This article needs additional citations for verification .(May 2022) |
Author | Richmal Crompton |
---|---|
Illustrator | Thomas Henry Henry Ford Lunt Roberts |
Publisher | George Newnes Ltd |
Published | 1922–1970 |
No. of books | 38 (List of books) |
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, between 1922 and 1970. Throughout the series, the protagonist remains at the same eleven years of age, despite each book being set in the era in which it was written. The first book was Just William , and often the entire series is named after this book. Each book, with the exception of the novel Just William's Luck , is a collection of short stories.
The series has spawned various television, film, theatre and radio adaptations. It also has a large fan following, with such groups as the Just William Society.
William Brown is a middle-class schoolboy of 11, who lives in a country village in Southern England. A number of guesses have been made about where the stories are set. In Pensions for Boys in Sweet William (1936), it is suggested that the village is about 50 miles from London. It has also been suggested (in Margarey Disher's book Growing Up with Just William) that it is situated somewhere around Bromley, Kent. It has also been suggested that the village is in Oxfordshire near Bicester. [1] A road sign shown in a Thomas Henry illustration from "William Gets A Move On" in "William Does His Bit" reads "London A1", which would place the village north of London.
William is the leader of his band of friends, who call themselves the Outlaws, with his best friend Ginger and his other friends Henry and Douglas. His scruffy mongrel is called Jumble.
A William story often starts when William or the Outlaws set out to do something, such as putting on a play, collecting scrap metal for the war effort or looking after Violet Elizabeth Bott. William always manages to get into trouble with his parents, although he can never see why. His well-meaning efforts often result in unfortunate outcomes.
Sometimes William can be very moral – he is inspired to tell the truth for the duration of Christmas Day in William's Truthful Christmas ( Still William , 1925) with unhappy results:
[William has just received a geometry set and a book on church history for Christmas.]
"Did you like the book and instruments that Uncle and I gave you?" said Aunt Emma brightly.
"No," said William gloomily and truthfully. "I'm not int'rested in Church History an' I've got something like those at school. Not that I'd want 'em," he added hastily, "if I hadn't em."
"William!" screamed Mrs. Brown in horror. "How can you be so ungrateful!""I'm not ungrateful," explained William wearily. "I'm only being truthful..."
The books within this series often reflected current events within the 20th century. William the Conqueror (1926) for example reflects pre-World War I imperialism, while 1930s books like William The Dictator (1938) dealt with Fascism and 1940s books like William and the Evacuees (1940) were set against the backdrop of World War II. Later on, William and the Moon Rocket (1954) and William and the Space Animal (1956) were written during the space race. Despite the changing events, William and other characters do not age.
The short stories were first serialised in a magazine called Home (beginning in February 1919), then in one called Happy. Following that, collections of stories were printed as books. [5]
All the William books until William and the Witch published in 1964 were illustrated by Thomas Henry in ink, with water colour illustrations for the front covers. After Henry's death in 1962, Henry Ford and Lunt Roberts (who had previously illustrated her Jimmy books) continued in his style.
Crompton continued to write William books right up until her death in 1969 with the last, William the Lawless , being published posthumously in 1970.
The publication dates are for the UK.
Note that although George Newnes continued to issue reprints of the series until the late 1960s, from 1963 Newnes began to abridge their editions, typically omitting between two and four stories. Abridged editions became the standard versions of the books through the reprints by other publishers in the 1960s and 1970s, until the Macmillan reprints of the 1980s and 1990s restored the full texts, with the exception of William the Detective, which excluded the story William and the Nasties, the theme of the Outlaws imitating Nazism and Antisemitism being thought unsuitable for a modern audience.
Editions highlighted in green are complete, while editions highlighted in red are abridged.
