About this season
Crackanory is a storytelling television series aimed at adults, inspired by the popular children's series Jackanory. Each episode features two 15-minute tales narrated by contemporary comedians and actors, containing a mix of live action and animation and all read from the same oversized chair.
Episodes (8)
1. A Close Slave
Aired 30 January 2017 • 23 min
In the household of a playwright in Ancient Rome, a slave helps his master to finish writing his latest opus. Little does the slave know that he has effectively conceived his own death.
2. Living with a Lie
Aired 31 January 2017
A frustrated writer invents an elderly relative as an excuse to get time off work so that he can start work on his novel. When the doorbell rings and he comes to face-to-face with "Aunt Janet" he discovers that his lie has come to life.
3. The Despot of Tea
Aired 1 February 2017
An out of work actor agrees to take part in making an advert for tea in an isolated former Soviet-bloc country. Years later he returns to the country to discover that his character Sir Slurpington-Boots has become a national treasure.
4. The Survivor
Aired 2 February 2017
In 1850, a man wakes from a long illness to find that he is being cared for by a group of strangers and a beautiful woman. If, as they insist, he is their guest why is he not allowed to leave the house.
5. Proxy Lady
Aired 6 February 2017
Beth is contacted out-of-the-blue by a reclusive woman who has used Beth's picture on a dating website. Now she wants Beth to pose as her and go and meet the man she has formed a relationship with over the web.
6. Devil's Haircut
Aired 7 February 2017
In New York City in the 1940s, the baritone in a barbershop quartet unwittingly agrees to sell his soul to the devil to make sure that his group win in the national finals.
7. The Disappearance
Aired 8 February 2017
In London in 1910, an illusionist performs his famed "the lady vanishes" act. Only this time his assistant really has vanished without a trace. Has he actually acquired real magic powers?
8. Pickled
Aired 9 February 2017
A down on his luck man, a former aristocrat who squandered away his fortune, stumbles upon an old house with a mysterious inhabitant.