Big Break (snooker game show) | 1
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Almost exactly 11 years ago, the final episode of Big Break, a British game show that paired
ordinary contestants with professional snooker players to win cash and prizes, aired on
BBC1. It was not the first billiards game show (an honor that belongs to Ten-Twenty, which
aired in the 1950s). Nor was it the first billiards game show to feature “celebrity” pool
players (check out Celebrity Billiards with Minnesota Fats from 1967). And it was
certainly not the last game show to incorporate billiards (the short-lived Ballbreakers aired
in 2005). But, by any measure, it was the most popular billiards game show, with 222
episodes, plus 8 Christmas Specials and 8 Trick Shot Specials, airing between April 1991 and
October 2002.
The format of the show is well-detailed on
Wikipedia, but I’ll summarize the main points,
starting with the hosts. Off-color comedian Jim
Davidson was paired with former snooker player
John Virgo, who served as the “straight man” for
Davidson’s barrage of banter, mockery, and
impersonations. (In later years, Davidson
became the subject of much controversy for his
offensive jokes about ethnic minorities,
homosexuals, disabled people, and rape
victims. Some speculate, not surprisingly, that
Big Break was ultimately canceled because of
Davidson’s reputation.)
Each 30-minute episode paired three contestants with three professional snooker players.
Though in the US, billiards players sadly do not achieve celebrity status, such was not case
across the ocean in the United Kingdom. Starting in the late 1960s, with the BBC’s decision to
broadcast tournaments, snooker became increasingly popular, and by the mid-1980s, the
sport was at its apex, when 18 million TV viewers watched the World Snooker Championship
in 1985. This back-story explains why a game show with snooker players could become so
popular. In fact, many of the current and former stars of the sport at the time, including
Dennis Taylor, Jimmy White, Alex Higgins, Willie Thorne, and Allison Fisher, appeared on Big
Break. The episode below from 1993 features snooker stars Peter Ebdon, Ken Doherty and
Terry Griffiths.
The first round of play was called Red Hot. In this round, contestants would amass 10second increments of time by answering questions correctly. The snooker players then had
to “pot” as many balls as possible in that rewarded time (maximum 40 seconds).
The contestant paired with the player who potted the fewest balls then had a chance to win a
consolation prize (including a Big Break board game) in the mini-game Virgo’s Trick Shot.
In this game, Virgo would make a trick shot, and then ask the contestant to make it. If s/he
were successful (and often the hosts would “help” get the balls in), the contestant won the
prizes.
The two remaining contestants then competed in the next round of play called Pocket
Money. In this round, each snooker player had to play by traditional snooker rules for 90
seconds with the snooker balls being worth amounts of money. When the player missed, the
contestant would need to correctly answer a question for play to resume. Whichever
contestant won the most money moved on to the final round, Make or Break?
Big Break (snooker game show) | 2
In the final round, contestants were given 90 seconds to answer five general knowledge
questions. Each correct answer allowed the snooker player to remove one red ball from the
table. After the questions were answered, the remaining time was given to the snooker
player to clear the snooker table with the benefit of having had a certain number of the red
balls removed.
It’s interesting to quickly compare the wild success of Big Break to the wild failure of its
American step-cousin Ballbreakers, which aired in 2005 on the Game Show Network and
lasted just one year. On one hand, each was a product of its time and origin. Though Big
Break missed the snooker heyday era by at least five years, it still was birthed by a country
that loved the sport and the professionals who played it. In comparison, the US TV networks
have never looked favorably at billiards, and as a result, the US players, with the exception of
Jeanette “Black Widow” Lee are basically unknown to the larger American TV-watching
audience. In this sense, Big Break started in the penthouse; Ballbreakers launched from the
basement.
But the other interesting point of comparison is that Big Break left the billiards to the
professionals. And they were exciting to watch, especially under the 30- to 90-second time
pressure of the different rounds. Ballbreakers made the terrible decision to let the
contestants play the pool. This may sound very populist and cool, but it made for awful
viewing.
All of this begs the question…could Big Break be remade in parts of Asia, where billiards
players are already recognized as celebrities? Could it be remade today as an American
game show and a way to increase the popularity of billiards in the United States?
You can find episodes of Big Break, including the Christmas Specials (with celebrities) on
YouTube. Other relevant blogs on Big Break worth reading:
http://alldaycreative.co.uk/blog/branding-snooker/
http://malcolmheadpoetry.blogspot.com/2011/04/poetry-of-my-youth-big-break.html
Check out these related posts:
Ballbreakers (billiards TV game show)
Celebrity Billiards with Minnesota Fats
Ten-Twenty
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