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Gods of Snooker (Louis Theroux-produced snooker documentary)

Started by Ballad of Ballard Berkley, May 09, 2021, 06:57:38 PM

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Ballad of Ballard Berkley

This three-part series starts tonight on BBC Two at 9pm, and it's absolutely wonderful. A tribute to the '80s snooker stars who transformed the sport into a national obsession, it's made with loads of love and care.

Naturally, it begins with the wayward rise of Alex Higgins and his rivalry with Steve Davis, but there's a thrilling cavalcade of hot Matchroom Mob action in episodes two and three. An important cultural document.

Pranet

Thanks! I won't be watching this tonight but will watch this. Have vague memories of Theroux mentioning this now.

rjd2

That was a lovely watch on Sunday evening.

Apologies for my ignorance, what is the focus of episode 3?

Mobius

Had no idea about this so thank you, hopefully I can find it on one of those dodgy reddits that upload english telly.

Gurke and Hare

Quote from: rjd2 on May 09, 2021, 10:02:11 PM
Apologies for my ignorance, what is the focus of episode 3?

I don't know, but I'd guess at Hendry.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Yep, it ends with the early 90s rise of Hendry. The snooker loopy lads were pretty much done by then.

bgmnts

I'm happy this isn't incredibly depressing judging from the comments here.

Blue Jam

Been looking forward to this. Just watched episode 1 and really enjoyed it. I get the feeling this series is like an extended version of When Snooker Ruled The World (which is also on iPlayer now, if you haven't seen it go and rectify that immediately) which is very welcome.

Alastair MacGowan also has a snooker documentary up on iPlayer which I'd never heard of before I stumbled across it while looking for coverage of the World Seniors last night. Only episode 2 is up for some reason, I gave it a go and it was mainly a load of lovely archive footage, highly enjoyable.

Blue Jam

Also did anyone else think half the participants looked like they were in front of Zoom backgrounds? All those blurry out-of-focus pubs?

dr beat

I simply *have* to watch the whole of that Sheffield City Council promo.

It looks like the greatest piece of archive TV ever.  And I've seen Callum Kennedy's Commando Course.

sevendaughters

was expecting something a bit cheaper and run-of-the-mill. highly narrativised of course but surprisingly solid. only watched part one. some great archive footage in there.

EOLAN

Quote from: Blue Jam on May 09, 2021, 11:22:11 PM

Alastair MacGowan also has a snooker documentary up on iPlayer which I'd never heard of before I stumbled across it while looking for coverage of the World Seniors last night. Only episode 2 is up for some reason, I gave it a go and it was mainly a load of lovely archive footage, highly enjoyable.

I think it was shown unscheduled for an hour of filler when one of the sessions in the Final was over way before the BBC's allotted time for coverage. Not that it was a particularly quick session.

BeardFaceMan

Looking forward to watching this. Are there any other similar docs about darts?

Blue Jam

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 10, 2021, 06:03:40 PM
Looking forward to watching this. Are there any other similar docs about darts?

Darts Tarts:

https://youtu.be/Al8lNsPhOis

The only other one that springs to mind for me is Darts Players' Wives:

https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1806865/

Made around the same time as Footballers' Wives in case you hadn't guessed, think it was on Channel 5.

EDIT: Have a couple more:

The Story Of Darts:
Part 1
Part 2

Darts Mavericks:
https://youtu.be/bzuvTR3ncqU

BeardFaceMan

Ooh lovely, ta muchly. That 80s darts/snooker archival footage holds a special place in my heart, I could watch it all day. There's just a vibe about it I can't quite put my finger on, it scratches an itch that normal sports footage or 80s footage doesn't.

Gurke and Hare

Quote from: BeardFaceMan on May 10, 2021, 06:32:29 PM
Ooh lovely, ta muchly. That 80s darts/snooker archival footage holds a special place in my heart, I could watch it all day. There's just a vibe about it I can't quite put my finger on, it scratches an itch that normal sports footage or 80s footage doesn't.

Is it something to do with the players smoking and drinking their way through the game?

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Enjoyed ep 1 but please round up and chloroform the talking heads Osman, Lineker and random dj bloke. Offering fuck all.

BeardFaceMan

Quote from: Gurke and Hare on May 10, 2021, 06:55:53 PM
Is it something to do with the players smoking and drinking their way through the game?

