''Crackanory'' is a storytelling television series aimed at adults and inspired by the popular children's series ''
Jackanory''. It is broadcast on the
UKTV
UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
channel
Dave. Each episode features tales narrated by contemporary comedians and actors, containing a mix of live-action, original music and animation, all read from the same oversized chair, in a set consistent and reflective of the story. The first series attracted widespread critical acclaim and over half a million viewers to Dave.
There are a number of reoccurring themes through the series, with the fictional company Tripec Plastics, the town of Specsham, and "fat Nicola from accounts" being frequently referenced.
First series
Episode 1
*
Jack Dee
James Andrew Innes Dee (born 24 September 1961), known professionally as Jack Dee, is an English stand-up comedian, actor, presenter and writer known for his sarcasm, irony and deadpan humour. He wrote and starred in the sitcom ''Lead Balloon'' ...
"Bitter Tweet"
*
Sally Phillips
Sally Elizabeth Phillips (born 10 May 1970) is an English actress, television presenter, and comedian. She co-created and was one of the writers of the sketch comedy show '' Smack the Pony''. She is also known for her roles in '' Miranda'' as T ...
"What Peebee Did Next"
Episode 2
*
Rebecca Front
Rebecca Louise Front (born 16 May 1964) is an English actress, writer and comedian. She won the 2010 BAFTA TV Award for Best Female Comedy Performance for '' The Thick of It'' (2009–2012).Jennifer Lipma"Bafta for Jewish actress Rebecca Front" ...
"Fakespeare"
*
Kevin Eldon
Kevin Eldon (born 2 October 1959) is an English actor and comedian. He featured in British comedy television shows of the 1990s including ''Fist of Fun'', '' This Morning with Richard Not Judy'', '' Knowing Me, Knowing You with Alan Partridge' ...
"What Do You Say?"
Episode 3
*
Harry Enfield
Henry Richard Enfield (born 30 May 1961) is an English comedian, actor, writer and director. He is known in particular for his television work, including '' Harry Enfield's Television Programme'' and ''Harry & Paul'', and for the creation and ...
"The Teacup Has Landed"
*
Sarah Solemani
Sarah Solemani (born 4 September 1982) is an English actress, writer and activist. She is best known for starring in the BAFTA winning sitcom ''Him & Her'' and playing Renee Zellweger's best friend Miranda in ''Bridget Jones's Baby'', for which ...
"Pleasure Drone" and
Episode 4
*
Sharon Horgan
Sharon Lorencia Horgan (born 13 July 1970) is an Irish actress, writer, director, comedian and producer who co-wrote and starred in the comedy series '' Pulling'' (2006–2009) and ''Catastrophe'' (2015–2019). She also created the HBO comedy ...
"The Translator"
*
Charlie Higson
Charles Murray Higson (born 3 July 1958) is an English actor, comedian, author and former singer. He has also written and produced for television and is the author of the ''Enemy'' book series, as well as the first five novels in the ''Young Bo ...
"The Road to Hell"
Episode 5
*
Richard Hammond "Becoming Zoe" and
*
Jessica Hynes
Tallulah Jessica Elina Hynes (''née'' Stevenson; born 30 October 1972) is an English actress, director and writer. Known professionally as Jessica Stevenson until 2007, she was one of the creators, writers and stars of the British sitcom ''Spac ...
"My Former Self"
Episode 6
*
Hugh Dennis
Peter Hugh Dennis (born 13 February 1962) is an English comedian, presenter, actor, writer, impressionist and voice-over artist who has appeared in the comedy double act Punt and Dennis with partner Steve Punt. He played Dr Piers Crispin in the ...
"Head In the Clouds"
*
Stephen Mangan
Stephen James Mangan (born 16 May 1968) is an English actor, comedian, presenter and writer. He has played Guy Secretan in ''Green Wing'', Dan Moody in ''I'm Alan Partridge'', Seán Lincoln in '' Episodes'', Bigwig in ''Watership Down'', Postm ...
