0:00:08 > 0:00:11Good evening and welcome to the Crucible Theatre, Sheffield.
0:00:11 > 0:00:13For the past 40 years,
0:00:13 > 0:00:17it's been a theatre defined by its name, the Crucible,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20the home of snooker's World Championship,
0:00:20 > 0:00:25a sedate sport superheated in this city of steel.
0:00:25 > 0:00:28Apply heat in a confined, intimate space,
0:00:28 > 0:00:30and there WILL be sparks.
0:00:30 > 0:00:33- COMMENTATOR:- What a fantastic maximum break...
0:00:33 > 0:00:36The toughest taken to the point of meltdown.
0:00:36 > 0:00:39It's hard to described the claustrophobia
0:00:39 > 0:00:41of that little arena and all of the history.
0:00:41 > 0:00:45I have a searingly personal connection with this place.
0:00:46 > 0:00:49My father passed away this year,
0:00:49 > 0:00:51just before the World Championships,
0:00:51 > 0:00:54I still played in it. He was with me from the start,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57so I thought, "Finish this time round."
0:01:00 > 0:01:04It was so very special to me, and here I am in Sheffield again.
0:01:04 > 0:01:07Yeah, it's me, without the cue,
0:01:07 > 0:01:10not playing, but looking back.
0:01:10 > 0:01:12What is it about this place?
0:01:12 > 0:01:16Steve Davis, the world snooker champion.
0:01:16 > 0:01:17Once you get serious about snooker,
0:01:17 > 0:01:19it's where you want to play, isn't it?
0:01:19 > 0:01:23The best moments in snooker have all been at the Crucible.
0:01:24 > 0:01:27It's such a special venue, and the atmosphere in there,
0:01:27 > 0:01:28it sort of gives you goose bumps.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30It's the shrine of snooker.
0:01:30 > 0:01:33The tales of the Crucible are not told in a rush.
0:01:33 > 0:01:36These are crafted stories, chapter after chapter,
0:01:36 > 0:01:38stories within stories.
0:01:39 > 0:01:41- COMMENTATOR:- Oh! Wonderful!
0:01:41 > 0:01:43Sad stories.
0:01:43 > 0:01:46- COMMENTATOR:- Jimmy, who's been there three times before
0:01:46 > 0:01:49will be the saddest person in Sheffield.
0:01:49 > 0:01:53You want sad? Here we go, then.
0:01:53 > 0:01:55- COMMENTATOR:- He's done it!
0:01:55 > 0:01:56He was, like...
0:01:56 > 0:01:58I'll have company.
0:01:58 > 0:02:01The Crucible and snooker are all about being out there on your own,
0:02:01 > 0:02:05but we are a family, a gathering in a landmark year.
0:02:05 > 0:02:07Happy 40th anniversary
0:02:07 > 0:02:08to the Crucible.
0:02:15 > 0:02:18I've been coming here for 37 years,
0:02:18 > 0:02:22nearly the time the Crucible's been here, for the World Championship.
0:02:22 > 0:02:25There's been some marvellous moments for me over the years,
0:02:25 > 0:02:27six-times world champion, obviously,
0:02:27 > 0:02:30and it's the pinnacle for a snooker player to play in this venue.
0:02:30 > 0:02:32But it can also be your worst nightmare.
0:02:32 > 0:02:36Imagine a trip to the dentist's, your first driving test,
0:02:36 > 0:02:39and possibly your first job interview all rolled into one.
0:02:41 > 0:02:43It is one of the great sporting arenas.
0:02:43 > 0:02:45It's there with Wimbledon, with Augusta for the Masters,
0:02:45 > 0:02:47you know, Yankee Stadium.
0:02:47 > 0:02:48Choose your one...
0:02:48 > 0:02:50There's a kind of mecca,
0:02:50 > 0:02:51a cathedral,
0:02:51 > 0:02:54use all of the cliches of its sport. It is THE one.
0:02:54 > 0:02:57I can't think of any other sport it would really work for,
0:02:57 > 0:03:02but somehow, for snooker, it's just perfect.
0:03:02 > 0:03:05When you're a young lad, that's where you should aspire to play.