That is always lovely to see, yes. Along with the tournaments being sponsored by fags. It's just such a great atmosphere, the Lakeside and The Crucible were amazing venues in the 80s.


Shoulders?-Stomach!

Can't remember. A music man I've never seen or heard before.

Blue Jam

Re: the different atmosphere, I just enjoy looking at the old tables with their crude wood, rougher cloth, loads of big pre-Taom chalk marks and no LED readout of the precisely-controlled temperature of the slate bed. A lot of today's players would turn into complete divas if expected to make do with those conditions.

Also flowers in the arena. I suppose they had to get rid of them after that time Alex Higgins pissed in a plant pot.

DrGreggles

Quote from: Joe JohnsonWhat am I, some kind of cunt?
You give a whole episode up to a fucking losing machine, and I don't even warrant a namecheck?
Jimmy White can suck my big fat World Champion cock.


Gurke and Hare

Quote from: Blue Jam on May 10, 2021, 07:39:53 PM
Re: the different atmosphere, I just enjoy looking at the old tables with their crude wood, rougher cloth, loads of big pre-Taom chalk marks and no LED readout of the precisely-controlled temperature of the slate bed.

I like it when there's a really low camera angle so that the table looks square.

Shoulders, were you thinking of Jay Blades?



He's actually the presenter of The Repair Shop but yeah, if I hadn't heard of him and saw the name Jay Blades DJ would probably be my guess.

phes

It was such a recipe for gold, unfolding as it did at breakneck speed before any of these studio cunts could work out how turn it into mulch. A few canny businessmen and some fag companies but other than that, bedlam for a decade or so. I'm going to enjoy this. Assuming the narrative will be the people's players who loved playing the game too much getting wrecked by the nice automaton lads who loved winning too much

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

#24
Quote from: Blue Jam on May 10, 2021, 07:39:53 PM
Re: the different atmosphere, I just enjoy looking at the old tables with their crude wood, rougher cloth, loads of big pre-Taom chalk marks and no LED readout of the precisely-controlled temperature of the slate bed. A lot of today's players would turn into complete divas if expected to make do with those conditions.

Also flowers in the arena. I suppose they had to get rid of them after that time Alex Higgins pissed in a plant pot.

That's exactly it. The fact that it all looks slightly shabby and unpolished. Not the actual playing itself, but the surrounding environment. I appreciate that there's an element of nostalgia involved here, but I lost interest in snooker in the '90s when the whole thing became a lot slicker.

Quote from: phes on May 10, 2021, 07:50:38 PM
It was such a recipe for gold, unfolding as it did at breakneck speed before any of these studio cunts could work out how turn it into mulch. A few canny businessmen and some fag companies but other than that, bedlam for a decade or so.

Yes, it was all slightly chaotic, weird and - if you will - quintessentially British. Only in Britain could someone such as Willie Thorne become a top sporting star - an actual celebrity, recognised and admired by millions. It almost makes me feel quite patriotic.

pigamus

It was okay, but if you're a snooker fan you've seen the Alex Higgins story a million times. It might have been nice to focus on some of the other players a bit. No wonder Ray Reardon was pissed off!

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: pigamus on May 10, 2021, 09:34:52 PM
It was okay, but if you're a snooker fan you've seen the Alex Higgins story a million times. It might have been nice to focus on some of the other players a bit. No wonder Ray Reardon was pissed off!

To be fair, it's a three-part series about '80s snooker. They obviously had to start with the Higgins saga. The next two hours are devoted to the snooker loopy glory years.

But yeah, I do feel a bit sorry for Reardon, his bitterness is understandable. It's not his fault that he belonged to a different era.

pigamus

Well I'm sure there'll be good stuff in the next one but we've seen the 85 final a million times. I hope they give Joe Johnson his due.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Apologies for getting the profession of the Jay Blades bloke wrong (sincerely, I'm embarrassed as it looks like casual racism on my part).

gilbertharding

Quote from: pigamus on May 10, 2021, 09:34:52 PM
It was okay, but if you're a snooker fan you've seen the Alex Higgins story a million times. It might have been nice to focus on some of the other players a bit. No wonder Ray Reardon was pissed off!

Saw this on twitter (credit @SimpsonsSnooker) and it made me laugh.



Not that I watch all that many documentaries about the golden age of snooker.

What did amuse me about the programme was how much Ray Readon looks like you'd imagine Jimmy White should look like now.