Paul Sinha: 'No show caught my imagination like Crackerjack'

Paul Sinha … ‘Whatever sticks in our heads as kids stays there – especially theme songs.’ Photograph: Andy Hollingworth

I used to watch pretty much everything as a kid – only Kenny Everett and The Young Ones were off limits. When we got together with other Bengali families, we watched shows like Dallas. That was one of the biggest shows of my childhood because the Bengali community loved the glamour.

I always enjoyed things that made me laugh. My dad introduced me to Fawlty Towers and I loved Crackerjack – that was my childhood encapsulated. It was the only thing on television that contained the two aspects of my life: laughter and my love of quiz questions.

It’s Crackerjack … the children’s TV show cast in the early 80s, from left: Ian and Wee Jimmy Krankie (Ian and Janette Tough), Jan Michelle and Stu Francis. Photograph: BBC

No other show was as absurd as Crackerjack. It had Stu Francis, who was the first person I saw on TV telling jokes for kids, and then there were the Krankies, who were a comedy duo with a middle-aged woman dressed as a schoolboy doing sketches. You just had no idea what was going on – it was a bold move to be so absurd. At the end, there were general knowledge questions, which I was very competitive about answering right – no other show caught my imagination as much as Crackerjack.

I have a theory that whatever sticks in our heads as kids stays there for the decades to come, and this is especially true for theme songs. There are so many I still remember, from Heidi and Huckleberry Finn to The Red Hand Gang and Ludwig.

Paul Sinha as a boy. Photograph: HANDOUT

The Red Hand Gang was a special favourite of mine. It was an American show about a bunch of kids who solved crimes. The problem-solving aspect of the narrative was very appealing and the theme tune was upbeat and awesome. Most importantly, it had an actor called James Bond III in it and he seemed like the coolest guy. He had the best name and, along with Benny Green on Grange Hill, he was one of the few non-white kids on TV at the time. That was the extent of our representation and it was so important.

People underestimate the degree to which only having three or four channels changes your outlook on television; it makes everything much more memorable because there are so few other options. Everybody is watching the same thing so it was a shared experience that you perhaps don’t get now with the likes of Paw Patrol. Everything felt iconic.

Paul Sinha’s TV Showdown is on ITV on Saturdays at 10pm