Bott * Warren Clarke as Mr Bott *

as Mrs Bott * Jordan Grehs as Ginger * Edward Piercy as Douglas * Lottie Bell as Dorinda * Robert A. Foster as Henry * Adam Gillen as Hector *

Denis Lawson Denis Stamper Lawson (born 27 September 1947) is a Scottish actor and director. He is known for his roles as John Jarndyce in the BBC's adaptation of ''Bleak House (2005 TV serial), Bleak House'', as Gordon Urquhart in the film ''Local Hero (f ...

as Headmaster *

John Sessions John Marshall (11 January 1953 – 2 November 2020), better known by the stage name John Sessions, was a British actor and comedian. He was known for comedy improvisation in television shows such as ''Whose Line Is It Anyway?'', as a panellist o ...

as Mr Welbecker *

Roy Hudd Roy Hudd, OBE (16 May 1936 – 15 March 2020) was an English comedian, actor, presenter, radio host, author and authority on the history of music hall entertainment. Early life Hudd was born in Croydon on 16 May 1936 to Evalina "Evie" (née ...

as Bob * Martin Jarvis as the Narrator *

Ruby Stokes Ruby May Stokes (born 4 September 2000) is an English actress. She appeared in the films ''Una'' (2016), ''Rocks'' (2019), and '' A Banquet'' (2021). On television, she is known for her role in the Netflix detective series '' Lockwood & Co.'' (2 ...

as Grumpy Girl

Broadcast

The series, which consists of four half-hour episodes, aired as part of the BBC's Christmas programming from 28 to 31 December 2010 on

CBBC CBBC (initialised as Children's BBC and also known as the CBBC Channel) is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the bran ...

.< The series was broadcast on CBBC from 8 to 16 January 2011.

DVD release

The first four episodes were released to DVD on 7 March 2011, under the title, ''Just William, Series One'', which hints that there might be a second series, although this seems unlikely.

References

External links

* * {{William Brown BBC Television shows Just William 2010s British children's television series 2010 British television series debuts 2010 British television series endings BBC children's television shows