This is a new original story for the BBC Play series.
Adapted for radio by Richmal Crompton in collaboration with Alick Hayes.
Script published by David Schutte in William the Lionheart. ISBN: 978 0 9546802 6 8
It has been snowing in William's village, but it's not all good when a gangster makes his entrance. Read on to see how William and company deal with this intruder...
William and Ginger are putting the finishing touches to a snowman when Hubert comes along to aggravate the situation. A confrontation ensues, leading to a snowball fight, which culminates with Hubert getting hit solidly in the face. Hubert leaves with the threat that he'll get himself invited to lunch, and as guest will be able to eat all of the chocolate cake - leaving none for William!
This leads William to come up with a plan to teach Hubert a lesson, should he come back. The plan is to pile up snow on the flat roof above the porch, which can then be pushed onto Hubert with the souding of a secret word.
Some sandbags are moved out of the way, as this would 'half kill' Hubert. A very kind thought for William to have!
Violet Elizabeth visits and rebuffs pleas for her to leave with the infamous catchphrase, 'I'll thcream, an' I'll thcream, an' I'll thcream until I'm thick'.
William leaves Violet Elizabeth of the up on the porch roof crouching behind the sandbags, while he and Ginger leave to keep watch. They meet a returning Mr Brown, who is unimpressed that William hasn't removed the snow from the front door step and proceeds to do it himself.
Getting himself upset, the multiple conversations occur in a frenzied fashion. During which the volume increases. Ginger has forgotten the secret word and William shouts it in reminder. Upon hearing the secret word, Violet Elizabeth pushes the snow off onto an upset Mr Brown.
This leads William to be left at home, alone. His family head out for lunch, but each visit him secretly to assuage their guilt. They do this by providing William with either food, or permission to consume various foot items in the kitchen, he is even given some money! This is surely the 'punishment' that we all wished for as children!
Finally, left to his own devices, William opens the front door after the bell rings. Unfortunately, it is a gangster with a gun. William struggles to keep his mouth shut and gains himself a series of slaps and learns to speak when spoken to.
When Ginger and Violet Elizabeth knock at the door, the gangster wants William to get rid of them without giving him away. He does this by telling them that he'll be out soon to play the same game as this morning. Instead of snow, this time they'll play with sand.
Following this Sergeant Jukes calls to check on the Brown household as a dangerous character has been seen in the neighbourhood. William tells the Sergeant that his family are out, and receives the reply that Jukes will pop along on his bike to check on things.
The gangster is clearly unhappy with William, but cheers up a bit when William tells him that escape will be quicker via the front door. As the gangster exits, William shouts the secret word 'Gas meter', and the sandbags are dropped on the gangster.
In the final scene, William is explaining their plan to Jukes, but makes the mistake of telling him the secret word, which leaves them both covered in a dumping of snow!
| Cast |
|---|
| William |
| Mr John Brown |
| Mrs Brown |
| Ethel |
| Robert |
| Ginger |
| Hubert Lane |
| Violet Elizabeth |
| Sgt. Jukes |
| Gangster |
