It’s Friday, it’s five to five... will BBC avoid earning a cabbage for new Crackerjack?
THE BBC is to revive Crackerjack as it tries to hook today’s young viewers with an old-fashioned format.
The programme began in 1955 and ran until 1984, when it was cancelled because executives of the time dismissed it as dated.
But the corporation has succumbed to nostalgia and is hoping that parents and grandparents with fond memories of Crackerjack will encourage children to sit down at teatime each Friday, just as they did decades ago.
The Double or Drop game will be back, with contestants given prizes if they answer questions correctly and a cabbage if they get one wrong.
It remains to be seen whether today’s tech-savvy kids will be delighted to receive a Crackerjack pencil.
The variety show format will again include comedy sketches, games and musical performances. It is the latest decades-old show to be revived – last week it was announced that the detective drama series Bergerac was being rebooted after a 28-year hiatus.
Crackerjack, famously introduced with the phrase “It’s Friday, it’s five to five. . . It’s Crackerjack!”, was originally hosted by Eamonn Andrews, before Leslie Crowther took over (19601968), then Michael Aspel (1968-1974) and Ed “Stewpot” Stewart (1975-1979).
The last presenter was Stu Francis, who was known for his catchphrase: “Ooh, I could crush a grape!”
The Krankies found fame on the show, and there were regular contributions from Bernie Clifton, Ronnie Corbett, Peter Glaze and Don Maclean. The new incarnation will be hosted by Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, who were discovered on Pop Idol. The series will begin next year on CBBC.
In a concession to the 21st century, the BBC said the “retro classic” will be “re- vitalised for today’s connected generation giving them an allround, interactive experience while retaining the beating heart of what etched Crackerjack into the affections of children.” In practice, this means children sending in selfies, jokes and quiz answers via the CBBC app, rather than the post. Crackerjack will be aimed at an audience aged from six to 12. The higher end of that age group is hard for broadcasters to reach. Ofcom found half of children aged 8-11 prefer to watch Youtube content rather than television programmes. Francis, in a recent interview, said the show had been a hit because “it appealed to everyone. It was family time. It went out in a teatime slot and Mum and Dad used to watch it, Granny used to watch it, kids used to watch it”.
Cheryl Taylor, the head of content for BBC children’s programming, said: “It’s the perfect vehicle for Sam and Mark and promises to usher in a new era of frenetic family fun and whizzbang audience antics.”
Graham Kibble-white, editor of TV Years magazine, said it was hard to predict how the show will go down. “It was a variety show with parodies of other shows, like Doctor Who. I think that could be quite a hard sell nowadays. But there are no new ideas; all television is recycled. I don’t see why Crackerjack as a format shouldn’t work. The funny thing is this insistence on the multimedia angle – it shows an anxiety about bringing something old back but with a feeling they have to make it relevant.”
Other new BBC children’s shows announced yesterday include a revival of The Demon Headmaster. The story, first aired between 1996 and 1998, has been updated – the headmaster is now “super-head” of an academy school.