0:03:05 > 0:03:07It's like going to Wembley with your football boots.
0:03:07 > 0:03:09It's exactly the same for the Crucible.
0:03:09 > 0:03:11If you've got a cue, that's where you need to be.
0:03:11 > 0:03:16The World Championship comes to Sheffield in the spring,
0:03:16 > 0:03:18and it brings television with it.
0:03:18 > 0:03:20Part of the process of transformation -
0:03:20 > 0:03:24a small theatre about to go global with those stories.
0:03:24 > 0:03:27Slow in the telling, but colourful -
0:03:27 > 0:03:30snooker is all about colour.
0:03:30 > 0:03:34But not as seen in the days of Joe Davis - no relation -
0:03:34 > 0:03:36Joe won the first 15 World Championships,
0:03:36 > 0:03:39and then brother Fred took over with eight.
0:03:39 > 0:03:43You can't blame anyone called Davis for making snooker a bit dull,
0:03:43 > 0:03:46but it was a bit grey, a bit in black and white,
0:03:46 > 0:03:52until late in the 1960s, when the sport found itself a new champion.
0:03:52 > 0:03:54The great Sir David Attenborough
0:03:54 > 0:03:56was the very first controller of BBC Two,
0:03:56 > 0:03:59and one of his great decisions, to use colour, was snooker.
0:03:59 > 0:04:02- AS ATTENBOROUGH: - We're going to have snooker.
0:04:02 > 0:04:04It's anthropologically fascinating,
0:04:04 > 0:04:08seeing these weird creatures bending down, pushing sticks.
0:04:08 > 0:04:10No-one quite knows why they do it.
0:04:10 > 0:04:14Snooker's colour was back, and it had a voice, too -
0:04:14 > 0:04:17Whispering Ted Lowe, who devised a new show.
0:04:17 > 0:04:19POT BLACK THEME TUNE PLAYS
0:04:21 > 0:04:24Perhaps this is the moment I should remind you
0:04:24 > 0:04:28that we have £100 for a break of up to 99.
0:04:28 > 0:04:32Pot Black was the sport's new shop window, the one-frame dash,
0:04:32 > 0:04:36snooker's T20, but what about the long-form World Championship?
0:04:36 > 0:04:39Well, it had its new stars like Ray Reardon,
0:04:39 > 0:04:41six-times world champion.
0:04:41 > 0:04:45- But something was missing.- It didn't have the buzz, you know,
0:04:45 > 0:04:46like the glare,
0:04:46 > 0:04:48all the pizzazz, it didn't have that,
0:04:48 > 0:04:50it was really lacking something.
0:04:50 > 0:04:52We went to Australia twice.
0:04:52 > 0:04:55We went up to the Newcastle and Manchester area.
0:04:55 > 0:04:56It didn't have a home.
0:04:56 > 0:04:59The show without a stage.
0:04:59 > 0:05:02It had a backer... Blimey, tobacco sponsorship!
0:05:02 > 0:05:05..the BBC were keen and it had a promoter,
0:05:05 > 0:05:07Mike Watterson, who, in 1977,
0:05:07 > 0:05:13set about finding that elusive ingredient - a place to call home.
0:05:13 > 0:05:14I just thought I'd bring that to show you.
0:05:14 > 0:05:16- Blimey! What have we got there? - That's 1977.
0:05:16 > 0:05:19- That was the very first time... - I never played in it that year.
0:05:19 > 0:05:21It's funny how it came to be here in the first place.
0:05:21 > 0:05:25The fact that snooker is at the Crucible, in one respect,
0:05:25 > 0:05:27is to do with your wife.
0:05:27 > 0:05:30Yes. She was going to this play here with a friend.
0:05:30 > 0:05:33She came back and said, "I've just seen a cracking venue for snooker."
0:05:33 > 0:05:37- What was the play?- I can't remember, Steve, you know?
0:05:37 > 0:05:38It's important(!)
0:05:38 > 0:05:41My memory is, as well, but it doesn't go that far back.
0:05:41 > 0:05:44I said to her, "Well, I'll have a look at it."
0:05:44 > 0:05:46I came to the Crucible, had a look,
0:05:46 > 0:05:49I walked into the auditorium and I went, "Wow! Perfect."
