BBC iPlayer. Watched: 17th January 2022. My rating: 7/10.
This blog is my attempt to cure writer’s block, perfectionism and imposter syndrome by writing about documentary films in one Pomodoro (25 minutes). This review is published spellchecked but unedited.
[Start the clock — One Pomodoro]
It’s hard to imagine now, but in the 1980s snooker was absolutely massive. The 1985 World Championship final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis pulled in an audience of 18.5 million. Many of the players were household names, and some of them made the front pages as well as the back pages.
This documentary focused on the man who probably did more than anyone else to bring snooker out of the smoke-filled working men’s club and into the world of celebrity sport: Alex “Hurricane” Higgins.
Higgins had a tough working-class upbringing in Belfast. He started playing snooker in local clubs as a child and often beat the adults. He moved over to England to see if he could make a living out of the game for which, in his own words, “God had given him a gift”. This would have been in the late 60s / early 70s at a time when snooker was a niche game with hardly any professional players.
In 1972 Higgins beat John Spencer to become world champion, winning about £500 in prize money! Surely someone as prodigiously talented as Higgins was now destined to go on to dominate the game for years to come?
However, just like his compatriot (and equally gifted) George Best, there were demons inside Higgins. He was a drunk and a womaniser. He was also a showman and he often sacrificed the chance of victory in return for trying to please the crowd — even though he was a brilliant tactical player if he wanted to be. He did marry, have a child, and somehow get his act together to beat Ray Reardon 18–15 in the 1982 World Final. The documentary ended at this point, but we know that Higgins’ life fell apart and he died young.
One of the things I liked about this episode was the interviews with Ray Reardon and Rex Williams — both representing the polar opposite of what Higgins brought to the game. The contrast was fascinating.
[Time’s up — that’s One Pomodoro]
