Williams Unlucky Day

A short video about the rare story: William's Unlucky Day. Originally printed in Arpeggio, a Christmas Newsletter for Bromley Civil Defence services and not reprinted until Graham Reeves included it in his book, Undaunted.

Book Review: Enter - Patricia

*Includes Spoilers*

When I looked for reviews of this book, I saw references to Richmal Crompton, the author, trying to reformulate William for other audiences. People have this idea that another Crompton creation, Jimmy, is a younger William, which I have refuted previously and will again in future posts! It also appears that some feel that Patricia was an attempt at a female version for girls.

It makes me wonder if those people have actually read the book.

Enter Patricia is told entirely from a man's perspective. Patricia is the object of his affection and features heavily in the skits that make up this hilarious book. However, there are skits that don't include Patricia, or mention Patricia without her making an appearance.

Cover via Goodreads.

The book, sectioned into 4 parts, is a piece of genius-level comedic writing that, if she so chose, could have seen Crompton transfer her skills over to writing sitcoms. Often, the television series The Good Life (Good Neighbours in the US), would pop into my mind, as I felt that humour was similar - in the best kind of silly way.

We see Mr Lawson meeting Patricia due to a misunderstanding. He has been asked by a friend to look after the best looking woman at a party, to keep her away from other men, until he arrives. Mr Lawson sees Patricia and assumes that this is that woman. Eventually his friend arrives, admonishing him as the girl in question is now unavailable!

A series of funny skits ensue as Mr Lawson first tries to woo Patricia, then afterwards, moments of fun as their life together grows.

One skit involves Patricia forgetting her umbrella, leaving it at a department store. Lawson goes to retrieve the umbrella, which involves various stops in the department store as it has been passed on and moved to a safe place. Eventually, upon finding the umbrella in the managers office. After a long conversation with the manager, *** rushes downstairs to bring the umbrella back to Patricia, only to realise that he, himself, has now forgotten the umbrella! There is a bit of an umbrella theme throughout the book.

As their life grows together, we see a genuine fondness between them. The hilarity calms down and Patricia's nephew and nieces come to visit. I found that this put a dampener on the book, however, by the end, we realise that Crompton was softly preparing us for the couple's future life.

I hope that you can see that this book is about two adults, falling in love - and having a great time in the process. The book is nothing like William - why would it be? The dust cover illustration, with its bold colours, may be reminiscent of the William covers, but this is wholly misleading. The book illustrations are much better and properly reflect the characters and situations. 

I have also seen mentions that it wasn't successful and this is why no other books on Patricia were written. If you read to the end, you'll see that the story is complete - there was never any need for another book. While the story in this book is woven together via a series of skits, it is a full story with a full story arc. 

It is the most hilarious and fun book that I've read in a good while and I'd thoroughly recommend it.

William and the Artist's Model

A short video about the one act play, William and the Artist's Model. Including where to find the book and TV series versions of the same story.

Mystery of the Elms

A brief introduction to the play and its origin, followed by the play set to a slideshow of William book covers images.

Just William TV Series 1977 to 1978

A short video discussing the Just William TV Series featuring Adrian Dannatt at William Brown and Bonnie Langford as Violet Elizabeth Bott. This complete set includes both classic series, originally screened in 1977 and 1978, including the double-length Christmas Special episode aired on 24 December 1977.

Book Review: Jimmy

Armada Paperback Edition

This is a fantastic book, with each story lifting my spirits. I originally purchased and read the Armada paperback, but realised that a significant portion of the stories were missing. 

Having since read the Newnes hardback, I can say that it is worth the additional cost as these stories are delightful. I find it disappointing that the Armada version was abridged, missing out 18 of the original stories.

Bill and Charles, make up Roger's Three Musketeers gang, with Toothy sometimes being part of their games. Jimmy, and his friend Bobby, look up to Roger's gang and always try to find a way into their current events. Sally, the girl next door has a liking for Roger, while Jimmy very much likes Sally! Then we have Archie and his gang, the Mouldies, always trying to get one up, and often failing, on Roger's gang. On the periphery is Araminta Palmer, a five-year-old, who wants to play with everyone, and sometimes does; but is mostly cast aside by all.

I enjoy that many of the stories are interlinked, with many of the locations reused in subsequent stories, such as the blitzed house and the quarry.  

