Crackerjack! (TV programme): Difference between revisions
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| <center>'''29'''</center> || <center>28 September 1984</center> || <center>21 December 1984</center> || <center>13</center> |
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Revision as of 17:26, 15 January 2020
This article needs additional citations for verification. (September 2014) |
Crackerjack! | |
---|---|
Genre | Children's television |
Created by | Johnny Haddon Downes |
Presented by | Eamonn Andrews (1955–64) Leslie Crowther (1964–68) Michael Aspel (1968–74) Ed Stewart (1975–79) Stu Francis (1980–84) Sam & Mark (2020-) |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 29 |
No. of episodes | 451 (303 missing)[1] |
Production | |
Production locations | Dock10, Salford Quays, Greater Manchester (2020-) |
Running time | 40 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | BBC Television Service (1955-84) CBBC (2020-, TV) BBC iPlayer (2020-, online streaming) |
Release |
present (Revival series) |
Crackerjack is a British children's television series that aired on the BBC Television Service from 14 September 1955 until 21 December 1984 (except during 1971). Some online sources cite the title with an exclamation mark, but the actual programme appears not to have used one on screen or in contemporaneous publicity. [2]
On 11 February 2019, it was announced that Crackerjack would return in 2020 with new hosts Sam & Mark, filmed at Dock10, 35 years after it was last aired. The 10-part series will air on CBBC and the BBC iPlayer.[3]
Presenters
Through its long run it featured Eamonn Andrews, Max Bygraves, Leslie Crowther, Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, Joe Baker, Jack Douglas, Stu Francis, Peter Glaze, Don Maclean, Michael Aspel, Christine Holmes, Jacqueline Clarke, Stuart Sherwin, Little and Large, Jan Hunt, The Krankies, Basil Brush, Geoffrey Durham, Bernie Clifton, Rod McLennan and Ronnie Corbett amongst many others. Among the performers who appeared as singers/dancers, assisting the host with games, were Sally Ann Triplett (Series 26; as a member of the duo Bardo, Sally Ann represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 1982), Leigh Miles (Series 26 & 27; Leigh was also a popular "Hills Angel" in the Benny Hill show), Julie Dorne-Brown (Series 27 & 28; later MTV VJ "Downtown" Julie Brown), Sara Hollamby (Series 28 & 29; now a television news and travel reporter), Ling Tai (Series 29), Petula Clark, Jillian Comber and Pip Hinton.
Introduction
The show was introduced with the phrase "It's Friday, it's five to five . . . It's Crackerjack!"
When Eamonn Andrews presented Crackerjack, the show alternated on Thursdays with 'Playbox', another children's show also presented by Eamonn Andrews. It moved to a Friday when Leslie Crowther took over presenting the show. Another children's programme, Blue Peter, which was on once a week on Mondays, then went twice weekly, filling the Thursday slot vacated by Crackerjack.
Format
The shows were frantic, being broadcast live in front of an audience largely of children, originally at the King's Theatre[4] on Hammersmith Road, used by the BBC as the King's Studio for live and recorded broadcasts until 1963, then at the BBC Television Theatre (now the Shepherds Bush Empire). The format of the programme included competitive games for teams of children, a music spot, a comedy double act, and a finale in which the cast performs a short comic play, adapting popular songs of the day and incorporating them into the action. One of the highlights of the show was a section called Don and Pete, being Don Maclean and Peter Glaze in a silent-comedy-style section which saw the lead actors playing different parts each week, for example fishing, as sweepers, barbers, at a riding school, on a building site, on a farm, at a circus, window cleaners, bellboys, removals, etc.
One of the games was a quiz called "Double or Drop", where each of three contestants was given a prize to hold for each question answered correctly, but given a cabbage if they were incorrect. They were out of the game if they dropped any of the items awarded or received a third cabbage. While the winner took his or her pick from a basket of toys, every runner-up won a much-envied marbled propelling pencil as a prize,[5] which became so popular that in 1961 Queen Elizabeth was presented with Crackerjack! pencils for Anne and Charles.[2]
In 1982, in a bid to boost flagging ratings, Crackerjack introduced gunge into its games and launched a new game called 'Take a Chance' in which the celebrity guests - one female, one male - could score extra points for the contestant they teamed up with by competing against Francis in a quickfire question tie. A wrong answer or the opponent answering first would lead to Stu Francis or the celebrity guest being covered in gunge. Additionally, the male celebrity and Francis, even if they got a question correct, would usually get gunged regardless as punishment for laughing at their opponent - often due to Francis taking revenge by banging on the set and shouting "Pull It!" to the production team - although female contestants who answered correctly were generally allowed to laugh at Francis and get away with it-although not always! Liz Hobbs who was a guest in 1984, answered the question before Francis and the production team gunged her by accident. The gunge was always either named relating to the celebrity or a random theme with the number of points above. "The points to be won or the penalties to pay".