"The Newsreader" and
Live action actors in the series included
Alex Macqueen
Alexander Tulloch Macqueen (born 30 November 1973) is an English actor. He has appeared on television, film and radio in the UK in productions such as '' Holby City'', '' Doctor Who,'' ''Hut 33'', ''Peep Show'', ''The Thick of It'', ''Keeping ...
,
Cariad Lloyd,
Katherine Jakeways
Katherine Jakeways is a British comedian, actor and writer. She has appeared in numerous television, radio and theatrical productions.
Career
Jakeways' television appearances include '' Extras'', ''Horrible Histories'', '' Sherlock'', '' Trac ...
,
James Bachman,
Martha Howe-Douglas
Martha Howe-Douglas is an English actress and writer. She is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe, in which she starred in the TV series ''Horrible Histories''. She also starred in and co-created ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. S ...
,
Nick Mohammed
Nicholas George Mohammed (born 4 October 1980) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his character Mr. Swallow, which he has portrayed across both stage and television for over a decade. Outside of the United Kingdom, M ...
,
Vera Filatova,
Cassie
Cassie is a feminine given name and a short form of various other given names mostly used in English-speaking countries. It is more rarely a surname. People and fictional characters named Cassie include:
People with the name Given name or nickna ...
and
Connie Powney
Connie Powney (born 22 May 1983 in Eastbourne) is an English actress.
Personal life
Powney has a twin sister, Cassie, who is her younger twin by two minutes.
Career
She played the role of Sophie Burton in the soap opera ''Hollyoaks'', al ...
Second series
A second series was broadcast in 2014 and featured comedian
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...
, who had recorded a story prior to his death. (He had performed ''
George's Marvelous Medicine'' by
Roald Dahl on the original ''Jackanory''.) Channel boss Steve North called it a "complete privilege" to work with Mayall.
Episode 1
*
Vic Reeves
James Roderick Moir (born 24 January 1959), better known by his stage name Vic Reeves, is an English comedian, artist, surrealist, musician, actor and television presenter, best known for his double act with Bob Mortimer as Reeves & Mort ...
"In Space No-one Can Hear You Clean"
*
Rik Mayall
Richard Michael Mayall (7 March 1958 – 9 June 2014) was an English actor, stand-up comedian and writer. He formed a close partnership with Ade Edmondson while they were students at Manchester University and was a pioneer of alternative ...
"The Weatherman"
Episode 2
*
Ben Miller
Bennet Evan Miller (born 24 February 1966) is an English actor, comedian, and author. He rose to fame as one half of the comedy duo Armstrong and Miller. Miller is also known for playing the lead role of DI Richard Poole in the first two serie ...
"Man's Best Friend"
*
Sue Perkins "Return to Sender"
Episode 3
*
David Mitchell "The Surprise"
*
Katherine Parkinson
Katherine Jane Parkinson (born 9 March 1978) is an English actress. She appeared in Channel 4's '' The IT Crowd'' comedy series as Jen Barber, for which she received a British Comedy Best TV Actress Award in 2009 and 2014, and was nominated twice ...
"The Crisis Plan"
Episode 4
*
Johnny Vegas
Michael Joseph Pennington (born 5 September 1970), better known as Johnny Vegas, is an English comedian, actor, writer, and director. He is known for his thick Lancashire accent, husky voice, overweight appearance, angry comedic rants, and us ...
"Self Storage"
*
Meera Syal
Meera Syal FRSL (born Feroza Syal; 27 June 1961) is a English comedian, writer, playwright, singer, journalist and actress. She rose to prominence as one of the team that created '' Goodness Gracious Me'' and portraying Sanjeev's grandmother, ...
"The Obituary Writer"
Episode 5
*
Warwick Davis
Warwick Ashley Davis (born 3 February 1970) is an English actor. He played the title character in ''Willow'' (1988) and the ''Leprechaun'' film series (1993–2003), several characters in the ''Star Wars'' film series (1983–2019), most nota ...
"The Untangler"
*
Emilia Fox
Emilia Rose Elizabeth Fox (born 31 July 1974) is an English actress and presenter whose film debut was in Roman Polanski's film '' The Pianist''. Her other films include the Italian–French–British romance-drama film '' The Soul Keeper'' (2 ...