0:05:49 > 0:05:51I said, "How wide is the stage?"
0:05:51 > 0:05:54Malcolm, the stage manager, he said it's 36 feet.
0:05:54 > 0:05:58Perfect - six feet of legroom, six feet of table, six feet of legroom,
0:05:58 > 0:05:59and so on.
0:05:59 > 0:06:02He said it was designed by a famous Shakespearean actor
0:06:02 > 0:06:05that started at one end of the stage and he made this speech.
0:06:05 > 0:06:08As he walked to the other side of the stage,
0:06:08 > 0:06:09that's where it had to finish.
0:06:09 > 0:06:11And it was exactly 36 feet.
0:06:11 > 0:06:13So it was providence.
0:06:15 > 0:06:20- COMMENTATOR:- John Spencer takes the world crown for the third time.
0:06:20 > 0:06:24And the world champion 1977,
0:06:24 > 0:06:28receiving his cheque for £6,000,
0:06:28 > 0:06:30and promoter Mike Watterson
0:06:30 > 0:06:32offering the congratulations
0:06:32 > 0:06:35as we say goodbye from the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
0:06:35 > 0:06:37That gave me a hell of a buzz,
0:06:37 > 0:06:39and I still get a terrific buzz when I walk in here.
0:06:39 > 0:06:40It's a great place.
0:06:40 > 0:06:43And so began the age of the Crucible.
0:06:43 > 0:06:4640 years and counting,
0:06:46 > 0:06:50offering its stage to the stars. Everyone has a favourite.
0:06:50 > 0:06:52Ronnie! Ronnie!
0:06:52 > 0:06:57I was absolutely sucked in by the 1980 win
0:06:57 > 0:06:58of Cliff Thorburn over Alex Higgins -
0:06:58 > 0:07:01the fluid, God-given talent,
0:07:01 > 0:07:04the artistry against the learned,
0:07:04 > 0:07:07schooled, disciplined, technical player.
0:07:07 > 0:07:09From that moment onwards, from 1980,
0:07:09 > 0:07:11that became, if you want to give it a grand name,
0:07:11 > 0:07:13the dialectic of snooker.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:07:16 > 0:07:21It's very difficult to play in front of Alex Higgins's home crowd.
0:07:21 > 0:07:25You're a fantastic audience, and I just hope you stick with him
0:07:25 > 0:07:29because he's the biggest draw in the game of snooker today.
0:07:36 > 0:07:38Chalk and cheese,
0:07:38 > 0:07:40and room for them both.
0:07:40 > 0:07:45I remember perfectly the golden era of the main players,
0:07:45 > 0:07:47when they were household names.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50Alex Higgins was the hero in our house.
0:07:50 > 0:07:53And Jimmy White. When Jimmy White came along,
0:07:53 > 0:07:56they seemed to be the kids from the wrong side of the tracks.
0:07:58 > 0:07:59Oh!
0:07:59 > 0:08:01Was that good? Did you like that?
0:08:01 > 0:08:05They looked like they'd just come out of a snooker hall,
0:08:05 > 0:08:08straight into the finals, and into the championship.
0:08:08 > 0:08:10Obviously Alex Higgins has moved into this position
0:08:10 > 0:08:12of super-super legend,
0:08:12 > 0:08:15but he was the smoke-and-drink man of snooker. He was...
0:08:15 > 0:08:16HE INHALES RAPIDLY
0:08:16 > 0:08:17..like that, drink, drink, drink.
0:08:17 > 0:08:19The most fascinating you've ever seen.
0:08:19 > 0:08:20Orange and vodka going down his face,
0:08:20 > 0:08:23then he would come up and do these remarkable things,
0:08:23 > 0:08:27and people loved him for it because it's as if he kept snooker honest,
0:08:27 > 0:08:29he kept one foot in the smoky club.
0:08:30 > 0:08:33- COMMENTATOR:- Still enough points on the table for Alex
0:08:33 > 0:08:35if he can just take his opportunity.
0:08:43 > 0:08:46That's a tremendous shot under pressure.
0:08:46 > 0:08:48A lot of courage Alex has got.
