Big Break is a British game show that aired on BBC1/One from 30 April 1991 to 9 October 2002, and again from 2026, this time on BBC Two. It was originally hosted by Jim Davidson with John Virgo as referee, being revived with Paddy McGuinness as the new host, and Stephen Hendry as the new referee. The programme focuses on teams consisting of a contestant and a professional snooker player competing in rounds that involve snooker, with the best team eventually seeing its player seeking to win prizes for their contestant.
History The idea of a snooker-related television game show was first thought of by Roger Medcalf in 1987 who then collaborated with Mike Kemp. Kemp and Medcalf both produced a written format in 1987 where it was called The Big Break and it went through a number of versions, Kemp then proposed to Medcalf that they should try to get Terry Mardell interested, Mardell was an expert in relation to quiz shows, which was also during that year Mardell devised a successful bingo-related quiz show called Bob's Full House. Mardell agreed to meet Kemp and Medcalf in his office to discuss the snooker-related game that the two men came up with and showed Mardell their written format for the show, Mardell's immediate response was that it was far too complicated, would take far too long and would cost far too much, but he was willing to help them in a further meeting that would take place in his flat where the three men would further discuss and contribute various suggestions to the idea. That meeting produced a further version of the format and afterwards Kemp was left to retype the format where it was called "the June format". It was first practised at King's Cross Snooker Club where a week later, the three men met again to work out how the game could be improved with a view to a presentation to the BBC. They attended the presentation as well as Jim Moir and Kevin Bishop from the BBC where they were sufficiently interested to agree to have rehearsals at the BBC's Acton Studios in October.https://vlex.co.uk/vid/medcalf-v-mardell-and-793178177
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 former Snooker player Stephen Hendry as presenters. The revival will be produced by Fremantle UK division Naked West under a co-production agreement with Vibrant Television, while Fremantle and All3Media International would share distribution rights.
Format In each episode of the game show, three contestants are each paired up with a professional snooker player when a yellow ball, a blue ball or a red ball are drawn – while the contestant tackles questions given by the host, the player handles the snooker-based challenges in each round. Although a game show, Davidson and Virgo (McGuinness and Hendry in the revival run) usually interject comedy into each episode, including a brief stand-up routine at the beginning of an episode before the introduction of the contestants and players. Although the first two rounds have their own rules, the last two stick to traditional regulation snooker rules regarding potting balls – colours being potted only after a red is potted – although with six red balls used in these rounds except the first round (Red Hot) which has ten red balls. The snooker table on this game show has one colour on each pocket (Corner Pockets: Brown, Blue, Pink and Black, Central Side Pockets: Yellow and Green).
