Little Crackers | |
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Genre | Drama |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 3 |
No. of episodes | 35 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Running time | 15mins (Series 1-2) 30mins (inc. adverts) (Series 3-) |
Production company(s) | Blue Door Adventures Phil McIntyre Television Sprout Pictures Tiger Aspect Productions Silver River Productions Renegade Pictures Glassbox Productions Avalon Television Can Communicate |
Release | |
Original network | Sky1 |
Picture format | 16:9 (1080i HDTV) |
Audio format | Surround |
Original release | 19 December 2010 | – present
Chronology | |
Related shows | 10 Minute Tales |
External links | |
Official website |
Little Crackers is a British Christmas comedy-drama that was broadcast on Sky1. It consists of a series of short films featuring stars of British and Irish comedy, including Stephen Fry, Catherine Tate, Chris O'Dowd, Kathy Burke, Victoria Wood, and Bill Bailey. According to Sky Television, the show marked the start of their biggest investment in British comedy during Sky1's twenty-year history. The success of the first series led Sky to renew the show for a second series, which began airing on 18 December 2011. The comedians involved in the second series included Harry Hill, Sheridan Smith, Sanjeev Bhaskar, John Bishop, Shappi Khorsandi and Jack Whitehall.
Moone Boy, created by and starring Chris O'Dowd for Sky1 and Walking and Talking, written by and starring Kathy Burke for Sky Atlantic are both full series based on Little Crackers shorts. They have been commissioned for 6 episodes and 4 episodes respectively.
In the films, the stars - with the help of rising young actors such as Madeleine Power as the young Catherine Tate- recreate stories from their childhood. The films, which last between 10 and 12 minutes each, include Catherine Tate reenacting an occasion when she decided to mimic the controversial singer Gary Glitter in a school nativity; Stephen Fry as a head teacher doling out corporal punishment to his younger self played by Daniel Roche; and Dawn French as the Queen Mother, whom she met at the age of four.David Baddiel, Julian Barratt, Bill Bailey, Jo Brand, Victoria Wood, Chris O'Dowd and Julia Davis are among the other actors who recreate childhood incidents and memories.