The Krankies

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The Krankies are a Scottish duo that enjoyed success as a cabaret act in the 1970s and on television in the 1980s. They entered semi-retirement in 1991, but they have regularly appeared in pantomime since. They are Janette Tough (born May 16, 1947 in Stirlingshire) who at only 4'5" played schoolboy "Wee Jimmy Krankie"; and her husband Ian Tough (born March 26, 1947 in Glasgow), who played Jimmy's father.

They are probably best remembered as presenters/performers in the BBC's stalwart children's entertainment series Crackerjack.

In early 1981 they released a single named Fan'dabi'dozi, their catchphrase. It stalled at number 46. They had three television series — The Krankies Klub^[1] (1982), The Krankies Elektronik Komik^[2] (1985) and Krankies Television^[3] for Border Television in the early 1990s.

In 2003, "Wee Jimmy Krankie" was voted "The Most Scottish Person In The World" by the readers of The Glasgow Herald.

In 2004, Janette was badly injured in a fall during a performance in the pantomime Jack and the Beanstalk, but has since made a full recovery.^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

Janette makes recurring appearances in various series of French & Saunders. Her most recent appearance was on the 2005 Christmas Special, in which she appeared in the mock theatre trailers for The Graduate and Chicago. She also appeared in the 5th series of Absolutely Fabulous playing a midwife and nightmare baby in the episode "Book Clubbin."

Janette also appears as Jimmy Krankie in the video for 2007 Comic Relief single "500 Miles" with The Proclaimers, Brian Potter, Andy Pipkin and other celebrity stars.

Most recently the Krankies appeared in a widely-seen advertising campaign for stv Bingo^[7].