William Clears the Slums
Kidnapping, slums and digestive sauce are on the table in this episode of the popular adaptation of Richmal Crompton's Just William stories.
Of the many adaptations of Richmal Crompton's Just William stories on film, television and radio, LWT's late-1970s tea-time broadcast was one of the most successful, spanning two seasons and 27 episodes. Contemporary reviewers were complementary about the decision not to update the series from its 1920s origins and its appeal to adult as well as child audiences.
Westminster schoolboy Adrian Dannatt was a fan of the books who applied for the part after seeing an advert in the newspaper, and was chosen from over 2000 applicants. It was his only acting job as his life went a different path, but it was a difficult role to carry, as this episode, centred around William's philanthropic efforts, shows. Diana Dors and John Stratton's Mr and Mrs Bott (and Bonnie Langford's definitive Violet Elizabeth Bott, absent from this episode) were larger than life caricatures to be performed with gusto. Dannatt's William is forced to verbalise the character's inner narration for the sake of the plot, a burden that would be hard for any actor to carry.
After hearing a lecture at the village hall, William vows to do something
to help poor families who live in small houses.
Tags
Kid's TV
Our relationship with the small screen starts early in life, opening our square eyes to a heady mix of drama and comedy; fantasy and fact.
Dedicated children’s programming has been part of the television mix from its earliest years, growing from short intervals “For The Children” after WWII, to a plethora of standalone channels today. The start of the BBC’s long-running “Watch With Mother” series in 1953 set much of the template for pre-school television, blending puppets, song and animation, with the implicit expectation that mum - assumed to be a housewife - would supervise.
Catering for older children, meanwhile, sought to balance the kinds of programmes children want to watch with those their parents want them to see. Eventually a fuller menu of drama, comedy, factual and magazine programmes for children - in other words, versions of 'grown-up' programmes for 'small people' - came to fill the schedules of weekday afternoons and Saturday mornings.
Sadly, the segregation of children’s television to its own satellite, cable and digital channels has made its much less likely for adults to experience the frequent delights of kids’ TV. But our collection welcomes all ages! (Though please note that some programmes maybe flagged as unsuitable for young children.)
48 videos in this collection
1
2
Diane's Panda Party [28/09/72]
3
Animal Kwackers [09/10/75]
4
Witches' Brew [28/12/72]
5
Origami [09/04/70]
6
Mr. Trimble [21/02/73]
7
Gathercole Bunch
8
The Distant Voice
9
The Challenge
10
Play It Again, Stewpot [25/07/74]
11
Play It Again, Stewpot [05/09/74]
12
A Handful of Songs [27/05/77]
13
Saturday Scene Road Show [11/05/75]
14
Big and Bigger
15
Mickey the Demon Barber
16
Kevin Goes to the Library
17
Ragdolly Anna and the Bacon
18
Britain in the Year 2000
19
Delilah
20
Zzzap! [19/02/93]
21
Granny's Kitchen [26/05/77]
22
Heavens Above [23/02/81]
23
Moving In
24
Nature Trail [16/05/83]
25
Our Show [29/10/77]
26
Peter Ustinov Tells Stories from Hans Andersen
27
Quest of Eagles Episode 1 Sailor
28
Sunny Side Up [28/04/82]
29
The Children's Royal Variety Performance
30
There's Nobody There
31
Think Tank [18/08/81]
32
Two Good Turns
33
William Clears the Slums
34
Gus Hunnybun
35
One Day in the Life of Television
36
Gus Honeybun Animation
37
Gus Honeybun around Plymouth
38
Modern Music
39
Calendar Kids
40
Sus
41
School Around the Corner
42
Tots TV [19/03/93]
43
The Raggy Dolls [10/11/92]
44
Skoosh Summer Special [14/07/98]
45
Zig Zag (Prog 11)
46
Stookie [15/09/85]
47
Brushes
48