by SSBubbles » Mon Jan 31, 2011 2:04 pm
Jackanory -' tell a story'. A BBC programme that was intended to stimulate a child's interest in book reading.
Jackanory. From Wikipedia.
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 3,500 episodes in its 30 year run. The show returned on 27 November 2006, with a new series beginning in 2007 on CBBC.
The show's format, which varied little over the decades, involved an actor reading from children's novels or folk tales, usually while seated in an armchair. 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."[edit] Origin of titleThe 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]
[edit] RevivalIn 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, also voicing Joe's parts when he wasn't present.), 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 not just the story, but also 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.
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.
[edit] 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]
but, I just dont think they belong in the g.c section especially when some of them simply do not have a great deal of meaning.