Some stories are Williamesque in topic, but in feel, they are very different. The kids tend to get along and there's a much friendlier atmosphere within the stories. For instance, his parents have time for Jimmy and actually seem to like him, whereas William's parents try to ignore William when they can. The story where Sandy, the dog, is adopted by the family is a heart-warming tale and shows that even Jimmy, the youngest of their family, is allowed to make an impact on events within that family. Some other differences include: When excited Jimmy stammers, he saves well, thinks of others (often buying them presents), and is often let off his misdemeanours (possibly due to his age). 

The hardback and paperback are wonderfully illustrated by Lunt Roberts, who has the ability to bring life and action into each drawing.

The Cast

The main characters of this series are:

Jimmy Manning

Roger Manning

Mr Manning

Mrs Manning

Roger's Friends:

Charles 

Bill (of a simple direct inquiring nature) 

-both members of Roger's gang: The Three Musketeers

Toothy (who has a gold bar to correct his wild teeth)

Jimmy Friend:

Bobby Peaslake

Recurring Characters:

Archie Mould - Enemy and leading of the Mouldies

Sally - the girl next door (9 years old)

Araminta Palmer (5 years)

Hardback Edition

Hardback, Paperback, and Audiobook Contents

Newnes First Edition (1949) Contents
1.1 Jimmy Turns the Tables
1.2 Miss Pettigrew's Parrot
1.3 The Mousse
1.4 Jimmy, Detective
1.5 Setting the Stage
1.6 The Smuggler Hunt
1.7 Sandy Make His Entrance
1.8 A Not So Clean Sweep
1.9 A Punitive Expedition
1.10 The Fancy-dress Costume
1.11 The Party
1.12 The Treat
1.13 Righting a Wrong
1.14 The Criminal
1.15 The Hostage
1.16 The Dream
1.17 The Hidden Treasure
1.18 The Black Market
1.19 Sandy Saves the Situation
1.20 A Problem Solved
1.21 A The Rehearsal
1.22 The Rescue that Failed
1.23 Archie Gets the Worst of it
1.24 Speeding the Parting Guest
1.25 On the Rocks
1.26 Jimmy's Gang
1.27 The Paper-Chase
1.28 A Present for Uncle Peter
1.29 Sandy Does his Turn
1.30 The Little Jade House
1.31 A Bid for Fame
1.32 The Fire Fighter
1.33 Christmas Eve


Armada Paperback Edition Contents 

I initially read the Armada paperback version of this book, which beings with Sandy Does his Turn, a story out of chronological order. In that story, we have Sandy in his role of being Jimmy's dog before he had actually becomes Jimmy's dog. This is followed by Jimmy Turns the Tables, in which we get the first descriptions of Jimmy and the main characters. When I wrote my initial story reviews, I wrote that Jimmy Turns the Tables should really have been the opening story of this book. It wasn't until I realised that the original Newnes edition did have it as the first story. Not only that, but that the Armada book is missing 18 stories, making it less than half the original! 

1.1 Sandy Does his Turn
1.2 Jimmy Turns the Tables
1.3 Miss Pettigrew's Parrot
1.4 The Mousse
1.5 Jimmy, Detective
1.6 Setting the Stage
1.7 The Smuggler Hunt
1.8 Sandy Make His Entrance
1.9 A Not So Clean Sweep
1.10 A Punitive Expedition
1.11 The Fancy-dress Costume
1.12 The Party
1.13 On the Rocks
1.14 Righting a Wrong
1.15 The Criminal

Just Jimmy Audiobook Edition

A fantastic performance by Martin Jarvis, who has updated the odd word here and there for modern audiences.
The five stories, all from the original Jimmy book, are:
1. Setting the Stage
2. Miss Pettigrew's Parrot
3. The Hidden Treasure
4. Sandy Makes His Entrance
5. Christmas Eve.
While short, at around an hour running time, this audiobook is fantastic and worth a listen.

21.5 William the Dog Trainer

Quote from the story
"…she couldn't get out of givin' me the half-crown. She made me promise to put it in my money-box, so I did all right, but I got it out again with a knife when she'd gone. I never promised not to get it out again"
- William

 The Outlaws were in Ginger's back garden eating apples before throwing apple cores at each other. William was telling them about a films he had seen with his aunt, who had given his half a crown because he had been helpful. While William was rather vague about the content of the films, apart from general fighting, one thing he was sure on was that he liked the sheep dog the best. Quite taken with the intelligence and abilities of sheep dogs, William decides that Jumble would make a good sheep dog.