"Murder He Wrote"
Episode 6
*
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow (born 15 June 1949) is an English film, television and voice actor, director, narrator and writer. He was twice nominated for BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his roles in ''A Room with a View'' (19 ...
"Let Me Be the Judge"
*
Ruby Wax
Ruby Wax (; born 19 April 1953) is an American-British actress, comedian, writer, television personality, and mental health campaigner. A classically-trained actress, Wax was with the Royal Shakespeare Company for five years and co-starred on t ...
"I'm Still Here"
Live action actors in the second series included
Simon Farnaby
Simon Farnaby (born 2 April 1973) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe in which he starred in the television series ''Horrible Histories'', ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. He has writte ...
,
Martha Howe-Douglas
Martha Howe-Douglas is an English actress and writer. She is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe, in which she starred in the TV series ''Horrible Histories''. She also starred in and co-created ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. S ...
,
Rosie Cavaliero
Rosalind Cecilia Cavaliero (born 27 November 1967) is a Brazilian-born English actress. She has appeared in numerous television roles.
Filmography
Theatre work
* ''Dracula'' at the Everyman, Cheltenham – Florrie (February 1995)
* ''Airswi ...
,
Michael Fish
Michael Fish, (born 27 April 1944 in Eastbourne, Sussex) is a British weather forecaster. From 1974 to 2004, he was a television presenter for BBC Weather.
Career
Educated at Eastbourne College and City University London, Fish was the lon ...
,
Alice Lowe,
Elis James
Owain Elis James (born 3 November 1980) is a Welsh comedian, broadcaster and actor originally from Haverfordwest. He grew up in Carmarthen and later lived in Cardiff. He is now based in South London. He is bilingual in Welsh and English and ha ...
,
Victoria Wicks
Victoria Wicks (born Beverly Victoria Anne Wicks; 18 April 1959) is a British actress. She is known for her role as Sally Smedley in Channel 4's comedy series ''Drop the Dead Donkey'' (1990–1998), Mrs. Gideon in ''The Mighty Boosh'' (2004), ...
,
Lucy Montgomery,
Dominic Coleman
Dominic Andrew Coleman (born 29 January 1970 in Solihull, Warwickshire) is a British actor. He went to secondary school at Tudor Grange Academy Solihull which then led him to train at Leeds University's Bretton Hall where he studied a BA (hons ...
,
Tom Meeten
Tom or TOM may refer to:
* Tom (given name), a diminutive of Thomas or Tomás or an independent Aramaic given name (and a list of people with the name)
Characters
* Tom Anderson, a character in ''Beavis and Butt-Head''
* Tom Beck, a character ...
and
Sara Pascoe
Sara Patricia Pascoe (born 22 May 1981) is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has appeared on television programmes including ''8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown'' for Channel 4, '' QI'' for BBC and '' Taskmaster'' for the digital chan ...
.
Third series
The third series, commissioned by
UKTV
UKTV Media Limited, simply known as UKTV, is a British multi-channel broadcaster, which, since 2019, has been wholly owned by BBC Studios (formerly BBC Worldwide), a commercial subsidiary of the BBC. It was formed on 1 November 1992 through ...
, was broadcast in December 2015 and was sponsored by the
Amazon-owned digital audio service
Audible
Audible may refer to:
* Audible (service), an online audiobook store
* Audible (American football), a tactic used by quarterbacks
* ''Audible'' (film), a short documentary film featuring a deaf high school football player
* Audible finish or ru ...
. The guest story readers for the six-part series included
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...
, known for his roles in long-running sitcom ''
Taxi
A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choic ...
'' and as
Doc Brown in the ''
Back to the Future
''Back to the Future'' is a 1985 American science fiction film directed by Robert Zemeckis, and written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale. It stars Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Crispin Glover, and Thomas F. Wilson. Set in 1985, ...
'' trilogy.
Episode 1
*
Paul Whitehouse
Paul Julian Whitehouse (born 17 May 1958) is a Welsh actor, writer and comedian. He was one of the main stars of the BBC sketch comedy series '' The Fast Show'', and has also starred with Harry Enfield in the shows ''Harry & Paul'' and ''Harr ...