Number | Title | George Newnes (HB) | William Collins (HB) | Armada (PB) | Merlin (PB) | Macmillan (PB) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Just William | 1922 | 1972 | 1974 | 1968 | 1983 |
02 | More William | 1922 | 1971 | 1983 | ||
03 | William Again | 1923 | 1977 | 1984 | ||
04 | William The Fourth | 1924 | 1973 | 1984 | ||
05 | Still William | 1925 | 1975 | 1985 | ||
06 | William the Conqueror | 1926 | 1975 | 1968 | 1985 | |
07 | William the Outlaw | 1927 | 1973 | 1986 | ||
08 | William in Trouble | 1927 | 1971 | 1986 | ||
09 | William the Good | 1928 | 1986 | |||
10 | William | 1929 | 1967 | 1986 | ||
11 | William the Bad | 1930 | 1971 | 1986 | ||
12 | William's Happy Days | 1930 | 1977 | 1986 | ||
13 | William's Crowded Hours | 1931 | 1973 | 1986 | ||
14 | William the Pirate | 1932 | 1975 | 1986 | ||
15 | William the Rebel | 1933 | 1977 | 1967 | 1986 | |
16 | William the Gangster | 1934 | 1975 | 1967 | 1986 | |
17 | William the Detective | 1935 | 1971 | 1986 | ||
18 | Sweet William | 1936 | 1973 | 1986 | ||
19 | William the Showman | 1937 | 1986 | |||
20 | William the Dictator | 1938 | 1986 | |||
21 | William and Air Raid Precautions also published as William's Bad Resolution | 1939 | 1972 | 1974 | 1986 | |
22 | William and the Evacuees also published as William and the Film Star | 1940 | 1986 | |||
23 | William Does His Bit | 1941 | 1971 | 1986 | ||
24 | William Carries On | 1942 | 1973 | 1986 | ||
25 | William and the Brains Trust | 1945 | 1986 | |||
26 | Just William's Luck the only novel in the series | 1948 | 1972 | 1973 | 1986 | |
27 | William – the Bold | 1950 | 1977 | 1986 | ||
28 | William and the Tramp | 1952 | 1986 | |||
29 | William and the Moon Rocket | 1954 | 1972 | 1974 | 1968 | 1986 |
30 | William and the Space Animal | 1956 | 1971 | 1967 | 1986 | |
31 | William's Television Show | 1958 | 1975 | 1968 | 1986 | |
32 | William the Explorer | 1960 | 1972 | 1986 | ||
33 | William's Treasure Trove | 1962 | 1986 | |||
34 | William and the Witch | 1964 | 1986 | |||
35 | William and the Pop Singers | 1965 | 1975 | 1986 | ||
36 | William and the Masked Ranger | 1966 | 1973 | 1986 | ||
37 | William the Superman | 1968 | 1986 | |||
38 | William the Lawless | 1970 |
Crompton wrote a one-act play featuring the character:
Crompton wrote 55 play scripts for the BBC, broadcast from 1946. These were first collected for publication in 6 volumes from 2008 to 10, including several unbroadcast scripts. Nearly half of the plays were original stories, not derived from the books:
Though credited to Crompton, this was merely authorised by her, but not written by her. It presented the script of the first William film:
A further tie-in was published for the second film, without any involvement from Crompton:
These are out of the 'regular' series, and entirely feature stories already published across the main series of books.
Several films were made based on the books. The first of these is Just William (1940). Directed by Graham Cutts and written by Doreen Montgomery and Ireland Wood. It starred Richard Lupino as William Brown and featured Fred Emney as Mr. Brown, Basil Radford as Mr. Sidway, Amy Veness as Mrs. Bott, Iris Hoey as Mrs. Brown, Roddy McDowall as Ginger, Norman Robinson as Douglas, Peter Miles as Henry, David Tree as Marmaduke Bott, Jenny Laird as Ethel Brown and Simon Lack as Robert Brown.
Just William's Luck and William at the Circus were both released in 1948 and were written and directed by Val Guest. They starred William Graham as William Brown and featured Garry Marsh as Mr. Brown, Jane Welsh as Mrs. Brown, Hugh Cross as Robert Brown, Kathleen Stuart as Ethel Brown, Brian Roper as Ginger, Brian Weske as Henry and James Crabbe as Douglas.
Alick Hayes, the BBC radio producer of The Will Hay Programme , decided to put together a cast for the first Just William radio series, which ran for 2 years on the BBC Light Programme (as a sitcom), beginning in 1946. He found his William in John Clark, the young actor who had played D'arcy Minor, and Charles Hawtrey, also from the Will Hay Programme, became Hubert Lane. Gordon McLeod was Mr. Brown, Betty Bowden Mrs. Brown, Harry Locke (later, Michael Allinson) played Robert and Ethel was Rosamund Barnes. Violet Elizabeth was played by Jacqueline Boyer, who replaced the original, and Ginger by Tony Stockman.[ citation needed ]
Later, for radio, there was a play, William and the Artist's Model , written in 1956.