Catchphrases
In the Don and Pete sketches, Peter Glaze, who usually played a pompous or upper-class character, would always get exasperated with his comedy partner Don Maclean's wisecracks or apparent stupidity. Maclean would then give an alliterative reply, such as "Don't get your knickers in a knot" or "Don't get your tights in a twist". Peter Glaze often uttered "Doh!" to Don's wisecracks. Peter appeared in the show from 1960, in a double act with later presenter Leslie Crowther. In 1978, Bernie Clifton (and his ostrich) took Maclean's place for the final two series with Ed Stewart. The stand-up routine was briefly replaced by that of Little and Large in 1972, when there was a series briefly hosted by Michael Aspel and Stuart Sherwin. When Stu Francis took over in 1980, The Krankies provided the stand-up wisecracks. Stu Francis also did a stand-up routine on occasion, using such catchphrases as "Ooh I could crush a grape/jump off a dolls' house" etc. Later series had similar content with Basil Brush, and magic performed by The Great Soprendo (Geoffrey Durham). During the earlier years (1955–63), Ronnie Corbett and Leslie Crowther had separate stand-up routines. Jo Baker and Jack Douglas also had similar roles when the show started, as well as the Balloon Man, making all sorts of things from balloons. Ed Stewart (presenter of the children's radio request programme Junior Choice) also used his catchphrase "Byee!" at the end too. Perhaps the most famous catchphrase was "It's Friday, it's five to five and it's Crackerjack" used at the beginning of each show.
It was an accepted unwritten rule that whenever a presenter spoke the word 'Crackerjack', the audience would shout "Crack-er-jack!" (or in the early years "Hooray") loudly.
Talent
In the mid- to late 1970s a talent-contest element was added to the show. The strand was called "Crackerjack Young Entertainer of The Year" and featured children from throughout the UK who had successfully passed audition stages, get their shot at stardom on the small screen. One contestant of note was Don Ward, who performed a series of magic tricks. Today he anchors the evening newscasts on KKTV in Colorado Springs. Although Ward did not progress to the semi-finals it was his first appearance on TV. The first "Young Entertainer" of 1977 was Tim Sweet, a pianist and singer, performing The Albert Hammond/Carole Bayer Sager song "When I Need You". Sweet went on to be musical director for Larry Grayson and ended his career as musical director at the Hotel Burstin in Folkestone performing alongside entertainer Steve Terry. Eventual runner-up in the 1977 series was a 10-year-old female singer/guitarist, Déannè. Signing her first record deal just three years later, she has also continued to work within the music business, and has gone on to work with many top pop artists as both vocalist and songwriter. She also appeared regularly on ITV's Tiswas throughout the early 80's.
Also around this time the series embraced the video game era with contestants playing Pong for prizes.
Cancellation
Crackerjack was cancelled in 1984 at the same time as many other long-running series, in an overhaul of the BBC Children's department. In 1987 Stu Francis hosted Crush a Grape on ITV, which followed a similar format to his era of Crackerjack. It lasted for two series.
Transmissions
Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
Only 148 out of 451 episodes from 29 series of the show survive in the BBC archives. The earliest episode known to exist is no. 12 of series 3 with Eamonn Andrews; of his tenure, Episode 16 of Series 6, Episode 2 of Series 7, Episode 3 of Series 8 and Episodes 1 & 17 of Series 9 also survive. None of the Leslie Crowther episodes are known to exist, and two episodes only (Episodes 12-13 of Series 18) of the Michael Aspel period survive. However, all of the Ed Stewart (Series 19-24) and Stu Francis (Series 25-29) periods remain.[1]
See also
References
- ^ a b http://www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?programme=c844399c-0710-4069-9bbe-107dd1981b74
- ^ a b BBC website
- ^ "Crackerjack is coming back with Sam and Mark presenting". BBC News. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
- ^ Built 1902 at 178 Hammersmith Road | Arthur Lloyd Music Hall and Theatre History Website
- ^ imdb
External links
- Crackerjack at BBC Online
- Crackerjack! at IMDb
- Crackerjack at BFI
- Crackerjack! at UKGameshows.com
- Use dmy dates from July 2013
- 1950s British children's television series
- 1960s British children's television series
- 1970s British children's television series
- 1980s British children's television series
- 2020s British children's television series
- 1955 British television series debuts
- 1984 British television series endings
- BBC children's television programmes
- British children's television programmes
- Lost BBC episodes
- Television series featuring gunge
- English-language television programs