0:08:48 > 0:08:50The Higgins break against Jimmy White,
0:08:50 > 0:08:52every shot he played was totally unconventional.
0:08:52 > 0:08:55There's no way that the purists would never recommend anybody
0:08:55 > 0:08:57playing shots like that, and Alex would just hit them
0:08:57 > 0:08:59in the centre of the pockets,
0:08:59 > 0:09:02and he kept putting himself in unbelievably hard positions
0:09:02 > 0:09:04and getting out and cleaning up.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07- COMMENTATOR:- Oh, marvellous!
0:09:07 > 0:09:10And the audience go mad.
0:09:10 > 0:09:11What a finish.
0:09:11 > 0:09:16He'd promised his baby daughter, Lauren, he'd win at the Crucible.
0:09:16 > 0:09:18This, of hers, for good luck.
0:09:18 > 0:09:22It wasn't quite the style of Ray Reardon going for his seventh title.
0:09:22 > 0:09:24It was another final of contrasts.
0:09:24 > 0:09:28- COMMENTATOR: - Just three balls to go now
0:09:28 > 0:09:31for a break of 135.
0:09:33 > 0:09:34122.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40Ray Reardon has sat in his chair for the whole of this final frame.
0:09:47 > 0:09:49Fantastic!
0:09:49 > 0:09:51Standing ovation throughout
0:09:51 > 0:09:55the 1,000 people here at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield.
0:09:55 > 0:09:59Hurricane Higgins, after ten years,
0:09:59 > 0:10:01has regained the title.
0:10:01 > 0:10:03The tears and the baby, wasn't it?
0:10:03 > 0:10:05He didn't know whether to hold the trophy or the baby, I don't think.
0:10:05 > 0:10:07I don't know which one meant more.
0:10:07 > 0:10:10The moment when he was going...
0:10:10 > 0:10:11HE WHIMPERS
0:10:11 > 0:10:13..and summoning down his baby.
0:10:17 > 0:10:20- Now, I reckon here...- Mm-hm.
0:10:20 > 0:10:23..was exactly where you were brought into your dad's arms.
0:10:23 > 0:10:25I know. He wouldn't be able to lift me up now, would he?
0:10:25 > 0:10:29No. And I could, but I'm not going to.
0:10:29 > 0:10:30It looks very different.
0:10:30 > 0:10:31I know, it probably does.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33I think I remember all the lights, obviously,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35cos it's full of lights, isn't it?
0:10:35 > 0:10:37And the audience and the noise.
0:10:41 > 0:10:42I think, as well,
0:10:42 > 0:10:45it blurs into my memory cos I've seen it so many times on television.
0:10:45 > 0:10:48- Yeah.- It's a special moment for me. - Yeah.
0:10:48 > 0:10:51But, yeah, it brings back a lot of memories being here.
0:10:53 > 0:10:55Your dad was a fantastic competitor.
0:10:55 > 0:10:58He had, like, fire coming out of every pore.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01And I used to be quite scared of him.
0:11:01 > 0:11:05He was quite animalistic around the table.
0:11:05 > 0:11:08He was very much showing the aggression.
0:11:08 > 0:11:11Like, you could see his nostrils flaring out, and everything.
0:11:11 > 0:11:13The other thing was when, all of a sudden, things were going right
0:11:13 > 0:11:16and he got a fluke, he'd be grinning at the crowd.
0:11:16 > 0:11:18Love it. Yeah, just really playing up to it, yeah.
0:11:18 > 0:11:20I know I might be a bit biased,
0:11:20 > 0:11:23but I think my dad made snooker what it is,
0:11:23 > 0:11:25and I think a lot of people
0:11:25 > 0:11:28wouldn't be where they were today, because he made it interesting,
0:11:28 > 0:11:31exciting, and I think that's undeniable.
0:11:31 > 0:11:33Totally undeniable. During the '70s,
0:11:33 > 0:11:34when the game was right in the doldrums,
0:11:34 > 0:11:36it was him that dragged it out.
0:11:36 > 0:11:37People identified with him.
0:11:37 > 0:11:39He was the cavalier player.