The BBC has produced many recordings of William stories read by Martin Jarvis, originally broadcast on BBC Radio 4. See Just William (BBC Radio series).
Kenneth Williams read eight stories for Argo in the early 1980s.
As was often the case with popular radio shows, there was a big push to put it on the stage, where audiences could get to actually put a face to the famous voices, and the actors could get to earn decent money after the frugal paychecks offered by the BBC – William was paid 4 guineas a show, which was standard pay for juveniles at the time (regardless of the size of their part in the show). And so it was that the 1947 radio series of Just William found a new life in a stage production, written by Alick Hayes and Richmal Crompton, produced by Violet Elizabeth's father Jack Boyer, opening in Birmingham, and for the next 2 years toured the British Isles on the Moss Empire music hall circuit, busting house records at most theatres it played due to the thousands of children who got their first taste of theatre from the gallery.[ citation needed ] The closest it got to the West End was the Granville, Walham Green, owned by Jack Boyer, where it became one of the first plays to be televised by the BBC. John Clark, under contract, had to stick it out to the end, even though his voice had begun to break.
Shedload Theatre produced a stage adaptation of Just William's Luck that debuted in 2017 at The Edinburgh Festival Fringe in Underbelly, Cowgate. Written by Richmal Crompton's great-nephew, it saw William, The Outlaws and Violet Elizabeth enact the story themselves as a play within a play; using childlike takes on physical theatre, puppetry and music. The production was well received by critics and audiences alike who praised its imagination and energy; with many citing that it captured the enthusiastic essence of the source material. [6] [7] Just William's Luck subsequently toured theatres around Europe and Britain and returned again to Underbelly, Edinburgh in 2018.
In 1946 the BBC made a film based on their radio series, with the original cast, including John Clark as William, recreating their roles.
In 1956 ITV aired a series based on the books called Over to William . The series ran for 13 episodes and starred Keith Crane as William. [8]
In 1962 and 1963 a BBC TV series called William was broadcast. The 1962 series starred Dennis Waterman as William. In 1963 he was replaced by Denis Gilmore. It also featured Howard Lever as Robert, Christopher Witty as Ginger, Kaplan Kaye as Henry, Carlo Cura as Douglas and Gillian Gostling as Violet Elizabeth. [9]
Series one
Series two
Running for two series transmitted in 1976 and 1977, an ITV series called Just William was made by London Weekend Television. It features Adrian Dannatt as William, with Stephen Wilmot as Henry, Diana Fairfax as Mrs. Brown, Hugh Cross as Mr. Brown, Stacy Dorning as Ethel Brown, Bonnie Langford as Violet Elizabeth Bott, Simon Chandler as Robert Brown and Diana Dors as Mrs. Bott.
Information from here [10]
Series one
Series two
Christmas Special:
In 1994, the BBC broadcast another series also called Just William. Written by Allan Baker and directed by David Giles, it starred Oliver Rokison as William, Tiffany Griffiths as Violet Elizabeth Bott and featured Jonathan Hirst as Ginger, Alastair Weller (credited as Alistair Weller) as Douglas, Polly Adams as Mrs. Brown, David Horovitch as Mr. Brown, Ben Pullen as Robert Brown, Naomi Allisstone as Ellen the maid, and Olivia Hallinan as Susie Chambers.
Series one
Series two
In July, 2009, it was announced that the BBC were working on a new series of Just William. The episodes were written by Men Behaving Badly writer Simon Nye and broadcast in 2010 starring Daniel Roche (Ben in Outnumbered ) who plays William [11] and newcomer Robert A Foster who plays Henry. The series was narrated by Martin Jarvis. [11]
Series one
A Just William comic strip appeared in Look-in magazine from April to October 1977, adapted by Angus Allan and drawn by Arthur Ranson, to tie into the ITV series being broadcast at that time.
William has been criticised by the RSPCA for stories where he is cruel to animals. For example, in one story, William's friend Henry paints his dog blue as a circus exhibit. In a different story, William and another dog owner have a competition to see which dog can kill the most rats in a certain time.[ citation needed ]
One story has been removed from modern editions of the books. The story is "William and the Nasties" from William The Detective , in which William suspects a Jewish shop owner of dishonesty and forms a mob to evict him. ("Nasty" was William's mispronunciation of Nazi.) This story was written in 1935, two years after Adolf Hitler seized power but four years before the start of the Second World War. The atrocities committed in The Holocaust were not as well known (and indeed had mostly not yet happened) as they are in modern times, and the story was probably meant as parody. [12] At the end of the story William and the Outlaws help capture a thief who had imprisoned the shopkeeper, and the shopkeeper generously gives them sweets as a reward.
