Big Break | |
---|---|
Genre | Sports game show |
Created by | Roger Medcalf Mike Kemp Terry Mardell |
Directed by | Nick Hurran (Series 1–2) Charles Garland (Series 3–5) Babara Jones (Series 6) Phil Chilvers (Series 7) Richard Valentine (Series 7–8) Duncan Cooper (Series 9) Sue McMahon (Series 10) |
Presented by | Jim Davidson |
Starring | John Virgo |
Voices of | Colin Ward Lewis (Series 1–7) Zora Suleman (Series 8) Charles Nove (Series 9–10) |
Theme music composer | "The Snooker Song" by Captain Sensible |
Composer | Mike Batt |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language | English |
No. of series | 10 |
No. of episodes | 213 (inc. 17 specials) |
Production | |
Producers | John Burrowes (Series 1–7) Geoff Miles (Series 8 & 10) David G. Taylor (Series 9) |
Production locations | BBC Elstree Centre (Series 1–4) [1] BBC Television Centre (Series 5–10) [1] |
Running time | 30 minutes |
Original release | |
Network | BBC1 |
Release | 30 April 1991 – 10 August 2002 |
Related | |
Full Swing |
Big Break is a British game show that aired on BBC1 from 30 April 1991 and 10 August 2002 and hosted by Jim Davidson with John Virgo as referee. The programme focuses on teams consisting of a contestant and a professional snooker player competing in rounds that involve snooker, with the best team eventually seeing its player seeking to win prizes for their contestant.
Big break was created by Terry Mardell [2] and Mike Kemp, and was inspired by Bullseye. Two pilots were made in 1990 with Mike Reid as the presenter, in the first pilot the assistant was John Parrott [3] while in the second the assistant was Len Ganley who was also the assistant in Tyne Tees Television Snooker Gameshow "Pick pockets" [4] which also never got past the pilot stage.
Unfortunley Director General: Michael Checkland was unhappy with the format and presenters so overhauled the format and brought in Jim Davidson as host alongside former snooker player John Virgo [5] [6]
In each episode of the game show, three contestants are each paired up with a professional snooker player – while the contestant tackles questions given by the host, the player handles the snooker-based challenges in each round. Although a game show, Davidson and Virgo usually interject comedy into each episode, including a brief stand-up routine at the beginning of an episode before the introduction of the contestants and players. Although the first two rounds have their own rules, the last two stick to traditional regulation snooker rules regarding potting balls – colours being potted only after a red is potted – although with six red balls used in these rounds.
The programme features four rounds:
Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 30 April 1991 [7] | 16 July 1991 [18] | 12 |
2 | 11 January 1992 [19] | 4 April 1992 [31] | 13 |
3 | 12 September 1992 [32] | 19 December 1992 [46] | 15 |
4 | 4 September 1993 [47] | 26 March 1994 [73] | 27 |
5 | 9 September 1994 [74] | 20 May 1995 [100] | 27 |
6 | 2 September 1995 [101] | 19 July 1996 [127] | 27 |
7 | 3 January 1997 [128] | 27 February 1998 [155] | 28 |
8 | 6 March 1998 [156] | 26 June 1999 [181] | 26 |
9 | 18 December 1999 [182] | 19 May 2001 [204] | 24 |
10 | 16 June 2001 [205] | 10 August 2002 [218] | 14 |
Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 27 May 1995 [219] | 17 June 1995 [220] | 6 |
11 May 1996 [221] | 15 July 1996 [222] | ||
2 | 23 July 1997 [223] | 3 September 1997 [224] | 6 |
3 | 3 July 1999 [225] | 11 December 1999 [226] | 6 |
Date | Entitle |
---|---|
24 December 1991 [227] | Christmas Special |
26 December 1992 [228] | Christmas Special |
27 December 1993 [229] | Christmas Special |
27 December 1994 [230] | Christmas Special |
22 August 1995 [231] | Trick Shot Special |
29 August 1995 [232] | Trick Shot Special |
19 October 1995 [233] | Trick Shot Special |
28 December 1995 [234] | Christmas Special |
3 August 1996 [235] | Trick Shot Special |
29 August 1996 [236] | Trick Shot Special |
27 December 1996 [237] | Christmas Special |
27 June 1997 [238] | Trick Shot Special |
4 July 1997 [239] | Trick Shot Special |
26 December 1997 [240] | Christmas Special |
28 December 1998 [241] | Christmas Special |
23 December 1999 [242] | Snooker Scrapbook |
3 January 2000 [243] | Snooker Scrapbook |
James Warren White is an English professional snooker player who has won four seniors World titles. Nicknamed "The Whirlwind" because of his fluid, swift and attacking style of play, White is the 1980 World Amateur Champion, 2009 Six-red World champion, a record four-time World Seniors Champion, 2019 Seniors 6-Red World Champion and 1984 World Doubles champion with Alex Higgins.
The World Snooker Championship is the longest-running and most prestigious tournament in professional snooker. It is also the richest, with total prize money of £2,395,000 in 2023, including £500,000 for the winner. First held in 1927, it is now one of the three tournaments that make up snooker's Triple Crown Series. The reigning world champion is Luca Brecel.