"Uncivil War"
*
Carrie Fisher
Carrie Frances Fisher (October 21, 1956 – December 27, 2016) was an American actress and writer. She played Princess Leia in the ''Star Wars'' films (1977–1983). She reprised the role in'' Star Wars: The Force Awakens'' (2015), ''The Last ...
"Dread and Breakfast"
Episode 2
*
Catherine Tate
Catherine Jane Ford (born 5 December 1969), known professionally as Catherine Tate, is an English actress, comedian and writer. She has won numerous awards for her work on the BBC sketch comedy series '' The Catherine Tate Show'' (2004–2007) ...
"The Catchment Area"
*
Richard Ayoade
Richard Ellef Ayoade ( ; born 23 May 1977) is a British actor, comedian, broadcaster and filmmaker. He is best known for his role as socially awkward IT technician Maurice Moss in Channel 4 sitcom ''The IT Crowd'' (2006–2013), for which he ...
"The Frogbeast of Pontfidd"
Episode 3
*
Jimmy Carr
James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...
"The Zombie That Roared"
*
Christopher Lloyd
Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...
"Di Sat Nav"
Episode 4
*
Robbie Coltrane
Anthony Robert McMillan (30 March 195014 October 2022), known professionally as Robbie Coltrane, was a Scottish actor and comedian. He gained worldwide recognition in the 2000s for playing Rubeus Hagrid in the ''Harry Potter'' film series. H ...
"The Last Laugh"
*
Sarah Millican
Sarah Jane Millican ( King; born 29 May 1975) is an English comedian, writer and presenter. Millican won the comedy award for Best Newcomer at the 2008 Edinburgh Festival Fringe. In February 2013 she was listed as one of the 100 most powerful ...
"Abbatnoir"
Episode 5
*
Morgana Robinson
Morgana Robinson (born 7 May 1982) is an Australian-born English impressionist, comedian, writer and actress, who is best known for her comedy sketch programme ''The Morgana Show'', ''Morgana Robinson's The Agency'', appearances on ''The TNT Sho ...
"The Truth About Suz"
*
Greg Davies
Gregory Daniel Davies ( ; born 14 May 1968) is a Welsh comedian, actor, presenter, and writer. He is best known for his roles as Greg in ''We Are Klang'', Mr Gilbert in ''The Inbetweeners'', Ken Thompson in ''Cuckoo'', the Taskmaster in '' Tas ...
"The Vexed Message"
Episode 6
*
Simon Bird
Simon Antony Bird (born 19 August 1984) is an English comedian, actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Will McKenzie in the multi-award-winning E4 comedy series ''The Inbetweeners'' (2008–2010), as well as its two films ...
"Unlucky for Sam"
*
Tamsin Greig
Tamsin Margaret Mary Greig (; born 12 July 1966) is an English actress, narrator and comedian. She played Fran Katzenjammer in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Black Books'', Dr Caroline Todd in the Channel 4 sitcom '' Green Wing'', Beverly Lincoln in ...
"Bob's House"
Live action actors in the third series included
Janine Duvitski
Janine Duvitski (born Christine Janine Drzewicki; 28 June 1952) is a British actress, known for her roles in the BBC television sitcom series '' Waiting for God'', ''One Foot in the Grave'' and ''Benidorm''. Duvitski first came to national atte ...
,
Amy Hoggart,
Ray Panthaki,
Kerry Howard
Kerry Elizabeth Howard (born 24 March 1982) is an English actress. She played Laura in the BBC Three comedy series '' Him & Her'' and Leanne in '' Witless''. She also appears in BBC Three "Feed My Funny" comedy sketches with Lu Corfield and act ...
,
Alice Lowe,
Martha Howe-Douglas
Martha Howe-Douglas is an English actress and writer. She is a member of the British Horrible Histories troupe, in which she starred in the TV series ''Horrible Histories''. She also starred in and co-created ''Yonderland'' and ''Ghosts''. S ...
,
Marcia Warren
Marcia Warren (born 26 November 1942) is an English stage, film and television actress. On stage, she appeared in ''Blithe Spirit'' as Madame Arcati and '' The Sea'' (2008) at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket. She is currently appearing in Netflix' ...
