Post by johnstewart on May 14, 2007 22:50:18 GMT
JACKANORY -
To be fair the archive that exists largely resembles the way my memory recollects the show; largely fleeting snippets for the 60s and early 70s period.
It's lucky these survive at all, as they were caught during the off air transmission recording of various items such as state openings or large sports events.
For this series, possibly as it was on several times a week, 4 or 5 days each with a different part of the story my memory tends to recall the format from different periods rather than individual titles for which I would need some prompting.
This formed an enormous amount of output.
The main memory that comes first to mind is something I think around Easter 1970. There were a few weeks of stories which seemed to revolve around various rituals of Easter historically. Something about the origin of hot cross buns. Another I'm sure was a poem about King Herod which I never understood. It was sinister and illustrated accounting This was a short poem. It ended with the illustration of the black bearded staring eyed King, and the camera panned the illustration form the feet upwards to show his face, leggings like a Viking or Knight, and long hair, then a slow pan into an illustration of a glowing open coal fire. The only line I recall is 'eyes as black as coals - HEROD; is his name'.
It had been read several times during the series over the years each time presented as if tie was something new and I can recall thinking 'Oh, this one again..' Chilling thinking back now that Herod was I'm sure the Biblical slayer of Children!
There was also I'm sure 'Macavitie the station cat' which I think is T.S. Elliott, and someone like Bernard Cribbins guested reading them.
Around the same period (early 70s, or 1970); there was a story in a recurring series where a Man with a Polish or Welsh accent (Icelandic I think); read various stories about 'Littlenose the Eskimo'. In my mind I compared him with Magnus Magnusson, another Icelander dressed in similar fashion in a thick polar necked cream coloured jumper. Magnus was then I seem to recall regular environment and features correspondant on the series 'SEARCH'. The reader himself; (may've been Scottish now come to think of it; Shetland islands accent like 'Janet' from Dr Finlay); struck me as being himself like something out of one of the stories or Littlenose. He had small rosy cheeks and wavy white hair, with a high little voice; apt for the subject matter. I recall him seated in a high backed armchair. It's one of the lasting memories of the series but I admit at the time it irritated me and whenever he returned with more 'Littenose' stories; I thought 'Oh no, not this again!'
One of the surviving pieces from the 1971 - 72 time zone I recall is Michael Hordern reading a story either called 'How the Leopard got his spots' (or 'lost' his spots). Clips of this (on colour VT); appeared on the 1990 VHS compilation 'Best childrens TV of the decade 1970s'. It was a great series of tapes but I recall they got some clips mixed up with the wrong decade so you got 60s items like 'Forest Rangers' cropping up on the 70s volume; and 70s items turning up on the '1980s' volume (didn't buy this one but recall studying and noting that detail on the contents list.
The Michael Hordern story I'm sure contained an account of the legends of how the Leopard originally had got his spots; something about Aborigine Warriors ? sticking their hands in mud or ink and imprinting the marks on his coat while he was asleep?
There were so many weeks and presenters, and I could never really decide whether I liked 'Jackanory' or not; when you were 9 or 10 it was one of those things that had been on seemingly all the time; slightly corny and childish for your age.
Around the 1973 period I'm sure Prince Charles appeared reading stories. The VT titles cut to a film stock insert of him dressed in a kilt by Mountains with a caber / stick in hand, and this image recurred much later when he appeared again I think in the 1980s. The story I recall was something like 'The making of Treehorn'. We were read it as an allegory in house assembly at secondary school; and I recall completely overlooking the story of how the character; Treehorn; a failure in life; became a success through hard work and tenacity. All I thought was that it seemed a ridiculously babyish story!
This is the period I also recall Bernard Cribbins and Kenneth Williams from (prior to his 80s stint). The Prince Charles editions survive (possibly as they were made on film stock regardless of royal connections) and I think some links from various Cribbins editions (i.e. 'Goodbye' and end titles) survive on off air recordings of 'Blue Peter'; but not sure about Williams.
For the 60s I mainly recall format, bar the first editions from 1965 which survive ( ! ) This is a week on VT and the particular story I recall was something about Bullrushes (Moses in the Bullrushes?) Lee Montague read it and had a vase with some of those fake plastic felt coated Bullrushes popular in the 60s (friend round corner had some of them in the kitchen. I would have recalled it from one of my expeditions round to his house to watch 'Play school' on BBC2 in 1965. Also as his Mum had these fake Bullrushes, and when the series was new the titles disturbed me. I thought 'what does Jackanory mean?' and there was this robotic English voice for some unexplained reason repeating it over and over again. The titles involved a kaleidoscope but it should be pointed out that there was a period c. 1969 - 71 when they changed the titles so instead of the kaleidoscope at the end, there would be a still of a stylised cartoon tree with shaped round top which became the series logo and appeared on the TV tie in story books; advertised after the show. It was a symmetrical thing and may have split across itself split screen style rather than in the usual manner.
I also recall that in the early 70s they dropped the repeating voice and then some of (eventually all) the editions appeared instead with a key illustration from the story sometimes zooming into this rather than the standard 'Kaleidoscope'.
Susan Hampshire ( or Susannah York), 'Spirit of the Mustard pot' Jon Pertwee, The Mrs Pepperpot stories (in the 60s and 70s), the Legend of Beowulf all ring bells. there was a revival of the Mrs Pepperpot stories in the 80s when I think Thora Hird read them all (various presenters first time round).