The programme features four rounds: Red Hot – Each contestant is given three questions, in which their answer denotes the amount of time their snooker player has to pot as many of the ten red balls on the snooker table as they possibly can. The player is allowed to break before time begins, meaning that any red balls that are potted in this period counts towards their final score. In early series, players were given 10 seconds, with each correct answer a contestant gave adding an additional 10 seconds. By later series, the format was changed, with the player having 40 seconds, minus five seconds to any incorrect answers the contestant gave. The team with the lowest score are eliminated at the end of the round. Virgo's Trick Shot/Hendry's Trick Shot – A mini-game styled round, in which the contestant eliminated in the first round (Red Hot) is given the opportunity to win a consolation prize. Virgo (Hendry in the revival run) demonstrates a type of trick shot, which the contestant must recreate themselves, in order to win the prize. Pocket Money – Each contestant's player tackles a traditional game of snooker (although there are only six red balls on the table), along standard rules of potting, getting as many balls as they can within 90 seconds. Each ball on the table is denoted with both a cash amount – based on their regulation point in Snooker (i.e. Reds being one point are thus earn £10 when potted) – and a category of questions that Davidson (McGuinness in the revival run) can asks the contestants. If the player pots a ball in the same coloured pocket, the cash amount earned is doubled (i.e. potting Brown in its own colour pocket doubles the amount from £40 to £80, Blue from £50 to £100, Pink from £60 to £120 and Black from £70 to £140). If the player hits a ball but fails to pot it, they must stop and wait until their contestant answers a question correctly, based on the ball's connected subject, in order to resume (i.e. Red questions are based on Pot Luck meaning General Knowledge, Yellow based on the Past meaning Historic events, Green based on Music including Instruments, Composers, Artists, Albums and even TV Sports Themes, Brown based on Places meaning Geography including Venues and Landmarks, Blue based on People including with famous Pet Animals, Pink based on Sports including ranking and non-ranking tourneys, Olympic and Commonwealth games and even TV Sports Themes and Black based on Screens meaning TV programmes, Films, Channels and even TV Sports Themes), with the timer not stopped during this period. A coin toss decides which team begins first, with the team with the lowest score being eliminated at the end of the round. Make or Break – The final contestant is given 90 seconds to answer five questions correctly, after the player breaks the six reds on the table. Once all questions are answered, the timer is paused, with each correct answer allowing the player to remove one red ball from the table, leaving a minimum of one red left. Once their choices are made, if possible, the player begins potting balls in the remainder of the 90 seconds. Each coloured ball, when potted in order, offers the contestant a prize, with the grand prize won when the black is finally potted. However, the player must pot all the reds, before they can begin with the next colour in the sequence. If the black isn't potted, the contestant leaves with the money earned in Pocket Money, plus the red prize, and the highest coloured prize achieved when the time ran out.
Snooker-player partners Series 1 (1991) Show 1 (30 April 1991) – Stephen Hendry, Mike Hallett, Joe Johnson Show 2 (7 May 1991) – Stacey Hillyard, Willie Thorne, Dennis Taylor Show 3 (14 May 1991) – Ray Reardon, Alex Higgins, John Campbell Show 4 (21 May 1991) – Tony Knowles, Tony Meo, John Spencer Show 5 (28 May 1991) – Allison Fisher, James Wattana, Silvino Francisco Show 6 (4 June 1991) – Cliff Thorburn, Steve James, Neal Foulds Show 7 (11 June 1991) – Alex Higgins, Ray Reardon, John Campbell Show 8 (18 June 1991) – Stephen Hendry, Mike Hallett, Joe Johnson Show 9 (25 June 1991) – Dennis Taylor, Tony Drago, Ray Reardon Show 10 (2 July 1991) – Allison Fisher, Silvino Francisco, James Wattana Show 11 (9 July 1991) – Cliff Thorburn, Steve James, Neal Foulds Show 12 (16 July 1991) – Ray Reardon, Tony Drago, Dennis Taylor
