I'm surprised that this well-produced, well-acted series only has four episodes. Everything about it is high quality from the jouncy theme music to the ever-so-slightly-over-the-top performances. What's great is that no matter who is on the screen, they're funny: Rebecca Front as the calm eye-in-the-hurricane mother, Daniel Ryan as the perpetually-perturbed father, a young Lily James as Daniel's flirtatious sister, Harry Melling as Daniel's moody, poetry-spouting brother. And the guest performances are just as good. Caroline Quentin and Warren Clarke are hilarious as the pompous Botts. And even in the relatively small roles of William's friends, teacher and headmaster we have well-defined amusing characters. And of course, Daniel Roche's performance as William anchors the entire show. William is an unapologetic boy making mischief as if it's his fulltime job, matter of fact in his attempts to one-up people he dislikes, and unconcerned that his behavior creates anarchy wherever he goes. And all of this without being irritating or obnoxious. I'm not at all familiar with the books this series is based on but if the series is a reflection of the books....they must be classics.
