Big Break

Big Break
Genre Sports game show
Created by Roger Medcalf
Mike Kemp
Terry Mardell
Presented by Jim Davidson
Starring John Virgo
Voices of Colin Ward Lewis (1991–6)
Zora Suleman (1997)
Charles Nove (1998 & 2001)
Theme music composer "The Snooker Song" by Captain Sensible
Composer(s) Mike Batt
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 14
No. of episodes 222 (inc. 17 specials)
Production
Production location(s) BBC Television Centre (Studio TC6)
Running time 30 minutes
Release
Original network BBC1
Picture format 4:3 (1991–2001)
16:9 (2001–2)
Original release 30 April 1991 (1991-04-30) – 9 October 2002 (2002-10-09)
Chronology
Related shows Bullseye
Full Swing

Big Break was a British game show featuring the game of snooker, mixed with traditional game show elements. It was broadcast on BBC1 between 30 April 1991 and 9 October 2002. The show was hosted by comedian Jim Davidson, and former professional snooker player John Virgo.

Format

The show was presented by comedian Jim Davidson and former snooker player, later commentator, John Virgo, who was known for being the butt of many of Davidson's jokes. The show's theme song is "The Snooker Song", from the musical The Hunting of the Snark composed by Mike Batt and performed by Captain Sensible. An unbroadcast pilot filmed in May 1990 had Davidson as host and a near identical set to the familiar broadcast version, but saw snooker player and commentator John Parrott as co-host in place of Virgo. The BBC's Director-General at the time, Sir Michael Checkland, turned down this pilot as he felt the rounds and scoring structure was too close to that of ITV's Bullseye, which had helped influence the concept of the series but which the BBC were keen to not draw too many comparisons with.

Parrott was also deemed to not quite have the right 'double-act' relationship with Davidson for what the producers were looking for. The second pilot filmed later that year, now with Virgo in place of Parrott, would later become the first broadcast episode, although was originally filmed as a 45-minute 'special' pilot intended for broadcast over the 1990 Christmas/New Year period with extra rounds.

Red Hot

After introducing and chatting with each contestant, they would randomly select a ball from a bag Davidson was holding. The bag contained a red ball, a yellow ball and a blue ball. Each coloured ball represented a professional snooker player whom Virgo would introduce.

After introducing the players, the first round, Red Hot, would be played. It would begin with a player having ten seconds added to a clock, and being asked three questions to gain ten seconds for each question answered correctly. The questions were usually riddles or trick questions, with the second question often asking the contestant which two words sound the same by answering clues. (For example, a number (four), and the opposite of against (for).)

In later series, each player started Red Hot with 40 seconds, and lost five seconds for each of the three questions that they answered incorrectly, increasing the minimum playing time (when all questions were answered incorrectly) from ten to 25 seconds.

After the questions were answered, the snooker players had the rewarded amount of time to pot ten red snooker balls, which Davidson and Virgo described as being very complicated rules. Virgo's deadpan delivery of the line "Pot as many balls as you can" became a series catchphrase.

The contestant whose player potted the fewest balls would exit the game, but would also play "Virgo's trick shot" (See below).

Virgo's trick shot

This mini-game consisted of Virgo setting up a trick shot for the losing contestant. After demonstrating the shot, Virgo would set the shot up again for the player to attempt. Prizes included binoculars, clock radios and champagne.

If they completed the shot successfully, they won the prize. If the contestant came close to winning but failed, Davidson or Virgo would often knock the snooker ball into the pocket. However, if the player lost, which was very rare, Davidson would offer an old record by an unpopular artist whom the contestant would not recognise.

In the first episode of Big Break, Virgo performed a trick shot dressed as Willie Thorne and missed the pot, while the contestant got it in. He would also occasionally mock various other players, including Jimmy White.

Outtakes of Virgo's failed attempts at trick shots were frequently seen on Auntie's Bloomers.

Pocket Money

In the next round, contestants would have the chance of winning money. Each snooker player had to play by traditional snooker rules for ninety seconds with the snooker balls being worth amounts of money. Each red ball was worth £10 when potted, with each coloured ball being worth £10 times the regulation point value of that ball, up to £70 for the black ball. In addition, each pocket hole had a designated colour; If the player potted a coloured ball in the same coloured pocket hole, the amount would be doubled for that pot (Double yellow £40, double green £60, double brown £80, double blue £100, double pink £120 and double black £140).

If the player missed, the contestant would have to answer a question on a specific subject, depending on what ball was missed. Categories included Pot Luck (Red), Past (Yellow), Music (Green), Places (Brown), People (Blue), Sports (Pink) and Screen (Black). If answered correctly, Davidson would shout "Play!" so the snooker player would continue. If the contestant answered incorrectly, Davidson would have to ask another question. If the contestant continually answered wrongly, Davidson would either give the contestant clues, over-articulate the right answer or, if he got lost with the questions, give up and shout "Play!" anyway.

Each contestant won the amount of money the snooker player gained, and the contestant with the most money went on to play the final round.

Make or Break?

