Dart Kings | Preview (Sky Documentaries)

The series takes viewers on a nostalgic trip down memory lane through the golden age of darts and shines a spotlight on the nation’s most unlikely sporting heroes Eric Bristow, Jocky Wilson and Phil Taylor.

In 1972, darts staggered out of the pub and onto British primetime television, bringing with it a cast of – by today’s standards - unlikely sporting heroes. Today, discipline is key to sporting success but in those first moments when the game hit the bigtime, the greatest players mixed extraordinary skill at the oche with boozing, chain-smoking, and an open-door policy to fans and the media alike.

Yet it was this combination of skill and raw, unfiltered personality that brought in television audiences of over 10 million and created some of the most memorable characters in sporting history.

Against a backdrop of rising unemployment and unrest in 1980s Britain, darts brought  entertainment and energy to British audiences. Join us as we explore the incredible journeys  of three of the greatest names in darts, charting their rise, rivalries, heartache, and triumphs through the 1970s, ‘80s and ’90s.

The series features  candid interviews with  the darts stars of their day  including “The King of Bling” Bobby George, John Lowe, Keith Deller, Bob Anderson, Dennis Priestley, Dave Whitcombe, Linda Duffy, Maureen Flowers alongside commentary from Richard Ashdown, Julie Welch, Peter Purves, infamous sports promoter Barry Hearn and the legend that is Phil “The Power” Taylor.

Nancy Strang, Executive Producer at Mindhouse, says: “Darts is now a huge television spectacle and one of the biggest sports in the UK, but the people that really put the game on the map were a cast of brilliant working-class players who emerged in the 1980s and who, with their remarkable talent and personalities, transformed the pub game into what it is today.

"This series is an opportunity to celebrate those players, to lean into this magnificent sporting subculture and the soap opera of their rivalries and lives; while reliving some of the greatest moments in the game’s history.”

Dart Kings airs w/c 4th January on Sky Documentaries.