The BBC is to revive the children's TV show Crackerjack, 35 years after it was last aired. The broadcaster announced that the programme, which originally ran from 1955 until 1984, will be made at MediaCityUK in Salford by BBC Children's in-house production team. It will air next year on CBBC and iPlayer.
The programme was introduced every week with the phrase: "It's Friday, it's five to five … It's Crackerjack!" It was originally filmed in front of an audience of children in London, and included teams of children competing in games, as well as comedy and music acts.
The BBC said the new show would be updated for "today's connected generation giving them an all-round, interactive experience while retaining the beating heart of what etched Crackerjack into the affections of British children for three decades". There will be 10 episodes in the series.
The new programme will include a return of the Double or Drop game, in which children are chosen from the audience to answer questions, winning prizes for correct answers and cabbages for incorrect ones. Contestants have to hold their prizes for the duration of the competition without dropping them.
This new series will be presented by children's TV presenters Sam Nixon and Mark Rhodes, who will follow in the footsteps of Eamonn Andrews (who later presented This Is Your Life), Leslie Crowther, Michael Aspel, Ed Stewart and Stu Francis.
Cheryl Taylor, head of content for BBC Children's, said: "Crackerjack is just one of several fabulous series that Children's in-house productions have developed this year. It's the perfect vehicle for our much-loved stars Sam and Mark and promises to usher in a new era of frenetic family fun and whizzbang audience antics."
The in-house production team has also announced other new commissions, including a revival of 1990s children’s drama The Demon Headmaster, and new mystery drama Get Even, about four teenage girls who expose injustice. – Guardian
