Lovers of British family sitcoms are either already William fans, or are likely to become avid followers of the dogged and imaginative child and his not always patient family. Richmal Crompton's William series of books tells the relationship between adults and children from a child's perspective hilariously highlighting the different viewpoints. Most of us have been William (e.g. children who cannot understand the strange and arbitrary or contradictory rules the adult world imposes) or have dealt with a William (never sure whether he is the little boy pointing out the emperor's lack of clothes or a nuisance defending his crimes with infuriating (il)logic. Although the world of middle class homes with cooks and gardeners has long vanished generations of adults and children alike laugh at William's explotis, and often sympathise with either the hero or his long-suffering family.