Fry's fault

After coming home last night I decided to check out the video linked to in a recent tweet by Stephen Fry.

it was a remark he made in this interview about pronouncing "www" in English. It triggered an earlier thought I had on that subject.
You see in Dutch this would sound something like "Way,Way,Way". I started wondering why some languages make the sound the letter has, while English speakers go for the double U.

Is this because there is no real use of "uu" in English, as opposed to other languages? Would this also mean that in the past the letter was written more like "UU" in English, and "VV" in languages like Dutch?

Sure, with a little searching I might find the answers. Yet there is some part of me that enjoys the thrill in trying to come up with a workable theory bases on deductive reasoning combined with my own sort of logic. I won't deny that it is also a kick if I turn out to be right.

NOTE: I have not checked, so I could very well be completely wrong. merely thinking out loud and throwing it out there.