Big Break
A snooker-based game show revived after a 24-year break.
Big Break is a British game show that originally aired on BBC1/One from 30 April 1991 to 9 October 2002, and was revived in 2026 on BBC Two. The programme pairs contestants with professional snooker players in a competition combining trivia questions and snooker challenges. Its revival, hosted by Paddy McGuinness with Stephen Hendry as referee, brought the format back after a long hiatus.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Sports game show
- Creator
- Roger Medcalf
- Mike Kemp
- Terry Mardell
- Presenter
- Jim Davidson; Paddy McGuinness
- Starring
- John Virgo; Stephen Hendry
- Announcer
- Colin Ward Lewis
- Zora Suleman
- Charles Nove
- Theme music
- "The Snooker Song" by Captain Sensible
- Composer
- Mike Batt
- Country
- United Kingdom
Facts from the source article.
History
The concept for a snooker-related television game show originated with Roger Medcalf in 1987, who then collaborated with Mike Kemp. The two produced a written format that year titled The Big Break, which went through several versions. Kemp suggested involving Terry Mardell, a quiz show expert who had devised Bob's Full House. Mardell met with Kemp and Medcalf and found their initial format too complicated, lengthy, and expensive, but agreed to further discussions. A subsequent meeting at Mardell's flat produced a revised format, which Kemp retyped as the "June format." The game was first tested at King's Cross Snooker Club, and a week later the three men met again to refine it for a BBC presentation. Jim Moir and Kevin Bishop from the BBC attended the presentation and were sufficiently interested to schedule rehearsals at the BBC's Acton Studios in October. On 12 May 2026, it was announced that the series would be revived as a daytime game show on BBC Two, with Paddy McGuinness and Stephen Hendry as presenters. The revival is produced by Fremantle UK division Naked West under a co-production agreement with Vibrant Television, with Fremantle and All3Media International sharing distribution rights.
Format
Each episode pairs three contestants with professional snooker players, determined by drawing a yellow, blue, or red ball. Contestants answer questions from the host while their paired player handles snooker-based challenges. The show incorporates comedy, including a brief stand-up routine at the start before contestants and players are introduced. The first two rounds have their own rules, while the last two follow standard snooker regulations for potting colours after reds, though using six red balls except in the first round (Red Hot), which uses ten. The snooker table features one colour on each pocket: brown, blue, pink, and black on corner pockets, and yellow and green on central side pockets. In Red Hot, each contestant answers three questions; the answer determines the time their player has to pot as many of the ten red balls as possible, with the player allowed to break before time begins. Early series gave 10 seconds plus 10 per correct answer; later series gave 40 seconds minus five for each incorrect answer. The lowest-scoring team is eliminated. The eliminated contestant then attempts Virgo's Trick Shot (or Hendry's Trick Shot in the revival), a mini-game where they recreate a demonstrated trick shot to win a consolation prize.
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