Radio Times review

Martin Jarvis pulls off another one-man, multi-voiced spectacular at Cheltenham, bringing life to Richmal Crompton's naughtiest of schoolboys, William. He's voiced these short stories many times before, but to perform one faultlessly in front of a live audience is a true reflection of his thespian skills.

It is a recipe for both disaster and hilarity when William and his gang, the Outlaws, are asked to look after a baby. No sooner do they have one infant under their charge than they end up with a further two under their "care". The sequence at a baby show is sublime. When asked by the organiser what illnesses the "triplets" have had, William replies "lumbago and gout"!

William Brown is confused. Some literary expert has been lecturing class 3A about a writer called Shakespeare and a cove called Bacon who stole all his work and sometimes went by the name of Ham. Or Eggs.

Martin Jarvis delivers a live performance of one of Richmal Crompton's finest outings for William, which ends in him delivering his own version of the "To be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet. So what if the words are not in the right order or, indeed, actual words?

It's William's moment in the spotlight and one of the funniest things on the radio this fortnight.