Jackanory

Jackanory
A title frame from the 1960s. The same lettering continued to be used throughout the 1970s
Genre	Children's television
Format	Children's story-telling
Created by	Joy Whitby
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
No. of episodes	3,500+
Production
Running time	15 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC1 (1965 – 1996) CBBC (2006 – date)
Picture format	405-line (1965 – 1969) PAL (576i) (1969 – date)
Original run	13 December 1965 (1965-12-13) – 24 March 1996 (1996-03-24)
Status	Current run 27 November 2006 – date
Chronology
Related shows	Jackanory Playhouse Jackanory Junior

Jackanory is a long-running BBC children's television series that was designed to stimulate an interest in reading. The show was first aired on 13 December 1965, the first story being the fairy-tale Cap o' Rushes read by Lee Montague. Jackanory continued to be broadcast until 24 March 1996, clocking up around three thousand five hundred episodes in its 30+ year run. The show returned on 27 November 2006, with a new series beginning in 2007 on CBBC, along with a similar show for younger children, Jackanory Junior, broadcast on Cbeebies.

The show's format, which varied little over the decades, involved an actor reading from famous children's novels or folk tales while seated in an armchair, although later episodes took the radical step of allowing the presenters to stand up. From time to time the scene being read would be illustrated by a specially-commissioned still drawing, often by Quentin Blake. Usually a single book would occupy five daily fifteen-minute episodes, from Monday to Friday.

A few Jackanory stories took the form of a play rather than stories being read, in a series of thirty minute fully-cast and costumed dramas entitled Jackanory Playhouse. These included a dramatisation by Philip Glassborow of the comical A. A. Milne story, "The Princess Who Couldn't Laugh."

Origin of title

The show's title comes from an old English nursery rhyme:

I'll tell you a story

About Jack a Nory;

And now my story's begun;

I'll tell you another

Of Jack and his brother,

And now my story is done.^[1]

The rhyme was first recorded when published in The Top Book of All, for little Masters and Misses around 1760.^[1]

Revival

In November 2006 Jackanory returned with comedian John Sessions as the revived programme's first narrator reading The Lord of the Rings parody Muddle Earth, written by Paul Stewart (and illustrator Chris Riddell). The second narrator was Sir Ben Kingsley, reading The Magician of Samarkand by Alan Temperley. They were broadcast in three 15 minute slots on CBBC and BBC One and later repeated in entirety on BBC One on consecutive Sundays [1] The readings of Muddle Earth were heavily accompanied by animation and featured actors speaking lines (all animated characters were voiced by John Sessions), leading to criticism that the spirit of the original programme, a single voice telling a tale with minimal distractions, had been lost. The Magician of Samarkand was a similar production, without additional actors speaking lines; Sir Ben Kingsley read the lines of all the characters. Both of these stories were produced and directed by Nick Willing ^[2][3]

Rather than a series of books taking a particular time slot consecutively for a number of weeks in the year, it is envisaged that new readings will be dropped into the schedule as specials at irregular intervals.

CBeebies is running a weekly series of Jackanory Junior shows^[4].