In Make or Break?, contestants could win a variety of prizes. First of all the snooker player would break off the 6 red balls. Contestants would be given ninety seconds to answer five general knowledge questions asked by Davidson. Each correct answer allowed the snooker player to remove one red ball from the table. Once the questions have been asked, the snooker player and Virgo discuss which of the red balls to discard, based on their positions after the break-off and so leaving those easier to pot. After the questions were answered, the remaining time was given over to the snooker player to clear the snooker table of the six reds minus those discarded. One red ball and each coloured ball represented a prize, ranging from champagne, short breaks, televisions, computers and games consoles. The black ball represented the Mystery Star Prize, often a holiday.

The snooker player would play by traditional rules to clear the table, with the support of having red balls removed. The player had the remaining time, left from when the contestant answered his or her questions, to pot all the balls. The first red potted won the player the first prize. However, the contestant could not win any more prizes until the player cleared all the reds from the table, and began potting the colours in sequence, from yellow to black.

At the end of the programme, there is usually another familiar catchphrase exchange: Davidson says "Say good night, JV.", to which Virgo replies, "Good night, JV."

Transmissions

Regular

Series
(production)		Series
(transmission)		Start dateEnd dateEpisodes
1130 April 1991[1]16 July 1991[2]12
2211 January 1992[3]4 April 1992[4]13
3312 September 1992[5]19 December 1992[6]15
444 September 1993[7]26 March 1994[8]27
559 September 1994[9]20 May 1995[10]27
662 September 1995[11]14 October 1995[12]7
72 March 1996[13]19 July 1996[14]20
783 January 1997[15]18 April 1997[16]15
99 June 1997[17]14 July 1997[18]5
109 January 1998[19]6 March 1998[20]9
8114 April 1998[21]18 July 1998[22]11
1213 February 1999[23]26 June 1999[24]15
9134 December 1999[25]19 May 2001[26]28
101416 June 2001[27]9 October 2002[28]18

Stars of the Future

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
127 May 1995[29]17 June 1995[30]4
211 May 1996[31]15 July 1996[32]2
323 July 1997[33]3 September 1997[34]6
43 July 1999[35]11 December 1999[36]6

Specials

DateEntitle
24 December 1991[37]Christmas Special
26 December 1992[38]Christmas Special
27 December 1993[39]Christmas Special
27 December 1994[40]Christmas Special
22 August 1995[41]Trick Shot Special
29 August 1995[42]Trick Shot Special
19 October 1995[43]Trick Shot Special
28 December 1995[44]Christmas Special
3 August 1996[45]Trick Shot Special
29 August 1996[46]Trick Shot Special
27 December 1996[47]Christmas Special
27 June 1997[48]Trick Shot Special
4 July 1997[49]Trick Shot Special
26 December 1997[50]Christmas Special
28 December 1998[51]Christmas Special
23 December 1999[52]Snooker Scrapbook
3 January 2000[53]Snooker Scrapbook

References

  1. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 30 April 1991". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  2. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 16 July 1991". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  3. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 11 January 1992". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  4. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 4 April 1992". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  5. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 12 September 1992". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  6. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 19 December 1992". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 4 September 1993". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  8. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 26 March 1994". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  9. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 9 September 1994". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  10. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 20 May 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  11. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 2 September 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  12. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 14 October 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  13. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 2 March 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  14. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 19 July 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  15. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 3 January 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  16. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 18 April 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  17. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 9 June 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  18. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 14 July 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  19. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 9 January 1998". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  20. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 6 March 1998". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  21. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 4 April 1998". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  22. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 18 July 1998". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  23. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 13 February 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  24. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 26 June 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  25. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 4 December 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  26. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 19 May 2001". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  27. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 16 June 2001". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  28. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 9 October 2002". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  29. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 27 May 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  30. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 17 June 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  31. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 11 May 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  32. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 15 July 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  33. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 23 July 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  34. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 3 September 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  35. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 3 July 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  36. ↑ "Big Break: Stars of the Future - BBC One London - 11 December 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  37. ↑ "Big Break: A Celebrity Christmas Special - BBC One London - 24 December 1991". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  38. ↑ "Big Break Christmas Celebrity Special - BBC One London - 26 December 1992". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  39. ↑ "Big Break Christmas Special - BBC One London - 27 December 1993". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  40. ↑ "Big Break in Wonderland - BBC One London - 27 December 1994". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  41. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 22 August 1995". BBC Genome Project. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  42. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 29 August 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  43. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 19 October 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  44. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 28 December 1995". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  45. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 3 August 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  46. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 29 August 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  47. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 27 December 1996". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  48. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 27 June 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  49. ↑ "Big Break: Trick Shot Special - BBC One London - 4 July 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  50. ↑ "Big Break - BBC One London - 26 December 1997". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  51. ↑ "Big Break Christmas Show - BBC One London - 28 December 1998". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  52. ↑ "Big Break Snooker Scrapbook - BBC One London - 23 December 1999". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.
  53. ↑ "Big Break Snooker Scrapbook - BBC One London - 3 January 2000". BBC Genome Project. Archived from the original on 1 October 2016. Retrieved 27 September 2016.

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