0:11:39 > 0:11:41I think he probably would have won a lot more matches
0:11:41 > 0:11:44if it hadn't been for the fact that he liked to please the crowd.
0:11:44 > 0:11:46- Yeah.- That's what he liked to do.
0:11:46 > 0:11:47He was a character, wasn't he?
0:11:47 > 0:11:49Oh! Totally a character.
0:11:49 > 0:11:52- COMMENTATOR: - And a true standing ovation.
0:11:53 > 0:11:55It was a lot more colourful cos of my dad.
0:11:55 > 0:11:59- Totally.- Yeah.- I had some of the most amazing matches against him.
0:11:59 > 0:12:02- Are you upset?- Yeah, a little bit.
0:12:02 > 0:12:03Don't be upset.
0:12:04 > 0:12:08It is sad that he's not here, especially with it being 40 years.
0:12:08 > 0:12:10- It would have been lovely. - It would have been nice.
0:12:10 > 0:12:12- He could've had a lovely time.- Yeah.
0:12:12 > 0:12:14- I think he'd have enjoyed it now. - Yeah.- I like to remember him...
0:12:14 > 0:12:17- I like to remember when he tilts his cap.- With the hat.
0:12:17 > 0:12:19And throws it and he winks.
0:12:19 > 0:12:22- And he says, "Come on, babes." - Fantastic.- Yeah.
0:12:26 > 0:12:29And so it grew, the theatre within the theatre -
0:12:29 > 0:12:32its annual cast of characters.
0:12:32 > 0:12:33New faces in the line-up.
0:12:33 > 0:12:35New storylines.
0:12:35 > 0:12:38The quest for the Crucible's first maximum break.
0:12:39 > 0:12:42I had a dream that I made a 147.
0:12:42 > 0:12:44I didn't think anything of it then.
0:12:44 > 0:12:46And then I fluked the first red.
0:12:54 > 0:12:57Terry went, you know... like that, kind of a thing.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59Can you imagine being there
0:12:59 > 0:13:02to see the very first one at the Crucible?
0:13:02 > 0:13:05It must have been a wondrous, wondrous experience
0:13:05 > 0:13:06for those who saw it.
0:13:08 > 0:13:11I wasn't at home watching it on television, I was in the Crucible.
0:13:11 > 0:13:13I was at the back of the auditorium,
0:13:13 > 0:13:17and we were watching it, starting to think, "This actually might happen."
0:13:17 > 0:13:21The break had begun with a fluked red, the story's first twist.
0:13:21 > 0:13:23But now Cliff took a turn for the worse.
0:13:23 > 0:13:26I wasn't feeling well, I just...
0:13:26 > 0:13:29I slept for about an hour the night before. I felt awful.
0:13:29 > 0:13:32'Like, my nose was running, I had to actually stop.'
0:13:32 > 0:13:34I'm going to have a little break here.
0:13:34 > 0:13:35LAUGHTER
0:13:37 > 0:13:40- COMMENTATOR: - Well, what a sensible fellow.
0:13:41 > 0:13:45At a stage like this, with just one red left.
0:13:45 > 0:13:46What a moment this is.
0:13:46 > 0:13:48It is truly electric here.
0:13:48 > 0:13:51Every bone in your body is willing him to do it, you know?
0:13:51 > 0:13:53And you're up cheering, you're cheering at the television,
0:13:53 > 0:13:55it's just wonderful to watch it.
0:13:55 > 0:14:00I just felt like I was, you know, just right there.
0:14:00 > 0:14:02And you could see the other players come in from the other match.
0:14:02 > 0:14:04They stopped it to peer round
0:14:04 > 0:14:07because they got wind of what was going on.
0:14:07 > 0:14:09Who was it that walked round?
0:14:09 > 0:14:11Yes, it was Bill Werbeniuk.
0:14:11 > 0:14:12I can't remember the other player.
0:14:12 > 0:14:14But it was definitely Bill Werbeniuk,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16cos he's kind of unforgettable.
0:14:16 > 0:14:19Bill Werbeniuk stuck his head around the corner there.
0:14:19 > 0:14:21And I'm going to myself, "Not now, Bill, come on, now," you know?
0:14:21 > 0:14:23It's like this...whoa...
