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1978 Pot Black
The 1978 Pot Black was a professional invitational snooker tournament, which was held in the Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and this year, the tournament returned to 8 players competing in 2 four player groups. All matches were one-frame shoot-outs but the final this year was played in the best of 3 frames on a one-hour programme. Broadcasts were on BBC2 and started at 21:00 on Friday 6 January 1978 Alan Weeks presented the programme with Ted Lowe as commentator and Sydney Lee as referee. The previous year's finalist Doug Mountjoy beat twice Pot Black Champion Graham Miles in the first final to have a best of 3 frames format 2–1. Main draw The draw for the group stages was made by comedian Eric Morecambe John Eric Bartholomew (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984), known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's de ... and shown bef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pebble Mill Studios
Pebble Mill Studios was the BBC's television studio complex located in Edgbaston, Birmingham, England, United Kingdom, which served as the headquarters for BBC Birmingham from 1971 until 2004. The nine-acre site was opened by Princess Anne on 10 June 1971, and in addition to the studios contained two canteens, a post office, gardens, a seven-storey office block, and an outside broadcasting (OB) base. As well as being the home of '' Midlands Today'' and BBC Radio WM, programmes produced at Pebble Mill included '' Pebble Mill at One'', ''The Archers'', '' Top Gear'', '' Doctors'', '' Telly Addicts'', '' Howards' Way'', '' Juliet Bravo'' and '' Gardeners' World''. Pebble Mill Studios closed in 2004 and was demolished in September 2005; BBC Birmingham is now located in The Mailbox shopping complex in Birmingham city centre. Early history In the 1950s, BBC Midlands was based in offices on Carpenter Road, Edgbaston. The news studio was in a separate building in Broad Street, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ted Lowe
Edwin Charles Ernest Lowe (1 November 19201 May 2011) was an English snooker commentator for the BBC and ITV. His husky, hushed tones earned him the nickname "Whispering Ted". Life and career Born in Lambourn, Berkshire, Lowe was general manager of London's Leicester Square Hall, the home of professional billiards and snooker. He got his break one day when the BBC's regular commentator, Raymond Glendenning, was suffering from laryngitis. Because there was no commentary box, Lowe spoke in a whisper, which became his trademark. Lowe became the commentator for the snooker television show ''Pot Black'' in 1969 and went on to become the "voice of snooker" and led the commentary in many tournaments. He also commentated in what is generally regarded as snooker's greatest final, that between Steve Davis and Dennis Taylor in the 1985 World Snooker Championship. Lowe occasionally uttered a gaffe on air; one of his most famous quotes being "and for those of you who are watching in black ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cliff Thorburn
Clifford Charles Devlin Thorburn (born 16 January 1948) is a Canadian retired professional snooker player. Nicknamed "The Grinder" because of his slow, determined style of play, he won the World Snooker Championship in 1980, defeating Alex Higgins 18–16 in the final. He is generally recognised as the sport's first world champion from outside the United Kingdom—since Australian Horace Lindrum's 1952 title is usually disregarded—and he remains the only world champion from the Americas. He was runner-up in two other world championships, losing 21–25 to John Spencer in the 1977 final and 6–18 to Steve Davis in the 1983 final. At the 1983 tournament, Thorburn became the first player to make a maximum break in a World Championship match, achieving the feat in his second-round encounter with Terry Griffiths. Ranked world number one during the 1981–82 season, Thorburn was the first non-British player to top the snooker world rankings. He won the invitational Master ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eddie Charlton
Edward Francis Charlton (31 October 1929 – 7 November 2004) was an Australian professional snooker and billiards player. He remains the only player to have been world championship runner-up in both snooker and billiards without winning either title. He later became a successful marketer of sporting goods, launching a popular brand of billiard room equipment bearing his name. Early life Charlton was born in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia and came from a sporting family. His grandfather ran a billiards club in Swansea, New South Wales, and Charlton began playing cue sports when he was nine years old. At the age of eleven, he defeated fellow Australian Walter Lindrum in a wartime snooker exhibition match, and he made his first century break when he was seventeen. He was involved in numerous other sports during his youth: he was a first-grade footballer and played in the Australian First Division Football (soccer) for ten years; he was a champion surfer, and played ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
John Spencer (snooker Player)
John Spencer (18 September 1935 – 11 July 2006) was an English professional snooker player. One of the most dominant players of the 1970s, he won the World Snooker Championship three times, in 1969, 1971 and 1977. He worked as a snooker commentator for the BBC from 1978 to 1998 and served for 25 years on the board of the sport's governing body, the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association (WPBSA), including a stint as chairman from 1990 until his retirement from the board in 1996. Born in Radcliffe, Lancashire, Spencer started playing snooker on a full-sized table at age 14 and compiled his first century break aged 15. He was conscripted for National Service at age 18 and lost interest in playing snooker for over ten years before taking it up again in 1964. He reached the final of the English Amateur Championship for three years in a row, claiming the title at his third attempt in 1966. He turned professional in 1967—the same year as his amateur rivals Gar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dennis Taylor
