Timeshift: Bullseyes & Beer: When Darts Hit Britain TV - Martin Amis - Stephen Fry TV - Keith Waddell TV - Phil Taylor: The Greatest TV - Game of Throws: Inside Darts TV - Dart Kings TV -
1980: A new decade had dawned ... On a cold Saturday night in February the eyes of Britain were focused on a small cabaret club in Stoke on Trent. Timeshift: Bullseyes and Beer: When Darts Hit Britain, BBC 2014
It was television that for two decades launched darts into our living rooms. ibid.
A traditional working class pub game had become a national obsession. ibid.
A casual darter or arrowman all his life, right back to the bald board on the kitchen door, Keith had recently got serious. He’d always thrown for his pub, of course, and followed the sport: you could almost hear angels singing when, on those special nights (three or four times a week), Keith laid out the cigarettes on the arm of the couch to watch darts on television. But now he had designs on the other side of the screen. To his own elaborately concealed astonishment, Keith found himself in the Last Sixteen of the Sparrow Masters, an annual interpub competition which he had nonchalantly entered some months ago, on the advice of various friends and admirers. Martin Amis, London Fields
Barnstorming, high-octane power-fuelled excitement. Stephen Fry, cited A Little Bit of Fry & Waddell, Sky Sports 2016
I’m like a pig in Chardonnay. Stephen Fry, darts commentary
‘This is super-cally-non-fragile-ballistics.’ Sid Waddell, darts commentary
This lad has more checkouts than Tesco’s. He looks about as happy as a penguin in a microwave. Sid Waddell
That’s like giving Dracula the keys to the blood bank. Sid Waddell
Steve Beaton – the Adonis of darts – what poise, what elegance; a true Roman gladiator with plenty of hair wax. Sid Waddell
The atmosphere is so tense, if Elvis walked in, with a portion of chips ... you could hear the vinegar sizzle on them. Sid Waddell
He may practice 12 hours a day, but he’s not shy of the burger van! Sid Waddell
Darts players are probably a lot fitter than most footballers in overall body strength. Sid Waddell
Phil Taylor wins for the 16th time. 2018 world championship will be his last. This is the story of a remarkable sportsman. Phil Taylor: The Greatest, captions, Sky 2020
I worked in a factory from 7.30-4pm making ceramics. ibid. Taylor
When he [Eric Bristow] came into the room, I was terrified of him. ibid.
World Title 1 1990: Taylor 6-1 Bristow. ibid.
[Luke’s dad]: ‘Under his bed - there’s boxes of trophies.’ Game of Thows: Inside Darts I, Sky 2024
96 players from 27 countries. This is the Paddy Power World Darts Championship … ibid. announcer
Welcome to the Alexandra Palace. The promised land … ibid.
And we are the People’s Game. ibid. Barry Hearn
We get to see our first glimpse of 16-year-old Luke Littler. ibid. Paton
For me, going to the world championships is a dream come true. ibid. Luke Littler
Littler is throwing gigantic numbers … ibid.
It is an astonishing display … ibid.
There isn’t a sport like it where it is so down to your mental strength. Game of Throws: Inside Darts II, Paton
You have to work for it. ibid. Van Gerwen
I wanted everything to go away … I started crying on stage … I got diagnosed with bipolar and ADHD. ibid. Wade
The greatest debut we have ever seen, Luke Littler returns to the Palace stage. ibid. Paton
But not just any 16-year-old … ibid.
It is the most psychological sport in the world. ibid. Aspinall
What I saw there on that stage, I’ve never ever … in my life … ibid. Barnaveld, re Littler
What a story here at the world championship. ibid. announcer
I see him as my little boy on that big stage. Game of Throws: Inside Darts III, Luke’s mum
When I’m on that stage I like to keep all my emotions intact. ibid. Humphries
Luke Humphries has shown his true colours in one of the greatest Ally Pally encounters we have ever seen! ibid. announcer re v Cullen
Now I am dreaming. I’m two games away. ibid. Littler
Littler mania is on the rise. ibid.
A 16-year-old kid is in the final of the World Darts Championship. ibid. reporter
And then I just lost all my rhythm. ibid. Littler
11.9 million people tuned in to see the Battle of the Lukes. It is the most watched PDC World Darts Championship final in history. ibid.
[TV News 2018]: Some sad news now about one of our best known darts players just in the past half an hour. Eric Bristow has died. He suffered a heart attack while watching a darts competition in Liverpool tonight. When news broke there the crowd started chanting, There’s Only One Eric Bristow. Dart Kings I: Eric Bristow, Sky Documentaries 2025
A pub game became a kind of national obsession. ibid. comment
1983: 10 million people tuned in. ibid.
1983: Bristow v Deller: £8,000 top prize. ibid. announcer
An only child, Eric grew up in Hackney. ibid. narrator
1980: Bristow v George, Jollees Nighclub, Stoke. ibid.
He’s going to be the Number 2 of the future. ibid. Eric
He said, Darts is for everyone. ibid. comment
Just because we like a few pints it’s not the end of the world. Dart Kings II: Jocky Wilson
Eric Bristow was going for his sixth world title. But standing in his way was a rumbunctious Scot. ibid.
He’s not what you think he is. ibid. Bobby George
The most watchable darts player of all time. ibid. comment
I’d say Jocky was hit and miss. ibid. John Lowe
Everything he did was wrong. ibid. comment
He played better than me and deserved to be champion. ibid. John Lowe
Eric Bristow had moved with his partner Maureen to her hometown of Stoke on Trent. In 1983 they had opened a pub The Crafty Cockney which soon became a mecca for darts fans. Darts Kings III: Phil Taylor
He [Eric] paid for the tournaments. The entry fees would be paid for. ibid. Phil Taylor
Phil Taylor came to the [world] tournament a 100/1 outsider. ibid. narrator
We have a new era in the game of darts. ibid. announcer
By this point Phil Taylor is clearly is very clearly the dominant player in the sport. ibid.
Over the next two decades Phil Taylor won another eleven World Championships. ibid.