0:14:23 > 0:14:26- COMMENTATOR:- And Bill Werbeniuk as tense as he is.
0:14:26 > 0:14:28APPLAUSE
0:14:30 > 0:14:32When I was shooting the black, I said to myself,
0:14:32 > 0:14:35"Well, we're just going to make this one straight in,
0:14:35 > 0:14:37"it's not even going to touch the sides of the pocket."
0:14:40 > 0:14:43It's an amazing moment of breaking that standard
0:14:43 > 0:14:46BBC code of, you know, impartiality,
0:14:46 > 0:14:50and he went down with the cue and it's like, "Good luck, mate."
0:14:50 > 0:14:51- COMMENTATOR:- Oh, good luck, mate.
0:14:53 > 0:14:55Oh, wonderful!
0:14:55 > 0:14:58That is really, truly wonderful.
0:15:03 > 0:15:05Yeah!
0:15:05 > 0:15:07Oh, my God! Oh, my God, I was...
0:15:07 > 0:15:10And that "phew!" he gives, it's... You know, he was all man.
0:15:10 > 0:15:14Terry Griffiths, who's got a job on his hands, walks out,
0:15:14 > 0:15:15pretending to smile,
0:15:15 > 0:15:17to just get out of the room.
0:15:17 > 0:15:19That's right. Yes.
0:15:19 > 0:15:23"I was very 'ap-py for him," as he said afterwards!
0:15:24 > 0:15:27You get fantastic drama at the World Championship.
0:15:27 > 0:15:29You really do.
0:15:29 > 0:15:32And it's hard to describe the claustrophobia of that little arena,
0:15:32 > 0:15:34and all of the history.
0:15:34 > 0:15:36Some of the great moments in television history
0:15:36 > 0:15:38have been made there.
0:15:38 > 0:15:40I mean, you know, the black ball final.
0:15:41 > 0:15:44The black ball final.
0:15:44 > 0:15:481985. Dennis Taylor against...
0:15:48 > 0:15:51Well, as they say, I was there.
0:15:51 > 0:15:54That was one of the great television events, wasn't it?
0:15:58 > 0:16:01- It looks totally different, doesn't it?- Yeah.
0:16:02 > 0:16:06We were involved in something that was iconic,
0:16:06 > 0:16:09that a third of the population, back in the day,
0:16:09 > 0:16:13watched on TV and had to go to work the next morning.
0:16:13 > 0:16:16- Yeah.- And couldn't turn their TVs off.
0:16:16 > 0:16:19Steve Davis, not well liked in our house.
0:16:19 > 0:16:23He'd denied too many of our heroes championships in the past.
0:16:23 > 0:16:24Dennis Taylor, himself,
0:16:24 > 0:16:28I think there was that thing of we were definitely willing him.
0:16:28 > 0:16:33Somebody had to come along because Steve Davis just seemed unstoppable.
0:16:34 > 0:16:36No-one beat Davis.
0:16:36 > 0:16:37No-one beat him.
0:16:37 > 0:16:39He was not beatable.
0:16:39 > 0:16:42Well, I was a cert to win that final, I know that.
0:16:42 > 0:16:46Well, you certainly were at 7-0 and 8-0.
0:16:47 > 0:16:49- COMMENTATOR:- Steve Davis, he's really riding on
0:16:49 > 0:16:52the crest of a wave at the moment.
0:16:52 > 0:16:56Everybody forgets Dennis Taylor was 8-0 down in that final,
0:16:56 > 0:16:58and he came back and he won, what,
0:16:58 > 0:17:00seven of the next eight in the second session?
0:17:00 > 0:17:04All of a sudden my wheel fell off, I collapsed by the end of the night,
0:17:04 > 0:17:069-7.
0:17:06 > 0:17:08- COMMENTATOR:- Six frames in a row!
0:17:08 > 0:17:10Marvellous performance by Dennis Taylor,
0:17:10 > 0:17:13to narrow the gap to only two frames.
0:17:13 > 0:17:16That spirit that he showed in the second session was what got us,
0:17:16 > 0:17:19in the end, to the black ball final.
