Reminder: Rik Mayall reads George's Marvellous Medicine (1986) on BBC4

[Jemble Fred]

Well I wouldn't have been that old when Paul Merton and Sean Hughes were doing it, and I only watched because I liked them as comedians. Same goes with Rik Mayall – who'd give a fuck about some old reading of GMM if a random out-of-work actor had done it? No matter how well it was done.

So I'd still say that Clinton's 'I hope there won't be too much of a reliance on "known" faces' is tantamount to saying 'I'm glad Telly Addicts is back, but I hope they do more questions about radio'.

[The Mumbler]

who'd give a fuck about some old reading of GMM if a random out-of-work actor had done it? No matter how well it was done.

So I'd still say that Clinton's 'I hope there won't be too much of a reliance on "known" faces' is tantamount to saying 'I'm glad Telly Addicts is back, but I hope they do more questions about radio'.

Eh?  That analogy makes no sense whatsoever (except in your own head? maybe).  Could this be the time to ask, "Can you only buy a novel if it's got Stephen Fry's fizzog on the jacket?".  

I didn't know who on earh most of the Jackanory readers were, and that didn't stop me enjoying the programmes.

[Jemble Fred]

No, it makes perfect sense – are you okay?

The well-known faces reading stories to which they were usually very well-matched is (okay) very nearly as important a part of the format as TV is to Telly Addicts. Sometimes there were less well-known faces, but you notice that they weren't chosen to celebrate the show on BBC4. And quite rightly, too.

[The Mumbler]

No, it makes perfect sense – are you okay?

The well-known faces reading stories to which they were usually very well-matched is (okay) very nearly as important a part of the format as TV is to Telly Addicts. Sometimes there were less well-known faces, but you notice that they weren't chosen to celebrate the show on BBC4. And quite rightly, too.

To be fair, they only had an hour, so four slots.  Who's Lee Montague, Jemfred?  No looking at imdb!

The point you keep sidestepping is that, when you're a kid (and I'm talking "under eights"), you don't know who most of these people are - and it doesn't matter.  Stuart McGugan was a Play School presenter as far as I was concerned, so was amazed to find him being a regular on It Ain't Half Hot Mum.   I thought Keith Barron was great (On The Farm, Jackanory), long before I'd heard of Nigel Barton.   Elaine Stritch was "that American woman who single-handedly got me into Roald Dahl", not "the one off Two's Company".

[TJ]

No, it makes perfect sense – are you okay?

The well-known faces reading stories to which they were usually very well-matched is (okay) very nearly as important a part of the format as TV is to Telly Addicts. Sometimes there were less well-known faces, but you notice that they weren't chosen to celebrate the show on BBC4. And quite rightly, too.

To be fair, they only had an hour, so four slots.  Who's Lee Montague, Jemfred?  No looking at imdb!

The point you keep sidestepping is that, when you're a kid (and I'm talking "under eights"), you don't know who most of these people are - and it doesn't matter.

This is absolutely true. Although I'm still no nearer understanding what point Clinton Morgan was trying to make to begin with.

Incidentally, The Mumbler, could you PM me with what you remember about "On The Farm"? Cheers...!

[Clinton Morgan]

So I'd still say that Clinton's 'I hope there won't be too much of a reliance on "known" faces' is tantamount to saying 'I'm glad Telly Addicts is back, but I hope they do more questions about radio'.

No it isn't. Post Rik Mayall there came a time when seeing one alternative comedian after another reading a children's story became less exciting for me as a child. You eat a bag of chips everyday and they start to taste bland. 'George's Marvellous Medicine' was exciting because of Rik's storytelling skills. That went beyond the inital excitement of "Hey! It's Rick from 'The Young Ones'!"

If 'Jackanory 2006' has to have Peter Kay read 'Charlie And The Chocolate Factory' then so be it. However it should not just be a "Ooh! It's him/her" programme. Just as 'Jackanory 2006' should have a wide range of stories and not just rely of JK Rowling, Jacqueline Wilson, Brian Jacques, Malorie Blackman and Terry Pratchett so it should have a wide range of readers and not just be restricted to the likes of David Walliams, Bill Nighy, Peter Kay, Christopher Eccleston and Kate Winslet. In short, variety.

I was watching the documentary again this morning and thought to myself that it would have been quite cool (ugh!) to have had Vivian Stanshall read for 'Jackanory'.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

Rik Mayall was fantastic at reading GMM beacuse...well, Rik Mayall's fantastic. He wasn't fantastic because he was famous. It would have been a lot of kids' first introduction to him.

[Jemble Fred]

Possibly, but it's a bit academic really, seeing as he got the job because he was already well-known. Because that's how Jackanory worked, by and large.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

But the primary reason for picking a reader should be 'Can they tell kids stories brilliantly?', not 'Have adults heard of them?'.

[Clinton Morgan]

Or even children.

This is absolutely true. Although I'm still no nearer understanding what point Clinton Morgan was trying to make to begin with.

Sorry about that, I assumed I was clear. My hope is that 'Jackanory' keeps to the original format of having the right storyteller for the right story. My fear is that producers on the series will not consider the likes of Bernard Cribbins because he won't be as sexy as the famous people children would have heard of. And yes, they will have heard of David Walliams, Kate Winslet and others. They are quite savvy. I am not saying don't have known faces but I am saying don't have too much of a reliance on them. The reliance should be on the diversity of the stories and not just on the recognisability of the storyteller. That shot of Trevor and Simon on the BBC4 documentary looked quite horrible. Todd from Neighbours was passable but once one gets over the novelty from seeing Todd from Neighbours then it's time for the shrugging of the shoulders.

I'm pretty sure that Rik Mayall would have had a test-rehearsal to see if he was right for 'Jackanory'. Were there any actors or similar who nearly got the gig but had to be dropped from the series as they didn't have what it takes?

[Jemble Fred]

See, I agree with all of that. Of course they have to be spot-on right for the story. But it's also a traditional part of the format that they're well-known performers as well.

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

See, I agree with all of that. Of course they have to be spot-on right for the story. But it's also a traditional part of the format that they're well-known performers as well.

Well-known to children?

[Clinton Morgan]

But the well-known performer aspect works only if the well-known performer is right for the story. However I fear that the new series of 'Jackanory' will only have those who are famous today and risk having inappropriate readers for inappropriate stories. I'll only say, "Okay, I was wrong. Shoot me down in a hail of toothache pills." if the new readers include the likes of Mark Rylance amongst the Martin Freemans and Johnny Depps of the world. A bit of imaginative and appropriate casting is what I want.
Was Kenneth Williams tried out because of the 'Carry On' films or was he tried out because it was reckoned that he might be quite good at it?

[Emergency Lalla Ward Ten]

What's the story, Jackanory? The BBC delighted traditionalists when it announced last year that it would bring back the kids' storytelling show, axed in 1996 for being too old-fashioned.

But I learn that the book-and-a-rocking-chair format is to be replaced by a crack team of experts in computer-generated imagery. When the new show goes out on Christmas Day, the reader will be surrounded by animated Shrek-like figures performing the story. The BBC is determinmed to use the show's return to mark 60 years of children's TV with a look  to the future, in what may well be the most expensive children's programme ever.

- Ben Dowell in this week's New Statesman

I can already see Sam Wollaston's review. 'Some rose-coloured miseryguts Luddites would probably prefer the stories to be read by an old git smelling of Werther's Originals. Well, not me - I thought the CGI was fab, and I've got the sticker book to prove it and everything. Yes, I'm being positive - makes you Reithian twerps scream doesn't it? Then again, the godchild sitting next to me disagreed, so time will tell.'