Also David and Goliath and one on Greek myths.
To be fair the archive that exists largely resembles the way my memory recollects the show; largely fleeting snippets for the 60s and early 70s period.
It's lucky these survive at all, as they were caught during the off air transmission recording of various items such as state openings or large sports events.
For this series, possibly as it was on several times a week, 4 or 5 days each with a different part of the story my memory tends to recall the format from different periods rather than individual titles for which I would need some prompting.
This formed an enormous amount of output.
The main memory that comes first to mind is something I think around Easter 1970. There were a few weeks of stories which seemed to revolve around various rituals of Easter historically. Something about the origin of hot cross buns. Another I'm sure was a poem about King Herod which I never understood. It was sinister and illustrated accounting This was a short poem. It ended with the illustration of the black bearded staring eyed King, and the camera panned the illustration form the feet upwards to show his face, leggings like a Viking or Knight, and long hair, then a slow pan into an illustration of a glowing open coal fire. The only line I recall is 'eyes as black as coals - HEROD; is his name'.
It had been read several times during the series over the years each time presented as if tie was something new and I can recall thinking 'Oh, this one again..' Chilling thinking back now that Herod was I'm sure the Biblical slayer of Children!
There was also I'm sure 'Macavitie the station cat' which I think is T.S. Elliott, and someone like Bernard Cribbins guested reading them.
Around the same period (early 70s, or 1970); there was a story in a recurring series where a Man with a Polish or Welsh accent (Icelandic I think); read various stories about 'Littlenose the Eskimo'. In my mind I compared him with Magnus Magnusson, another Icelander dressed in similar fashion in a thick polar necked cream coloured jumper. Magnus was then I seem to recall regular environment and features correspondant on the series 'SEARCH'. The reader himself; (may've been Scottish now come to think of it; Shetland islands accent like 'Janet' from Dr Finlay); struck me as being himself like something out of one of the stories or Littlenose. He had small rosy cheeks and wavy white hair, with a high little voice; apt for the subject matter. I recall him seated in a high backed armchair. It's one of the lasting memories of the series but I admit at the time it irritated me and whenever he returned with more 'Littenose' stories; I thought 'Oh no, not this again!'
One of the surviving pieces from the 1971 - 72 time zone I recall is Michael Hordern reading a story either called 'How the Leopard got his spots' (or 'lost' his spots). Clips of this (on colour VT); appeared on the 1990 VHS compilation 'Best childrens TV of the decade 1970s'. It was a great series of tapes but I recall they got some clips mixed up with the wrong decade so you got 60s items like 'Forest Rangers' cropping up on the 70s volume; and 70s items turning up on the '1980s' volume (didn't buy this one but recall studying and noting that detail on the contents list.
The Michael Hordern story I'm sure contained an account of the legends of how the Leopard originally had got his spots; something about Aborigine Warriors ? sticking their hands in mud or ink and imprinting the marks on his coat while he was asleep?
There were so many weeks and presenters, and I could never really decide whether I liked 'Jackanory' or not; when you were 9 or 10 it was one of those things that had been on seemingly all the time; slightly corny and childish for your age.
Around the 1973 period I'm sure Prince Charles appeared reading stories. The VT titles cut to a film stock insert of him dressed in a kilt by Mountains with a caber / stick in hand, and this image recurred much later when he appeared again I think in the 1980s. The story I recall was something like 'The making of Treehorn'. We were read it as an allegory in house assembly at secondary school; and I recall completely overlooking the story of how the character; Treehorn; a failure in life; became a success through hard work and tenacity. All I thought was that it seemed a ridiculously babyish story!
This is the period I also recall Bernard Cribbins and Kenneth Williams from (prior to his 80s stint). The Prince Charles editions survive (possibly as they were made on film stock regardless of royal connections) and I think some links from various Cribbins editions (i.e. 'Goodbye' and end titles) survive on off air recordings of 'Blue Peter'; but not sure about Williams.
For the 60s I mainly recall format, bar the first editions from 1965 which survive ( ! ) This is a week on VT and the particular story I recall was something about Bullrushes (Moses in the Bullrushes?) Lee Montague read it and had a vase with some of those fake plastic felt coated Bullrushes popular in the 60s (friend round corner had some of them in the kitchen. I would have recalled it from one of my expeditions round to his house to watch 'Play school' on BBC2 in 1965. Also as his Mum had these fake Bullrushes, and when the series was new the titles disturbed me. I thought 'what does Jackanory mean?' and there was this robotic English voice for some unexplained reason repeating it over and over again. The titles involved a kaleidoscope but it should be pointed out that there was a period c. 1969 - 71 when they changed the titles so instead of the kaleidoscope at the end, there would be a still of a stylised cartoon tree with shaped round top which became the series logo and appeared on the TV tie in story books; advertised after the show. It was a symmetrical thing and may have split across itself split screen style rather than in the usual manner.
I also recall that in the early 70s they dropped the repeating voice and then some of (eventually all) the editions appeared instead with a key illustration from the story sometimes zooming into this rather than the standard 'Kaleidoscope'.
Susan Hampshire ( or Susannah York), 'Spirit of the Mustard pot' Jon Pertwee, The Mrs Pepperpot stories (in the 60s and 70s), the Legend of Beowulf all ring bells. there was a revival of the Mrs Pepperpot stories in the 80s when I think Thora Hird read them all (various presenters first time round).
Also David and Goliath and one on Greek myths.