0:17:19 > 0:17:22- COMMENTATOR:- And Dennis Taylor, a very satisfied Irishman,
0:17:22 > 0:17:27sits there with the frames all square at 17 each.
0:17:29 > 0:17:32It was a big night for... I think, for all of us.
0:17:32 > 0:17:33It was agonising.
0:17:33 > 0:17:35It really was a big deal.
0:17:35 > 0:17:37It sounds crazy but it was a big thing.
0:17:37 > 0:17:40We were in this room with 900 fans,
0:17:40 > 0:17:43who were chewing their nails,
0:17:43 > 0:17:48not knowing what was happening outside in the real world,
0:17:48 > 0:17:50and how many people were watching.
0:17:50 > 0:17:54I think it was something like 18.5 million people.
0:17:54 > 0:17:56I mean, that's the kind of audience you get for a World Cup final,
0:17:56 > 0:18:00or something, and it was in the early hours of the morning.
0:18:00 > 0:18:01It just gripped the nation.
0:18:01 > 0:18:04Nobody ever dreamt it was going to go down to the black,
0:18:04 > 0:18:06so we didn't know how to handle the pressure,
0:18:06 > 0:18:08even you, that had won it the two previous years.
0:18:08 > 0:18:10Proper cliffhanger stuff,
0:18:10 > 0:18:13to go down to the very last black ball in a competition like that.
0:18:13 > 0:18:16The pressure on us both was incredible.
0:18:16 > 0:18:18I mean, we couldn't get a ball in the pocket in that last frame.
0:18:18 > 0:18:20- COMMENTATOR:- Certainly going through his mind
0:18:20 > 0:18:24that he'd certainly like to play the double.
0:18:24 > 0:18:26And I'd tried to double the black.
0:18:26 > 0:18:28And the crowd all started cheering and I thought, "It's in!"
0:18:28 > 0:18:30CHEERING
0:18:30 > 0:18:31GROANING
0:18:32 > 0:18:35I had chances, Dennis had chances.
0:18:37 > 0:18:38GROANING
0:18:41 > 0:18:45- COMMENTATOR:- That was the biggest shot of his life.
0:18:46 > 0:18:49I reckon it's about here, the corner pocket.
0:18:49 > 0:18:50Which... Oh, the top?
0:18:50 > 0:18:52What do you mean, which corner pocket?
0:18:52 > 0:18:55From the commentary box, the top-left corner pocket.
0:18:55 > 0:18:57I'd say the black was about there.
0:18:57 > 0:18:59I've never asked you this question.
0:18:59 > 0:19:01Did you think I was going to pot it?
0:19:01 > 0:19:03Definitely, because when I'd seen it finish, I went back,
0:19:03 > 0:19:06and I remember pushing my old upside-down glasses way up,
0:19:06 > 0:19:09and I thought there's no way Steve will miss this.
0:19:09 > 0:19:11- COMMENTATOR:- No.
0:19:11 > 0:19:12GROANING
0:19:16 > 0:19:18This is really unbelievable.
0:19:18 > 0:19:22I came to the table thinking, "How have I got this chance?"
0:19:28 > 0:19:30- COMMENTATOR:- He's done it.
0:19:30 > 0:19:34My one overriding memory is when Dennis Taylor knocks it in,
0:19:34 > 0:19:36and he gets the cue, doesn't he?
0:19:36 > 0:19:38And it's not a very great celebration,
0:19:38 > 0:19:43but it's kind of iconic. And it's like...something like that.
0:19:43 > 0:19:45- COMMENTATOR:- Dennis Taylor,
0:19:45 > 0:19:47for the first time,
0:19:47 > 0:19:53becomes Embassy World Snooker Champion 1985.
0:19:53 > 0:19:57I don't think that Dennis actually believed that he'd won it.
0:19:57 > 0:19:59He needed convincing. Somebody had to come up and say,
0:19:59 > 0:20:01"Dennis, you've won this thing."
0:20:01 > 0:20:04But the facials were just phenomenal.
0:20:04 > 0:20:09And the nice little "uh-uh-uh" of Dennis Taylor was...
0:20:09 > 0:20:12it was a big night for all of us.
