Mayhem inevitably ensues, as William’s well-intentioned big plans come up once again against the placid hypocrisy of the English suburban middle classes. So when Aunt Ethel asks if he likes the geometry set she has given him for Christmas… well, you can imagine.” In this particular story, he is very taken by the vicar’s suggestion that one ought to always speak the truth. Unruly, romantic, perpetually misunderstood, William Brown, says Jarvis, is one of the great comic creations in English literature. He’s at it again this Christmas, with a new story, William’s Truthful Christmas, broadcast on Christmas Eve. “Doin’ good, ritin’ rongs an’ pursuin’ happiness,” he says, reciting the philosophy of a certain incorrigible 11-year-old boy in a voice that will be instantly familiar to anyone who has listened to his regular recordings of Richmal Crompton’s beloved Just William stories that have been broadcast on Radio 4 since 1973.
Within seconds of beginning our interview, Martin Jarvis has abandoned his trademark molten liquorice vowels for a half bitten cockney dialect by way of genteel Surrey.
