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Babycham is the trade name of a light, sparkling perry invented by Francis Showering, a brewer in Shepton Mallet in Somerset, England. Launched nationally in the UK in 1953, the drink was possibly the very first 'alcopop', marketed with pioneering television advertisements to appeal to women.

Popular through the 1960s into the 1970s, the brand's appeal waned with the rise of wine and ready-mixed spirit drinks. The current owners are trying to reverse this, with some success, following the reinstatement of its leaping fawn trademark, a giant version of which used to adorn the Shepton factory where it is produced.

Possibly indicative of its status at the time, it appeared as the butt of many jokes in the 1993 BBC comedy series The Smell of Reeves and Mortimer, suggesting that it was a suitable drink for babies. It is also referenced by several characters in the '80s TV comedy The Young Ones . In addition a series of television advertisements for Babycham are referenced in the 1988 film "The Firm" (directed by Alan Clarke) in which a football hooligan jokingly tells his friend who is ordering drinks at the bar "Hey, I'll have a Babycham".

Babycham can also be used as a mixer for brandy. The resultant "brandy and Babycham" was particularly en vogue in Blackpool during the 1980s.

Similarly, in central Scotland, Babycham has in recent years been used as a mixer for the fortified wine Buckfast. This potent blend is known as "Buckcham" or "Babyfast".

Baby Cham is also a Jamaican dancehall artist. Pete Doherty, frontman of UK group The Libertines, named his next musical project Babyshambles, the connection to Babycham evident in not only the portmanteau of "Babycham" and "shambles," but also in light of Doherty's fondness for indulgence.

• The Way We Drank - extract from Philip Norman's autobiography Babycham Night ISBN 0-333-90097-9