Now that William has the idea, he won't shut up about the idea. The Outlaws get a bit fed up as they want to know what happened in the war film, but William is no longer interested. This leads to Ginger betting William that he can't train Jumble to be a sheep dog. The bets hardens William's resolve and he now daydreams of all the amazing feats Jumble will achieve as a sheep dog. And of course, while he'd hire him out to the farmer, Jenks, he'd charge him more and make it difficult for him! Settling old scores!

Deciding to train Jumble in secret, seeing as the other Outlaws didn't support the cause, he heads over to the aforementioned Jenks' farm. Seeing Jenks heading towards the pigsties, William heads directly for the outfields, where he comes across many sheep. So, the training begins. Unfortunately, Jumble's idea of bringing the sheep efficiently to the corner was running wildly and barking loudly at them from all directions. Jumble, now in a state of ecstacy, ignores William's commands to stop. This, of course, brings Farmer Jenks to the chaotic scene; throwing stones at Jumble and grabbing William by the scrub of his neck.

Farmer Smith arrives now, but even his attempts do not calm a furious Jenks, who wants five pounds in damages and Jumble destroyed for sheep worrying. William pleads with Jenks. He'll bring him all the money, two-pence a week, as long as he doesn't tell Mr Brown or destroy Jumble.

As he drags William home, the damages have decreased to three pounds, but it seems the destruction of Jumble is a must.

Mr Brown deals with William harshly and his solicitor advises him to pay the damages and get rid of Jumble. William pleads for the life of Jumble, but his father won't hear of it, his mother doesn't have a sympathetic ear either.

William decides to keep Jumble in the barn until the whole mess dies down. When the vet arrives to take care of business, Jumble is nowhere to be seen. It becomes clear that the adult world is against him. He decides to take Jumble and go on the run.

We are then introduced to Miss Wortleton, who has taken a house on the outskirts of Marleigh, in which she housed a large number of dogs. She cannot abide dogs being maltreated, so while she is worried about the amount of dogs she has; when she sees a farmer giving a sheep dog a hiding during training, she buys it for £10 (even though the farmer, secretly, only wanted £5).

She sees William outside her home looking at a sign-post, as if wondering which way to go. She witnesses his affectionate behaviour towards Jumble and thinks that William is the boy to relieve her of one of her dogs.

William declines her offer of viewing all of her dogs until refreshments are offered. At seeing the amount of dogs she has, he considers that she collects dogs like someone might collect cigarette cards. So while she is trying to palm a dog off on William, William is in turn wanting her to look after Jumble until the fuss dies down. Miss Wortleton offers a sheep dog, Hector, to William. William, at first, declines, but having time to think while he demolishes a second plate of new current buns, then accepts. He decides he can go back to the original plan of hiding Jumble and can now say that he has swapped him for Hector. Hector, having nothing to do with the situation would be left out of it.

Walking home, William is less certain that his plan will work. But he comes upon a situation at the boundary of Farmer Jenk's land and Farmer Smith's land - sheep gone wild! Jenks has tied up his sheepdog as useless and William, deciding to watch proceedings, does the same with Jumble. However, Hector makes a run for the sheep. Smith seeing that Hector is trained, yells instructions, which are followed to the tee. Smith is impressed and tricks Farmer Jenks into saying that Jumble can live if Hector is for sale. Jenks says he'll buy him, but Smith says that he already has, will pay for the original damages - but must have proof! This sends Jenks off in a rage.

Escorting William home to speak with his parents, Smith tells them everything is fine and he'll manage Jenks. He gives William a ten-shilling note with the potential of more to come, dependent on the damages he has to pay Jenks.

Unaware of Jumble's change in fortune, Ethel returns home thinking that he has been destroyed. Thinking William is low on money as his pocket money was suspended, she offers him a low fee for collecting her shoes from the cobbler and she'll borrow the money for payment from mother. William flashes his ten-shilling note, saying he'll collect the shoes for free and lend her the money! Shouting "Hi, Jumble!", Ethel is thrown into "utter stupification". Life again, for William, is good!

Characters	Events
William	Sheep worrying
Ginger
Douglas	Places
Henry	Ginger's House (Back Garden)
Jumble	Jenks Farm
Farmer Jenks	William's Home
Farmer Smith	Miss Wortleton' s Home
Mr Brown
Mrs Brown
Miss Wortleton
Ethel