Steve Davis is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author. He is best known for dominating professional snooker during the 1980s, when he reached eight World Snooker Championship finals in nine years, winning six world titles, and held the world number one ranking for seven consecutive seasons. He was runner-up to Dennis Taylor in one of snooker's most famous matches, the 1985 World Championship final, which ended in a dramatic black-ball conclusion that attracted 18.5 million viewers, still the largest British television audience for any broadcast after midnight and any broadcast on BBC Two.
John Stephen Parrott is an English former professional snooker player and television personality. He was a familiar face on the professional snooker circuit during the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, and remained within the top 16 of the world rankings for fourteen consecutive seasons.
The 2006 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that was held at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 38th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was staged at the venue. It started on 15 April 2006 and was scheduled to finish on 1 May 2006, but continued into the early hours of 2 May. The sixth and final ranking tournament of the 2005–06 snooker season, it was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored for the first time by online casino 888.com. The total prize fund was £896,240, of which the winner received £200,000.
The 2005 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. The tournament started on 16 April, and ended on 2 May 2005. The event was the eighth and final world ranking event of the 2004–05 snooker season, following the 2005 China Open. The event was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association. Due to laws banning advertising cigarettes in Great Britain, this was the last time the event was sponsored by the cigarette company Embassy. The event had a prize fund of £1,121,800, with the winner receiving £250,000.
The 2004 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 17 April to 3 May 2004 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England, the 28th consecutive year the World Snooker Championship was held at the venue. The eighth and final ranking event of the 2003–04 snooker season, the tournament was organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association and sponsored by cigarette company Embassy. The total prize fund was £1,378,920, of which the winner received £250,000.
The 2003 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 19 April to 5 May 2003 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the final ranking event of the 2002–03 snooker season. This was the 27th consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship had been held at the Crucible, marking the 26th anniversary of the first staging of the event at this venue. The championships were sponsored by cigarette manufacturer Embassy.
The 1989 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place from 15 April to 1 May 1989 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. Organised by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association, it was the eighth and final ranking event of the 1988–89 snooker season and the thirteenth consecutive World Snooker Championship to be held at the Crucible, the first tournament at this location having taken place in 1977. There were 142 entrants to the competition.
The 1992 World Snooker Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place between 18 April and 4 May 1992 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England.
The 2006 UK Championship was the 2006 edition of the UK Championship, a professional snooker tournament that is one of the sport's three Triple Crown events. It was held from 4 to 17 December 2006 at the Barbican Centre in York, North Yorkshire. The competition was the third of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season and the 30th edition of the tournament. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe on the BBC and Eurosport.
The 1995 UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. The event started on 17 November 1995 and the televised stages were shown on the BBC between 25 November and 3 December 1995.
The 1996 UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. The event started on 15 November 1996 and the televised stages were shown on BBC between 23 November and 1 December 1996.
The 2001 Masters was a professional invitational snooker tournament held at the Wembley Conference Centre, London, from 4 to 11 February 2001. It was the 27th edition of The Masters, a Triple Crown event and the third of the five World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) invitational events in the 2000–01 snooker season. It followed the 2000 Scottish Masters and preceded the 2001 Malta Grand Prix. Sponsored by the cigarette company Benson & Hedges, the event had a total prize fund of £650,000, with £175,000 going to the winner.
The 2007 Malta Cup was the 2007 edition of the Malta Cup snooker tournament, held from 28 January to 4 February 2007 at the Hilton Conference Center in Portomaso, Malta. The tournament was the fourth of seven World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) ranking events in the 2006/2007 season, the 200th world ranking tournament and the 16th edition of the event. It was the third time that the competition was called the Malta Cup, which was renamed from the European Open, first held in 1989. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom and Europe by Eurosport.
The 2005 Masters was the 2005 edition of the non-ranking Masters professional snooker tournament. It was held from 13 to 20 February 2005 at the Wembley Conference Centre, London. The tournament was the 31st staging of the competition and was the sixth of nine World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA) main tour events in the 2004/2005 season. The tournament was broadcast in the United Kingdom on the BBC and by Eurosport in Europe.
The 2008 World Snooker Championship was a professional snooker tournament that took place between 19 April and 5 May 2008 at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield, England. It was the 32nd consecutive year that the World Snooker Championship was held at the Crucible Theatre, and the seventh and final ranking event of the 2007–08 snooker season. The tournament was organised by World Snooker, and sponsored by betting company 888.com. The tournament featured a total prize fund of £1,050,000 with £250,000 being awarded to the winner.
The 1992 UK Championship was a professional ranking snooker tournament that took place at the Guild Hall in Preston, England. The event started on 13 November 1992 and the televised stages were shown on BBC between 21 and 29 November 1992.
The 1994 Irish Masters was the twentieth edition of the professional invitational snooker tournament, which took place from 22 to 27 March 1994. The tournament was played at Goffs in Kill, County Kildare, and featured twelve professional players.
The 1997 Doc Martens European League was a professional non-ranking snooker tournament that was played from 28 December 1996 to 18 May 1997. All matches including the play-offs were played at the Diamond Centre at Irthlingborough.