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). <!-- 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. -->The series was a variety show featuring comedy sketches, singers and quizzes, broadcast live with an audience.
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.
Its initial long run featured Eamonn Andrews, Max Bygraves, Leslie Crowther, Ed "Stewpot" Stewart, Jack Douglas, Stu Francis, Peter Glaze, Don Maclean, Michael Aspel, Little and Large, Jan Hunt, The Krankies, Basil Brush, Geoffrey Durham, Bernie Clifton, and Ronnie Corbett, amongst many others.
Performers who appeared as singers/dancers, assisting the host with games, included Sally Ann Triplett (Series 26), Julie Dorne-Brown (Series 27–28), and Ling Tai (Series 29).
Format
thumb|Prizegiving on Crackerjack with [[Eamonn Andrews 1958]]
The shows were frantic, being broadcast live in front of an audience largely of children, originally at the King's Theatre on Hammersmith Road, London (marked today with a blue heritage plaque on the modern office block). This theatre was used by the BBC as the King's Studio for live and recorded broadcasts needing audiences until 1963, then at the BBC Television Theatre (since renamed the Shepherd's Bush Empire).
Audiences were recruited from the local secondary schools of west London, from whose ranks contestants were chosen each week. The format of the programme included competitive games for teams of children, a music spot by a current pop star, a comedy double act, and a finale in which the cast performed a short comic play, adapting popular songs of the day and incorporating them into the action. The whole audience would shout "Crackerjack!" whenever anybody said the word.
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 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, which became so popular that in 1961 Queen Elizabeth II, who visited the programme, was presented with Crackerjack pencils for her children Prince Charles and Princess Anne.
Transmissions
Original
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! Series !! Start date !! End date !! Episodes
!Host
|-
| 1 || 14 September 1955 || 28 March 1956 || 15
| rowspan="9" |Eamonn Andrews
|-
| 2 || 12 September 1956 || 20 March 1957 || 14
|-
| 3 || 9 October 1957 || 19 March 1958 || 12
|-
| 4 || 10 September 1958 || 4 March 1959 || 13
|-
| 5 || 1 October 1959 || 31 March 1960 || 14
|-
| 6 || 29 September 1960 || 27 April 1961 || 16
|-
| 7 || 19 October 1961 || 3 May 1962 || 15
|-
| 8 || 13 September 1962 || 25 April 1963 || rowspan="2" | 17
|-
| 9 || 26 September 1963 || 7 May 1964
|-
| 10 || 9 October 1964 || 26 March 1965 || 23
| rowspan="4" |Leslie Crowther
|-
| 11 || 1 October 1965 || 25 March 1966 || rowspan="2" | 26
|-
| 12 || 7 October 1966 || 31 March 1967
|-
| 13 || 6 October 1967 || 16 February 1968 || 20
|-
| 14 || 13 September 1968 || 14 March 1969 || 26
| rowspan="5" |Michael Aspel
|-
| 15 || 26 September 1969 || 13 February 1970 || 19
|-
| 16 || 7 January 1972 || 31 March 1972 || 13
|-
| 17 || 2 February 1973 || 20 April 1973 || 12
|-
| 18 || 4 January 1974 || 29 March 1974 || rowspan="2" | 13
|-
| 19 || 3 January 1975 || 31 March 1975
| rowspan="6" |Ed Stewart
|-
| 20 || 24 December 1975 || 26 March 1976 || 14
|-
| 21 || 7 January 1977 || 1 April 1977 || 13
|-
| 22 || 6 January 1978 || 7 April 1978 || 14
|-
| 23 || 29 September 1978 || 15 December 1978 || 12
|-
| 24 || 28 September 1979 || 14 December 1979 || rowspan="2" | 13
|-
| 25 || 26 September 1980 || 19 December 1980
| rowspan="5" |Stu Francis
|-
| 26 || 2 October 1981 || 18 December 1981 || 12
|-
| 27 || 22 October 1982 || 24 December 1982 || 10
|-
| 28 || 30 September 1983 || 23 December 1983 || rowspan="2" | 13
|-
| 29 || 28 September 1984 || 21 December 1984
|}
Only 148 out of 451 episodes from the original 29 series of the show survive in the BBC archives. The earliest episode known to exist is Episode 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 and 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. All of the Ed Stewart (Series 19–24) and Stu Francis (Series 25–29) periods remain.