Series 2 (1992) Show 1 (11 January 1992) – Jimmy White, Warren King, Cliff Thorburn Show 2 (18 January 1992) – Dennis Taylor, Tony Drago, Mike Hallett Show 3 (25 January 1992) – Neal Foulds, Tony Knowles, David Taylor Show 4 (1 February 1992) – Joe Johnson, Ray Reardon, Terry Griffiths Show 5 (8 February 1992) – Allison Fisher, Willie Thorne, Steve James Show 6 (15 February 1992) – Dean Reynolds, Dene O'Kane, Gary Wilkinson Show 7 (22 February 1992) – Tony Knowles, John Spencer, Tony Meo Show 8 (29 February 1992) – Cliff Thorburn, Warren King, Jimmy White Show 9 (7 March 1992) – Dennis Taylor, Willie Thorne, Stacey Hillyard Show 10 (14 March 1992) – Tony Knowles, Neal Foulds, David Taylor Show 11 (21 March 1992) – Mike Hallett, Tony Drago, Dennis Taylor Show 12 (28 March 1992) – Terry Griffiths, Ray Reardon, Joe Johnson Show 13 (4 April 1992) – Allison Fisher, Steve James, Willie Thorne
Series 3 (1992) Show 1 (12 September 1992) – Stephen Hendry, Peter Ebdon, Darren Morgan Show 2 (19 September 1992) – Cliff Thorburn, Ken Doherty, Terry Griffiths Show 3 (26 September 1992) – Tony Knowles, Stacey Hillyard, Ronnie O'Sullivan Show 4 (3 October 1992) – Ray Reardon, Dene O'Kane, Mike Hallett Show 5 (10 October 1992) – Paul Davies, Alan McManus, Steve James Show 6 (17 October 1992) – Allison Fisher, Willie Thorne, Dennis Taylor Show 7 (24 October 1992) – Karen Corr, Mark Johnston-Allen, Gary Wilkinson Show 8 (31 October 1992) – Tony Knowles, Stacey Hillyard, Ronnie O'Sullivan Show 9 (7 November 1992) – David Taylor, Joe Swail, Nigel Bond Show 10 (14 November 1992) – Alan McManus, Paul Davies, Steve James Show 11 (21 November 1992) – Dene O'Kane, Ray Reardon, Mike Hallett Show 12 (28 November 1992) – Karen Corr, Mark Johnston-Allen, Gary Wilkinson Show 13 (5 December 1992) – Stephen Hendry, Peter Ebdon, Darren Morgan Show 14 (12 December 1992) – David Taylor, Nigel Bond, Joe Swail Show 15 (19 December 1992) – Terry Griffiths, Ken Doherty, Cliff Thorburn
Series 4 (1993–94) Show 1 (4 September 1993) – Dennis Taylor, Tony Drago, Martin Clark Show 2 (11 September 1993) – Terry Griffiths, Ken Doherty, Peter Ebdon Show 3 (18 September 1993) – Mike Hallett, David Taylor, Ronnie O'Sullivan Show 4 (25 September 1993) – Gary Wilkinson, Nigel Bond, Tony Drago Show 5 (2 October 1993) – Stephen Hendry, Steve Davis, Alain Robidoux Show 6 (9 October 1993) – Steve Lemmens, Alan McManus, Peter Ebdon Show 7 (23 October 1993) – Ray Reardon, Joe Swail, Tony Knowles Show 8 (30 October 1993) – Dennis Taylor, Paul Davies, David Roe Show 9 (6 November 1993) – Jimmy White, Stacey Hillyard, Darren Morgan Show 10 (13 November 1993) – Allison Fisher, Willie Thorne, Steve James Show 11 (20 November 1993) – Terry Griffiths, David Roe, Mark Johnston-Allen Show 12 (27 November 1993) – Ray Reardon, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Troy Shaw Show 13 (4 December 1993) – Jimmy White, Dene O'Kane, Gary Wilkinson Show 14 (11 December 1993) – Allison Fisher, Willie Thorne, Peter Ebdon Show 15 (18 December 1993) – Cliff Wilson, Darren Morgan, Paul Davies Show 16 (1 January 1994) – Steve Davis, Peter Ebdon, Terry Griffiths Show 17 (8 January 1994) – John Parrott, Oliver King, David Roe Show 18 (22 January 1994) – Jimmy White, Tony Meo, Tony Drago Show 19 (29 January 1994) – Lynette Horsburgh, Allison Fisher, Karen Corr Show 20 (5 February 1994) – Ken Doherty, Tony Knowles, Mike Hallett Show 21 (12 February 1994) – Ray Reardon, Rex Williams, Ray Edmonds Show 22 (19 February 1994) – Steve Davis, Dene O'Kane, Steve James Show 23 (26 February 1994) – Mike Hallett, Silvino Francisco, Joe Swail Show 24 (5 March 1994) – Jimmy White, Jonathan Birch, Neil Mosley Show 25 (12 March 1994) – John Parrott, Ken Doherty, Steve Lemmens Show 26 (19 March 1994) – Joe Johnson, Paul Davies, David Taylor Show 27 (26 March 1994) – Ronnie O'Sullivan, Alan McManus, Joe Swail
Series 5 (1994–95) Show 1 (9 September 1994) – Steve Davis, Steve James, Mark King Show 2 (16 September 1994) – Peter Ebdon, Ken Doherty, Les Dodd Show 3 (23 September 1994) – Willie Thorne, David Roe, Troy Shaw