Crackerjack! (TV programme)

Crackerjack!
Leslie Crowther and Peter Glaze, Radio Times, 25 September 1965
GenreChildren's television
Created byJohnny Haddon Downes
Presented by
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series
  • 29 (original)
  • 2 (revival)
No. of episodes
  • 451 (original)[1]
  • 20 (revival)
Production
Production locations
Running time40 minutes
Original release
Network
Release14 September 1955 (1955-09-14) –
21 December 1984 (1984-12-21)
NetworkCBBC
Release17 January 2020 (2020-01-17) –
5 March 2021 (2021-03-05)
Infobox instructions (only shown in preview)

Crackerjack is a British children's television series which was initially aired on the BBC Television Service between 14 September 1955 and 21 December 1984 (with no series in 1971).[3] The series was a variety show featuring comedy sketches, singers and quizzes, broadcast live with an audience.[4]

Crackerjack returned in 2020. It was hosted by Sam & Mark, with an exclamation mark added to its original title, and aired on CBBC from 17 January. The second revived series aired from December 2020 to March 2021.[5]

Its initial long run 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.

Performers who appeared as singers/dancers, assisting the host with games, included Sally Ann Triplett (Series 26), Leigh Miles (Series 26–27), Julie Dorne-Brown (Series 27–28), Sara Hollamby (Series 28–29), Ling Tai (Series 29), Jillian Comber and Pip Hinton.

  1. ^ "TVBrain | Kaleidoscope | Lost shows | TV Archive | TV History". tvbrain.info.
  2. ^ "Crackerjack is coming back with Sam and Mark presenting". Dock10. Retrieved 20 September 2021.
  3. ^ "BBC – (none) – Factual – Crackerjack!". BBC.
  4. ^ Sheridan, Simon (2004). The A-Z of Classic Children's Television: From Alberto Frog to Zebedee. Reynolds & Hearn Ltd. pp. 89–93. ISBN 1903111277.
  5. ^ "Crackerjack is coming back with Sam and Mark presenting". BBC News. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.