,
Kerry Godliman and
Steve Oram.
Fourth series
The fourth series, also commissioned by UKTV, was broadcast in January and February 2017. Each eight half-hour episode was contained one, not two stories, unlike in previous series. UKTV commissioning executive Tanya Qureshi stated that, "We are thrilled to be bringing back the award-winning ''Crackanory'' for a fourth time on Dave. It has become one of our landmark brands and the ambitions of the show continue to grow with each new series. We’re hugely excited to see the storytelling format evolve into a single narrative per episode, and to reveal the talented narrators who will be taking a seat in the iconic Crackanory chair."
Episode 1
*
Dara Ó Briain
Dara Ó Briain ( , ; born 4 February 1972) is an Irish comedian and television presenter based in the United Kingdom. He is noted for performing stand-up comedy shows all over the world and for hosting topical panel shows such as ''Mock the W ...
"A Close Slave" by Tony Way
Episode 2
*
Sheridan Smith
Sheridan Caroline Sian Smith OBE (born 25 June 1981) is an English actress, singer and television personality. Smith came to prominence after playing a variety of characters on sitcoms such as ''The Royle Family'' (1999–2000), '' Two Pints ...
"Living with a Lie" by Nico Tatarowicz
Episode 3
*
Bob Mortimer "The Despot of Tea" by Arnold Widdowson
Episode 4
*
Anna Friel
Anna Louise Friel (born 12 July 1976) is an English actress. Born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, she has been acting professionally since age 13. Friel achieved fame with her portrayal of Beth Jordache on the British soap opera '' Brookside'' ...
"The Survivor" by Alexander Kirk
Episode 5
*
Mel Giedroyc
Melanie Clare Sophie Giedroyc (; , born 5 June 1968) is a British actress, comedian and television presenter. With Sue Perkins, she has co-hosted series including ''Light Lunch'' for Channel 4, ''The Great British Bake Off'' for the BBC and c ...
"Proxy Lady" by Katherine Jakeways
Episode 6
*
Doc Brown, "Devil's Haircut" by Sarah Morgan
Episode 7
*
Mackenzie Crook
Paul James "Mackenzie" Crook (born 29 September 1971) is an English actor, comedian, director and writer. He played Gareth Keenan in ''The Office'', Ragetti in the ''Pirates of the Caribbean'' films, Orell in the HBO series ''Game of Thrones ...
, "The Disappearance" by Toby Davies
Episode 8
*
Miriam Margolyes
Miriam ( he, מִרְיָם ''Mīryām'', lit. 'Rebellion') is described in the Hebrew Bible as the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron. She was a prophetess and first appears in the Book of Exodus.
The ...
, "Pickled" by Kevin Eldon
Live action actors in the fourth series include
Moya Brady
Moya Brady (born 8 September 1962) is an English actress. Her roles include Breda McQueen on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2018 to 2020.
Brady grew up in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. She has appeared in a ...
,
Tom Bennett,
Neil Bell,
Matthew Steer
Matthew Steer (born 24 April 1978) is an English actor and writer.
He made his stage debut in 1989 and is known for his roles as Ricky Ryan in '' Silent Witness'', Matt Lindsay in '' EastEnders'' and Albert Pemberton in '' Partners in Crime''.
...
,
Sophia Di Martino
Sophia Di Martino (born 15 November 1983) is an English actress known for portraying Sylvie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe television series ''Loki''.
Early life and education
Di Martino was born in Nottingham and grew up in the suburb of ...
and
David Gant
References
External links
*
* Crackanory at The
British Comedy Guide
British Comedy Guide or BCG (formerly the British Sitcom Guide or BSG) is a British website covering all forms of British comedy, across all media. At the time of writing, BCG has published guides to more than 7,000 individual British comedies ...
br>
Series and Episodes*
ttp://dave.uktv.co.uk/crackanory/article/about-crackanory// Website
{{Dave original programming
2013 British television series debuts
2017 British television series endings
2010s British comedy television series
British television series with live action and animation
Dave (TV channel) original programming
English-language television shows
Television series by Banijay
Television series by Tiger Aspect Productions