Stories

• Little House in the Big Woods, read by Red Shiveley [2]
• Farmer Boy, read by Richard Monette [3]
• Cap of Rushes, read by Lee Montague [4]
• Mr. & Mrs. Vinegar, read by Lee Montague [5]
• Master of All Masters, read by Lee Montague [6]
• Tom Thumb, read by Lee Montague [7]
• Dick Whittington, read by Lee Montague [8]
• The Squirrel, the Hare and the Little Grey Rabbit, written by Alison Uttley, read by Wendy Hiller [9]
• How Little Grey Rabbit Got Back Her Tail, written by Alison Uttley, read by Wendy Hiller [10]
• Wise Owl's Story, by Alison Uttley, read by Wendy Hiller [11]
• Squirrel Goes Skating, written by Alison Uttley, read by Wendy Hiller [12]
• Little Grey Rabbit's Christmas, written by Alison Uttley, read by Wendy Hiller [13]
• The Snow Queen, written by Hans Christian Andersen, adapted by Anna Home, read by Enid Lorimer [14]
• The Wonderful Tar Baby, an Uncle Remus story, read by George Browne [15]
• Brer Rabbit Makes a Fool of Brer Fox, an Uncle Remus story, read by George Browne [16]
• Brer Rabbit Steals the Peas, an Uncle Remus story, read by George Browne [17]
• Brer Rabbit Goes Calling on Mrs. Goose, an Uncle Remus story, read by George Browne [18]
• Brer Rabbit Does Some Shopping, an Uncle Remus story, read by George Browne [19]
• Mary Poppins Comes Back, written by P.L. Travers, read by Hattie Jacques [20]
• The Musicians of Bremen Town, written by the Brothers Grimm, read by Dilys Hamlett [21]
• The Frog Prince, written by the Brothers Grimm, read by Dilys Hamlett [22]
• The Goose-girl, written by the Brothers Grimm, read by Dilys Hamlett [23]
• Rumpelstiltskin, written by the Brothers Grimm, read by Dilys Hamlett [24]
• The Twelve Dancing Princesses, written by the Brothers Grimm, read by Dilys Hamlett [25]
• Gulliver's Travels, written by Jonathan Swift, read by Alfred Marks [26]
• Gulliver in Space, written by J.G. Ballard, read by Alfred Marks [27]
• The Tale of Little Pig Robinson, written by Beatrix Potter, read by Margaret Rutherford
• The Tale of Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle, written by Beatrix Potter, read by Margaret Rutherford [28]
• The Tale of Johnny Town-Mouse, written by Beatrix Potter, read by Margaret Rutherford [29]
• The Tale of Mr. Tod, written by Beatrix Potter, read by Margaret Rutherford [30]
• The Spider's Palace, written by Richard Hughes, read by: Gordon Rollings (1966) [31]; Bernard Cribbins (1967)
• The Dark Child, written by Richard Hughes, read by: Gordon Rollings (1966) [32]; Bernard Cribbins (1967)
• Living in W'ales, written by Richard Hughes, read by: Gordon Rollings (1966) [33]; Bernard Cribbins (1967)
• The Magic Glass, written by Richard Hughes, read by: Gordon Rollings (1966) [34]; Bernard Cribbins (1967)
• The Invitation, written by Richard Hughes, read by: Gordon Rollings (1966) [35]; Bernard Cribbins (1967)
• Finn Family Moomintroll, written by Tove Jansson, adapted by Philip Bate, read by Mai Zetterling [36]
• A Bear Called Paddington, written by Michael Bond, read by Thora Hird [37]
• The Happy Lion, written by Louise Fatio, read by Bridget Searle [38]
• The Happy Lion Roars, written by Louise Fatio, read by Bridget Searle [39]
• Three Happy Lions, written by Louise Fatio, read by Bridget Searle [40]
• The Happy Lion in Africa, written by Louise Fatio, read by Bridget Searle [41]
• Emil and the Detectives, written by Erich Kästner, translated by Eileen Hall, adapted by David Coulter, read by Lee Montague [42]
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, written by Roald Dahl, read by Bernard Cribbins [43]
• James and the Giant Peach, written by Roald Dahl, read by Bernard Cribbins [44]
• The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, written by L. Frank Baum, read by Bernard Cribbins [45]
• Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, written by Lewis Carroll, read by Bernard Cribbins [46]
• Through the Looking-Glass, written by Lewis Carroll, read by Bernard Cribbins [47]
• The Bread Bin, written by Joan Aiken, read by Bernard Cribbins [48]
• The Hobbit, written by J.R.R. Tolkien, read by Bernard Cribbins [49]
• Arabel's Tree House, written by Joan Aiken, read by Bernard Cribbins [50]

List of readers

Other information

• Blur frontman Damon Albarn made reference to the show Jackanory in their first number one hit "Country House" in 1995. The lyrical passage is "He's got morning glory, life's a different story, everything's going jackanory"

• Some master copies of Jackanory Playhouse were irretrievably disposed of by Adam Lee of the BBC archives in 1993.

• Six actors who have played the Doctor in Doctor Who have recited Jackanory: Patrick Troughton, Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker, Peter Davison, Sylvester McCoy, and Paul McGann.

• The series was cartoon-parodied on the 1989-1991 CITV series "Round the Bend", in a segment titled Nursery Crimes.

• British post-punk group Television Personalities wrote a song titled "Jackanory Stories." The song begins with the sing-song phrase "Jackanory, jackanory" (See "Slang" below).

• Philip Glenister made an appearance on Jackanory as the guest reader, when he portrayed Gene Hunt in the Ashes to Ashes series 2 finale, set in 1982, which was transmitted to Alex Drake's (Keeley Hawes) television set [51]

Slang

"Jackanory, jackanory" said by a someone in the sing-song tones of the theme tune indicates that he/she thinks that someone else is making up or "stretching" a story, i.e. lying.^[5]

References

External links

• British Film Institute Screen Online analysis and listings (incomplete)
• Jackanory at the Internet Movie Database
• The Mausoleum Club full listings 1965-69 and 1970-74
• Stop Messin' About: The Kenneth Williams Website via archive.org
• Nostalgia Central
• New Chapter Opening for Jackanory: BBC News report
• Jackanory at bbc.co.uk
• The new Jackanory at CBBC