Just William: A BBC Radio Collection cover art

Just William: A BBC Radio Collection

Classic Readings from the BBC Archive

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About this listen

A stunning collection of Just William stories, selected and read by Martin Jarvis.

Richmal Crompton’s stories featuring irrepressible schoolboy William Brown have been firm favourites with both young and old for decades. Perpetually scruffy, mud-stained and mischievous, he is a lovable scamp whose pranks usually end in disaster – for his harassed elders at least.

With friends Ginger, Douglas and Henry (the Outlaws) and the angelic thorn-in-his-side, the lisping Violet Elizabeth Bott, William has rightly joined the literary, and radio, immortals.

Martin Jarvis, who has been hailed as ‘the wizard of the talking book’ by The Daily Telegraph, has made the voice of William his own, and this collection of 54 laugh-out-loud stories will delight long-standing fans and first-time listeners alike.

Also included are two bonus interviews with Richmal Crompton, recorded in 1965 and 1968.

The stories included in this collection are:

'The Christmas Truce'
'Only Just in Time'
'The Midnight Adventure of Miss Montague'
'William and the Musician'
'William Leads a Better Life'
'William and the Twins'
'William’s Birthday'
'William and the Little Girl'
'The Outlaws and Cousin Percy'
'William and the Princess Goldilocks'
'The Sweet Little Girl in White'
'A Birthday Treat'
'The Outlaws and the Triplets'
'A Bit of Blackmail'
'William Makes a Night of It'
'William and the Lost Tourist'
'The Leopard Hunter'
'The New Neighbour'
'William the Philanthropist'
'William and the Prize Cat'
'William Holds the Stage'
'William and the School Report'
'All the News'
'Aunt Arabelle in Charge'
'William’s Goodbye Present'
'William the Salvage Collector'
'William’s Day Off'
'Entertainment Provided'
'William and the Brains Trust'
'William and the Bomb'
'William Goes Shopping'
'Violet Elizabeth Runs Away'
'William and the Real Laurence'
'The Outlaws and the Hidden Treasure'
'William and the Fairy Daffodil'
'The Best Laid Plans'
'Mrs Bott’s Hat'
'William Starts the Holidays'
'William Plays Santa Claus'
'William and the Snowman'
'Revenge is Sweet'
'William and the Black Cat'
'William and the Russian Prince'
'William’s Busy Day'
'William – The Great Actor'
'William and the White Elephants'
'Finding a School for William'
'William Clears the Slums'
'Parrots for Ethel'
'William’s Truthful Christmas'
'Boys will be Boys'
'William and the Ebony Hair-Brush'
'William and the Old Man in the Fog '

Musical Theme: 'Won't You Be My Ginger?' composed and performed by Richard Dworsky (piano) (c) 1995 Inner Vista Music (BMI)

©2017 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2017 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd
Literature & Fiction Funny Witty Feel-Good Thought-Provoking

Critic reviews

"There’s nothing to touch them." (Independent on Sunday)

All stars
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I find the William stories endlessly amusing. What Richmal Crompton does, like Agatha Christie, is to recreate a bygone way of life, a bygone era. And William is surely unique, as fresh as ever, though by now he should be thoroughly jaded and faded, being a twenties’ schoolboy. There is no possible reader for these stories other than Martin Jarvis, who brings the characters to life so splendidly that we enjoy the ride as much as he does.

I was very surprised to learn, upon hearing the interview, that the author was a woman!

Pure Nostalgia

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What an absolute joy, to be reunited with the irrepressible, ever lasting William! Listening to Martin Jarvis's matchless narration, I am transported back to my childhood in the 1960s, enraptured by the Just William books and dreaming I was one of the Outlaws. It's a testimony to the quality of Richmal Crompton's writing that I find the stories just as enjoyable now over half a century later - and a whole century since she first created Just William. What I was too young to fully appreciate, when I first read the books, was how brilliantly the author did caricature. They may be set in a bygone age, but human nature doesn't change and the wry humour with which Richmal Crompton observed it enable these stories, like it's principle characters, to travel through time without ageing.

Just Brilliant!

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These stories are great and I would recommend them for anyone who is really in to older kids stories

Very good

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Brilliant and timeless. Excellent story that endures. Something for everyone. Amazing storytelling. My daughter loved it!

Brilliant and timeless

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Martin Jarvis is a brilliant narrator, bringing William and his friends hilariously to life. His Violet Elizabeth Bott is, I think, particularly good. I can listen to these stories again and again.

A great collection of William stories with an inspired narrator

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