Dennis Taylor (born 19 January 1949) is a Northern Irish retired professional snooker player and current commentator. He turned professional in 1972 and won the 1985 World Snooker Championship, in which he lost the first eight frames of 1985 World Snooker Championship final, the final to defending champion Steve Davis but recovered to win 18–17 in a duel on the last . The final's conclusion attracted 18.5 million viewers, setting UK viewership records for any post-midnight broadcast and for any broadcast on BBC Two that still stand. Taylor had previously been runner-up at the 1979 World Snooker Championship, where he lost the final 16–24 to Terry Griffiths. He attained his highest world snooker rankings, world ranking in Snooker world rankings 1979/1980, 1979–1980, when he was second. He won one other ranking title at the 1984 Grand Prix (snooker), 1984 Grand Prix, where he defeated Cliff Thorburn 10–2 in the final. He reached two other World Open (snooker), Grand Prix ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ray Reardon
Raymond Reardon (8 October 1932 – 19 July 2024) was a Welsh professional snooker player who dominated the sport in the 1970s, winning the World Snooker Championship six times and claiming more than a dozen other professional titles. Due to his dark widow's peak and prominent eye teeth, he was nicknamed "Dracula". Until his mid-thirties, Reardon worked as a coal miner and then as a police officer while pursuing snooker at an amateur level. His titles during this era included six consecutive Welsh Amateur Championships from 1950 to 1955 and the English Amateur Championship in 1964. He turned professional in 1967 and became World Champion in 1970, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, and 1978; he was also runner-up in 1982. His other major tournament wins included the inaugural '' Pot Black'' tournament in 1969, the 1976 Masters, and the 1982 Professional Players Tournament. The first player to be ranked "world number one" when world rankings were introduced during the 1976–77 s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alex Higgins
Alexander Gordon Higgins (18 March 1949 – 24 July 2010) was a Northern Irish professional snooker player and a two-time world champion who is remembered as one of the most iconic figures in the sport's history. Nicknamed "Hurricane Higgins" for his rapid play, and known as the "People's Champion" for his popularity and charisma, he is often credited as a key figure in snooker's success as a mainstream televised sport in the 1980s. Higgins turned professional in 1970 and won the World Snooker Championship in 1972 World Snooker Championship, 1972, defeating John Spencer (snooker player), John Spencer 3731 in the final to become the first qualifier to win the world title, a feat that only three other players—Terry Griffiths in 1979 World Snooker Championship, 1979, Shaun Murphy in 2005 World Snooker Championship, 2005 and Zhao Xintong in 2025 World Snooker Championship, 2025—have achieved since. Aged 22, he was then the sport's youngest world champion, a record he held u ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eric Morecambe
John Eric Bartholomew (14 May 1926 – 28 May 1984), known by his stage name Eric Morecambe, was an English comedian who together with Ernie Wise formed the double act Morecambe and Wise. The partnership lasted from 1941 until Morecambe's death in 1984. Morecambe took his stage name from his home town, the seaside resort of Morecambe in Lancashire. He was the co-star of the BBC1's television series ''The Morecambe & Wise Show'', which for the 1977 Christmas episode gained UK viewing figures of over 28 million people. One of the most prominent comedians in British popular culture, in 2002 he was named one of the 100 Greatest Britons in a BBC poll. Early life and childhood career Eric Morecambe was born at 12.30pm on Friday, 14 May 1926 at 42 Buxton Street, Morecambe, Lancashire to George and Sarah Elizabeth "Sadie" (née Robinson) Bartholomew. He was christened on 6 June as John Eric Bartholomew. Sadie took work as a waitress to raise funds for his dancing lessons. During ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sydney Lee (snooker Player)
Sydney Raphael Lee (25 April 1910 – 10 November 1986) was an English professional billiards and snooker player. He was four times a quarter-finalist in the World Snooker Championship during the first half of the twentieth century. He was a snooker referee on ''Pot Black''. He was the game consultant for a 1970 episode of ''Steptoe and Son'' entitled "Pot Black" and, as well as performing a number of trick shots was the stand-in for many of the more difficult regular shots seen in the show. Career Lee enjoyed considerable success as an amateur billiards player. He won the boys championship in May 1925 but lost to Reggie Gartland in the 1926 event. The winner of the boys championship was presented with the "Harry Lee Challenge Cup", which had been donated by his father. He was also runner-up in the English Amateur Billiards Championship in 1929 and won it 4 times in succession from 1931 to 1934. He was runner-up in the Empire Billiards Championship in Sydney in 1931 and win ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alan Weeks
Alan Frederick Weeks (8 September 1923 – 11 June 1996) was an English television sports reporter and commentator for the BBC from 1951 to 1996. He was assigned to work as the publicity manager of the Brighton Sports Stadium after he was demobbed from the Royal Naval Reserve in 1946. Three years later, Weeks was discovered by BBC Television outside broadcast producer Peter Dimmock and joined the corporation as a regular sports commentator in 1951. He covered more than 30 sports for the BBC such as ice skating, ice hockey, swimming, gymnastics, football, snooker, the Summer Olympic Games, the Winter Olympic Games and the Commonwealth Games until his retirement in 1996. Weeks was the first director of the Sports Aid Foundation between 1976 and 1983, later serving as an elected governor of the foundation. Early life and war service Weeks was born on 8 September 1923 in Bristol, the son of the Captain Frederick Charles Weeks and his wife Ada Frances Weeks. His family moved to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the List of English districts by population, largest local authority district in England by population and the second-largest city in Britain – commonly referred to as the second city of the United Kingdom – with a population of million people in the city proper in . Birmingham borders the Black Country to its west and, together with the city of Wolverhampton and towns including Dudley and Solihull, forms the West Midlands conurbation. The royal town of Sutton Coldfield is incorporated within the city limits to the northeast. The urban area has a population of 2.65million. Located in the West Midlands (region), West Midlands region of England, Birmingham is considered to be the social, cultural, financial and commercial centre of the Midland ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
