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All 13 episodes from the first season of the 1970s ITV series based on the stories by Richmal Crompton. Set in the 1930s, the series tells the story of naughty schoolboy William and his gang known as The Outlaws, who are plagued by the attentions of insufferable spoiled brat Elizabeth Violet Rose Bott (Bonnie Langford). Episodes are: 'William and the Begging Letter', 'William: The Great Actor', 'The Outlaws and the Tramp', 'The Sweetest Little Girl in White', 'William and the Badminton Racket', 'A Little Interlude', 'William and the Prize Pig', 'William and the Wonderful Present', 'William the Matchmaker', 'Waste Paper Wanted', 'Only Just in Time', 'William and the Sleeping Major' and 'William Clears the Slums'.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I should start by asking the question WHY? Why on earth has it taken so long for these 1976/1977 series - very often referred to by William fans as the "Definitive" TV William series - to be released on DVD?
William on screen had always been a dicey business, the Crompton books often contain pretty detailed word pictures of how the characters and their world look. Thus, screen adaptations always run the risk of not measuring up to the mental picture. But William's antics were very filmic and this series hit the nail on the head for the vast majority of Outlaws and casual William fans.
Rather like Bertie Wooster, you need to be sold on William and his world to appreciate him. A literal mind watching or reading William (or Wooster) would soon pick holes in the plots and wonder why William hadn't been locked away years ago! So, if you're new to William or you're not willing to suspend your disbelief to some degree then, well, frankly you should not be here. Okay, now that we are all kids together, let's take a closer look at this extra special treat.
It started with some inspired casting, Adrian Dannatt fits the role of William like a glove, and given his tender years he totally inhabits the character. Bonnie Langford is Violet Elizabeth to a tee. Dianna Fairfax wonderfully wears her permanent air of perplexed worry as William's beleaguered mother. Michael McVey as Ginger does a great job in backing up William in his various lunacies. Add some terrific supports from guest stars such as Freddie Jones and of course Dianna Dors during her second flowering as a character actress, and you have an absolute treat.
But the casting was only the start, many other aspects shine.... Read more ›
William on screen had always been a dicey business, the Crompton books often contain pretty detailed word pictures of how the characters and their world look. Thus, screen adaptations always run the risk of not measuring up to the mental picture. But William's antics were very filmic and this series hit the nail on the head for the vast majority of Outlaws and casual William fans.
Rather like Bertie Wooster, you need to be sold on William and his world to appreciate him. A literal mind watching or reading William (or Wooster) would soon pick holes in the plots and wonder why William hadn't been locked away years ago! So, if you're new to William or you're not willing to suspend your disbelief to some degree then, well, frankly you should not be here. Okay, now that we are all kids together, let's take a closer look at this extra special treat.
It started with some inspired casting, Adrian Dannatt fits the role of William like a glove, and given his tender years he totally inhabits the character. Bonnie Langford is Violet Elizabeth to a tee. Dianna Fairfax wonderfully wears her permanent air of perplexed worry as William's beleaguered mother. Michael McVey as Ginger does a great job in backing up William in his various lunacies. Add some terrific supports from guest stars such as Freddie Jones and of course Dianna Dors during her second flowering as a character actress, and you have an absolute treat.
But the casting was only the start, many other aspects shine.... Read more ›
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
The quality of the stories obviously helped, but the production team and the actors have done a great job too. Don't worry about it being for kids, if you ever want a cheerful interlude, pop this on the DVD. Hilarious!
By Gadfly
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
To my knowledge, there have been four attempts to adapt Just William to Television; I have only seen three of them, but of those three the series starring Adrian Dannatt, in my opinion is the best. The first thing going for this series is that it set in the Nineteen Twenties. This, of course, is the only era these stories could be set: William and his gang may have been perennial but the adult population have to move with the times (which is why their behaviour becomes more anochronistic the later the story was written, something the producers of the latest series should have taken note of when they decided to set their stories in the Fifties). The second thing going for it is that the actors portray their roles so accurately, to the point where you can imagine them when you read the books. There is alas one flaw to this series: they only did two seasons, and perhaps because they were consciouse of their limitations of time, they often tried to bring together plots from two or even three stories into one episode, sometimes successfully, but at other times not so (for example in A Little Interlude a plot taken from William the Intruder appears, in which Robert Brown mentions a miss Cannon, whom of course we never get to see because she plays no part in the story. Another flaw is that the filming techniques of the time have inevitably dated. However, neither of these two drawbacks will spoil the viewer's enjoyment of a fine attempt.
4 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By hsuhsiuhui
Format:DVD
If those nasty men don't hurry up and jolly well release this DVD, I'll thcream and thcream and thcream until I'm thick - and I can.
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Rachel Adams
Format:DVD
It's the 30th March 2009 today. So, is the item available now? I do hope so! I've been wanting to see it ever since I heard about the series; I was only about 4 when it was on TV.
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