Crackerjack (the TV show with the built-in echo) gave us two enduring icons of children's television ... one long and thin, one round and plump. No, not Leslie Crowther and Peter Glaze! The Crackerjack pencil and the Double or Drop cabbage.

If you were a child in the late '50s, the '60s, the '70s or early '80s you'll have your own memory of TV's longest-running teatime variety show. Eamonn Andrews piling prizes on the clever-clogs and cloth cabbages on the chumps ... the pompous and perpetually heckled Glaze Lectures ... those slapstick silent movies ... historical finales with anachronistic pop songs ... or Stu Francis splattered with garish gunge.

Then suddenly, in 2020, it was back. With Sam & Mark, jumbo-sized Crackerjack pencils, and contestants being dropped along with the cabbages!

In this updated paperback edition of his book, Alan Stafford traces the hilarious history of Crackerjack, recalling the best of the on-screen fun while revealing loads of back-stage secrets. This Crackerjack celebration is packed with anecdotes from cast and crew - including Michael Aspel, Pip Hinton, Jillian Comber, Christine Holmes, Rod McLennan, Little & Large, Jacqueline Clarke, Don Maclean, Jan Hunt, Bernie Clifton, The Krankies, Stu Francis, Sam Nixon, Mark Rhodes and many more.

It wasn't always on Fridays, it wasn't always at five to five, but it was - and ever will be - Crackerjack. CRACKERJACK!!!

This updated paperback edition includes coverage of the 2020-21 CBBC Crackerjack revival, featuring interviews with production crew and performers on how they succeeded in modernising the show while retaining all of its traditional elements. And how the gunge continued to flow despite the challenges of covid.

First published: Monday 6th February 2023