Big Break

***Big Break*** was a British game show that aired on BBC1. It was shown from 30 April 1991 and 10 August 2002. It ran for 212 episodes over 10 series. It was hosted by comedian Jim Davidson and snooker player John Virgo. The show was based on the game of snooker. It had people paired with professional snooker players. The person would answer general knowledge questions which gave more time for the players to score snooker points.

## Production

_Big Break_ was first filmed in BBC Elstree Centre but moved to the BBC Television Centre after the fourth series. The show ran for ten series, from 1991 to 2002. It had 212 episodes. The show was hosted by comedian Jim Davidson and snooker player John Virgo. A theme song was created for the show, called "the snooker song", was sung by Captain Sensible.

## Format

In _Big Break_ there were three teams of two. Each contestant is joined by a professional snooker player. There were three rounds: _red hot_, _pocket money_, and _make or break_. These names were puns from the snooker terms "red", "pocket", and "break".

In _red hot_ contestants were asked three questions. They were then given 10 seconds of time to begin. Each right answer is worth another 10 seconds. On the snooker table, there were ten red snooker balls. The players have as much time as they are given to _pot_ as many balls as possible. The two teams that pot the most red balls move onto the next round.

The losing contestant in the first round is given a secondary task, a trick shot. Called _Virgo's Trick Shot_, the contestant would need to recreate the shot being played. When successful, the contestant won a prize.

The second round was called _pocket money_. On a timer, contestants must answer questions based on the coloured snooker balls. On a correct answer, the snooker player scored points for each ball potted. There were double points for potting balls in certain pockets. When missing a ball, the contestant would answer another question. The pair with the most points reach the final round.

The final round, called _make or break_ had the contestant answer five questions. Each correct answer removed a red ball from the table. There was two minutes to pot all of the balls on the table. This included the time given to answer the questions. More prizes would be given to players who were closest to potting all of the balls. The grand prize was usually a holiday.

## Episodes

There were 212 episodes of _Big Break_ across 10 series. Additional episode series containing junior players were also held for three series. Between 1995 and 2001, Big Break also showed nine "Trick shot" episodes. They had six professional players and had a different format. Big Break also had eight Christmas special episodes, which had the same format, but the cast had fancy dress.

### Regular

|Series|Start date|End date|Episodes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**1**|30 April 1991|16 July 1991|12|
|**2**|11 January 1992|4 April 1992|13|
|**3**|12 September 1992|19 December 1992|15|
|**4**|4 September 1993|26 March 1994|27|
|**5**|9 September 1994|20 May 1995|27|
|**6**|2 September 1995|19 July 1996|27|
|**7**|3 January 1997|27 February 1998|28|
|**8**|6 March 1998|26 June 1999|26|
|**9**|18 December 1999|19 May 2001|24|
|**10**|16 June 2001|10 August 2002|13|

### _Stars of the Future_

|Series|Start date|End date|Episodes|
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|**1**|27 May 1995|17 June 1995|6|
|11 May 1996|15 July 1996|||
|**2**|23 July 1997|3 September 1997|6|
|**3**|3 July 1999|11 December 1999|6|

### Trick Shot Specials

|Date|
| --- |
|22 August 1995|
|29 August 1995|
|19 October 1995|
|3 August 1996|
|29 August 1996|
|27 June 1997|
|4 July 1997|
|23 December 1999|
|3 January 2000|

## Infobox (television)

- **genre**: Sports game show
- **creator**: Roger Medcalf
Mike Kemp
Terry Mardell
- **director**: Nick Hurran <small>(Series 1–2)</small>
Charles Garland <small>(Series 3–5)</small>
Babara Jones <small>(Series 6)</small>
Phil Chilvers <small>(Series 7)</small>
Richard Valentine <small>(Series 7–8)</small>
Duncan Cooper <small>(Series 9)</small>
Sue McMahon <small>(Series 10)</small>
- **presenter**: Jim Davidson
- **starring**: John Virgo
- **voices**: Colin Ward Lewis <small>(Series 1–7)</small>
Zora Suleman <small>(Series 8)</small>
Charles Nove <small>(Series 9–10)</small>
- **theme music composer**: "The Snooker Song" by Captain Sensible
- **composer**: Mike Batt
- **country**: United Kingdom
- **language**: English
- **num series**: 10
- **num episodes**: 212 <small>(inc. 17 specials)</small>
- **producer**: John Burrowes <small>(Series 1–7)</small>
Geoff Miles <small>(Series 8 & 10)</small>
David G. Taylor<small>(Series 9)</small>
- **location**: BBC Elstree Centre <small>(Series 1–4)</small>
BBC Television Centre <small>(Series 5–10)</small>
- **runtime**: 30 minutes
- **channel**: BBC One, BBC1