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 | |
| Running time | 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | BBC1 |
| Picture format |
4:3 (1991–2001) 16:9 (2001–2) |
| Original release | 30 April 1991 – 9 October 2002 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows |
Bullseye Full Swing |
Big Break is 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 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.
The show's set consisted of a snooker table and three pairs of chairs at the side of the studio, with Virgo standing on the opposite side of the snooker table and the question board which would be revealed in the second round. The show began with Davidson giving a short monologue and then introducing Virgo who would enter the set with a bag of snooker balls which would be used in the first round.
All contestants would go home with at least a Big Break trophy and a Snooker cue (although this was referred to as a "Snooker Bat" or "Old Stick" by Davidson) regardless of the outcome.
After introducing and chatting to 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 who Virgo would introduce. (Virgo could have randomly chosen a player himself as players had no indication what colour they were. However, he could occasionally be seen holding a card which could possibly have noted which colours the players represented.)
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.
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