This story appeared in all the 20 impressions of William the Detective published by George Newnes (1935–1967), and in all the editions brought out by Armada in the 1970s. It was in 1986, in the edition brought out by Macmillan Children's Books, that this story was first omitted. Richmal Crompton's biographer, Mary Cadogan, wrote that both Richmal Crompton's literary executor – her niece Richmal Ashbee – and her publisher Macmillan "unhesitatingly decided to drop this episode ["William and the Nasties"] completely from new editions of the book." [13]
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 numerous television series, films and radio adaptations. Just William is also sometimes used as a title for the series of books as a whole, and is also the name of various television, film and radio adaptations of the books. The William stories first appeared in Home magazine and Happy Mag.
Richmal Crompton Lamburn was a popular English writer, best known for her Just William series of books, humorous short stories, and to a lesser extent adult fiction books.
William Does His Bit is the 23rd book of children's short stories in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton.
William in Trouble is a book in the children's Just William series by Richmal Crompton. The book contains 10 short stories. It was first published in 1927.
Thomas Henry (1879–1962) was an English illustrator, best remembered for his illustrations of Richmal Crompton's William books.
More William is the second William collection in the much acclaimed Just William series by Richmal Crompton. It is a sequel to the book Just William. The book was first published in 1922, with a current edition published in 2005 by Macmillan Children's books.
Just William is a British television series based on the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton. It aired for two series, between 1977 and 1978, on ITV. The series starred child actors Adrian Dannatt as William and Bonnie Langford as Violet, as well as established film star Diana Dors as Mrs Bott.
Just William's Luck is a 1947 British comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring William Graham, Garry Marsh and Jane Welsh. It was written by Richmal Crompton and Guest, based on Crompton's Just William series of books. Crompton was impressed with the film and wrote a novel Just William's Luck based on the events of the film. The following year a second film, William Comes to Town, was made.
Just William's Luck (1948) was a novel in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. The story revolves around the attempts of William Brown and the other Outlaws to get their older brothers married, in order to appropriate wedding presents that they plan to exchange for things of their own desire. After a series of unlikely adventures, the boys serendipitously foil a gang of fur coat smugglers, and receive a reward from the police.
Just William is a 1990s BBC Radio series based on the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton. They are produced by Pete Atkin and read by Martin Jarvis and have become one of the most well-known adaptations of the books. The series has been released on cassette and CD. Beginning in 2000, the theme music for the series has been the piano piece "Won't You Be My Ginger?" by pianist/composer, Richard Dworsky.
Just William is a British television series based on the Just William series of books written by Richmal Crompton. It ran for two series from 1994 to 1995 on BBC. The series starred Oliver Rokison as William and Jonathan Hirst as Ginger.
William — The Dictator is the 20th book of children's short stories in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton.
William the Pirate is the fourteenth book in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1932. It contains eleven short stories, one of which features the odious "Anthony Martin" who is often cited as a parody of A.A. Milne's Christopher Robin.
William Comes to Town is a 1948 British comedy film directed by Val Guest and starring William Graham and Garry Marsh. It was based on the Just William series of novels by Richmal Crompton. It served as a loose sequel to 1947 film Just William's Luck. It is also known by its U.S. alternative title William Goes to the Circus.
William the Conqueror is the sixth book in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1926. It is a book of short stories, and its name is a pun on William the Conqueror, a famous king of England.
William the Good is the ninth book in the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1928.
Still William is the fifth book in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1925.
William And The Brains Trust is the twenty-fifth book in the Just William series by Richmal Crompton. It was first published in 1945. It was republished as a paperback (abridged) under the title "William the Hero."
Just William is a 1940 British comedy film directed by Graham Cutts and starring Richard Lupino, Fred Emney and Basil Radford. It is based on the Just William series of books by Richmal Crompton.
Just William is a United Kingdom television series first broadcast on BBC One in December 2010. The series is based on the book series of the same name by Richmal Crompton. The adaptation is written by Simon Nye. It is the first adaptation of the books since a children's television series in the 1990s.