Louis Theroux is set to investigate the world of snooker in a new documentary series titled ‘Gods of Snooker’.
Louis Theroux
The famed documentary maker will front the BBC Two series as well as work as an executive producer for the show, which is being made under his production company, Mindhouse Productions.
‘Gods of Snooker’ will see Louis meet with some of the game’s greatest players, including former world champs Steve Davis, Cliff Thorburn and Ray Reardon.
In a statement, he said: “I couldn’t be more excited to be involved in this documentary series. The story of the heyday of snooker is a remarkable one filled with drama and angst and enormous talent. For the documentaries I’m involved in, I get most excited about those that are the most human: conflict, triumph, disaster, all the big emotions, played out before your eyes, and you have that here on a scale that is both epic - the national stage - but also intimate - the hush of the snooker hall. I’m old enough to remember the 1985 black ball final between Dennis Taylor and Steve Davis. I was 15 and everyone was talking about it at school.
"But that was just one of many high-points in an era when god-like talent came to earth in the form of the professional snooker player. Just to add: we’ve been privileged to work on this with almost all those stars of that time. To say I’ve been involved in a documentary series with Steve Davis, Jimmy White, Ray Reardon, Cliff Thorburn, to name just a few, is an amazing feeling and quite honestly not something I ever imagined.”
The documentary will be a three-part series that will explore the golden age of snooker through the eyes of those who were involved in the sport at the time, and comes as part of the BBC’s trio of sport-based documentaries.
As well as ‘Gods of Snooker’, the BBC has also commissioned a three-part series named ‘Gold Rush’ which explores the story of Britain’s sporting history prior to the Olympic glory of London 2012, and ‘Freeze’, an eight-episode series for BBC Three which details the world of figure skating.
Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, History and Religion, said: "I’m delighted to announce three new documentary series telling the compelling stories behind some of Britain’s most loved superstars of the past and also of some of the young hopefuls making a bid for glory in the future. These promise to be a thrilling insight into the sheer talent, hard work and sacrifice it takes to make it to the top in sport.”
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