RaspberryLucozade
Controversial comedian Jim Davidson surprised audiences in the early '90's by putting his blue stand-up persona on hold in favour of family entertainment. He first rose to this task in 1991 when he was chosen to host this wonderful snooker based BBC1 game show 'Big Break', along with deadpan snooker player John ''You've got to pot as many balls as you can!'' Virgo. The basis for the show was a mixture of snooker playing and general knowledge, though unsurprisingly, some stand-up comedy routines found their way in the show, For instance, Jim would on occassion make light hearted jibes towards John Virgo such as when Jim remarked: ''I gave John a birthday cake once and he ate it so quick that I had to prize his mouth open to blow the candles out!''. Jim also made fun of his personal life, in particular his numerous marriages and driving offences.During each half hour there were four rounds that the players and contestants would have to complete - 'Red Hot' ( which was a general knowledge round ), 'Virgo's Trick Shot' ( in which Virgo would set up a trick shot for the contestant who was losing ), 'Pocket Money' ( in which each ball that was potted was worth a particular amount of money ) and 'Make Or Break ( which was a prize winning round ).Regardless of whether the players or contestants lost, they would go home with at least a 'Big Break' trophy and a snooker cue.With its fantastic theme music provided by Captain Sensible, wonderful comic hosting from both Virgo and Davidson. 'Big Break' is a prime example of when game shows used to be good fun back in the '90's. Unlike in today's game shows, all those involved looked as though they were having a right good time, something that seemed to be communicated to the studio audience. Such was the show's success that the BBC later tried another sport themed game show entitled 'Full Swing' ( hosted by the insufferable Jimmy Tarbuck ). It flopped!'Big Break' ran up until 2002 before it was cancelled. Thankfully, there have been no attempts to remake the show with a new host. Say what you will about Jim, but when he was doing this sort of stuff, television was a much happier place.
Theo Robertson
Snooker is a game similar to billiards played on a table 12 foot long by 6 foot wide . Six coloured balls make up a " T " with fifteen red balls shaped like a triangle placed about three quarters down the length of the table . The idea is to pot a red ball , then pot a coloured ball , red , coloured , red , coloured in that sequence with the player getting the most points winning that game which in snooker lingo is called a " frame " . It was absolutely phenominal in its popularity in the early 1980s and BIG BREAK is a quiz show cashing in somewhat belatedly on the popularity of the sport
The show is introduced by boring unfunny comedian Jim Davidson and former ( Not very successful ) snooker star John Virgo and the show revolves contestants answering general knowledge questions and depending how well they do the snooker player has to pot a certain amount of balls . If you`ve watched a single edition of this show you`ll know what the format is since - Like Davidson`s jokes - the format remains the same My main gripe about the show is the very boring snooker players they have on the show . This sport has brought us some rogues over the years who have made more headlines on the front pages of newspapers than the back ones . I guess the producers don`t want to upset the contestants or have any scandals and that`s why Tony Knowles always gets paired up with the senior citizen . Yeah it`s only boring players like Steve Davis , John Parrot , Matthew Stevens and John Higgins . It`s a great pity the wild man of snooker Alex " Hurricane " Higgins never gets invited on , but I suppose that`s to do with the health concerns of the contestants , presenters , fellow snooker pros and audience members . I also doubt after this year`s world championship we`ll see Quintan Hann and Andy Hicks appear on the same show
Big Movie Fan
My favourite sport to play is snooker. I also like general knowledge quiz shows so combine the two and I am one happy chap.The entertaining comedian Jim Davidson teamed up with former snooker player John Virgo to present this entertaining snooker game show in which three snooker players would team up with three contestants each week.The first game went like this-the three contestants would answer general knowledge questions in order to win seconds on the clock for the snooker players. The players would then try to pot as many balls as they could. The player who potted the least balls in 60 seconds would be knocked out along with the contestant.The second game went like this-the players would try to pot as many balls as they could, each ball worth a particular value (such as £20). The player who potted the least money for his contestant would be knocked out. One contestant left (but not before the defeated contestant would attempt one of John Virgo's trick shots).The last game was the best (obviously). Each ball corresponded to a prize. A red ball for example may have won the contestant a microwave. Higher balls such as the brown ball may have won the contestant a large cash sum. The player would try and pot all the balls; if the black ball was cleared within a particular time, the contestant would win a mystery star prize (either a car or a holiday). Well, that was Big Break for you. Those were the games in between Davidson and Virgo's banter.If you like snooker and you like game shows, this is the show for you.
Chris Horry
If you can avoid the scenes where Jim Davison is trying to be funny, it's actually a pretty entertaining show. The real stars are the guest snooker players showing off their skills and Jim Virgo's trick shots.
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