0:20:12 > 0:20:15It was a bit like the Rocky films, you know,
0:20:15 > 0:20:17he CAN be stopped.
0:20:17 > 0:20:22- COMMENTATOR:- A fabulous picture of a very happy and popular man.
0:20:23 > 0:20:26Steve, it's a pretty tough moment, this one, isn't it?
0:20:26 > 0:20:29- Yes.- Can you believe what's happened here tonight?
0:20:29 > 0:20:32Yeah, it happened, in black and white.
0:20:32 > 0:20:34LAUGHTER
0:20:34 > 0:20:35Worst day of my life.
0:20:35 > 0:20:37Have you got over that yet, Steve?
0:20:37 > 0:20:40Well, not really, but, you know, I've come to terms with it.
0:20:40 > 0:20:43I reckon about 40 years, I'll be over it.
0:20:43 > 0:20:44Truly over it.
0:20:44 > 0:20:49I beat Steve Davis, who's been the best player in the world.
0:20:49 > 0:20:51There's not a lot more you can say, really.
0:20:51 > 0:20:53FANS SHOUT OUT
0:20:53 > 0:20:55Well, I'm the best this year.
0:20:55 > 0:21:00The ginger magician and the fellow with the funny upside-down glasses.
0:21:00 > 0:21:03- We were involved in the best of the lot.- Yeah.
0:21:03 > 0:21:06The Rack Pack, directed by Brian Welsh,
0:21:06 > 0:21:10a film made about snooker in the 1980s.
0:21:10 > 0:21:12The golden age, they say.
0:21:12 > 0:21:17I'm in it. That's me on the left, or rather the actor who played me.
0:21:17 > 0:21:19Here's the real me.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27- COMMENTATOR:- He's breathing heavily as he comes down to this final pink.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29And that's it.
0:21:29 > 0:21:34The World Snooker Champion 1981, Steve Davis.
0:21:34 > 0:21:37And here's Will Merrick being me.
0:21:38 > 0:21:41Steve Davis, meet Steve Davis.
0:21:41 > 0:21:43Nice to see you. How's things, all right?
0:21:43 > 0:21:45I was worried you might be doing some sort of acting role
0:21:45 > 0:21:48where you didn't look like me any more. You'd have a black beard.
0:21:48 > 0:21:51I've been trying to get away from you now for a couple of years.
0:21:51 > 0:21:52- Oh, dear.- Yeah.
0:21:52 > 0:21:55Who's the first person who came up and went, "You look like..."?
0:21:55 > 0:21:56I had a dinner lady at school.
0:21:56 > 0:21:59Someone said to me, "Oh, she's calling you Steve Davis.
0:21:59 > 0:22:02"You look like the snooker player Steve Davis. He's tall, redhead.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04"Sort of lanky, like a rake."
0:22:07 > 0:22:09- We should have a game.- Yeah? - Fancy a game?- Yeah.
0:22:12 > 0:22:13That's aggressive.
0:22:16 > 0:22:18- That's aggressive, as well. - I did want to ask you,
0:22:18 > 0:22:21when I was watching your footage at the Crucible,
0:22:21 > 0:22:22when I'm playing pool
0:22:22 > 0:22:24and I'm getting closer and closer to winning,
0:22:24 > 0:22:26I lose my head,
0:22:26 > 0:22:29and I suddenly start missing shots that I'd never miss.
0:22:29 > 0:22:31- You know?- Yeah. - I'm overthinking it.
0:22:31 > 0:22:34- Yeah.- Did you... Do you feel those nerves,
0:22:34 > 0:22:38- and do you worry that you're going to prang out, as it were?- Yeah.
0:22:38 > 0:22:41If you're lucky, you stay in the moment,
0:22:41 > 0:22:43and you don't look too far ahead or back,
0:22:43 > 0:22:44as if you've got an empty head
0:22:44 > 0:22:47other than that one thing you've got to do.
0:22:47 > 0:22:51And the Crucible, because of its nature of being so small,
0:22:51 > 0:22:53as a snooker venue, and very tight,
0:22:53 > 0:22:57only 900 people, but, like, a lively atmosphere,
0:22:57 > 0:23:01the Crucible is where people unravel more so than at any other event.
0:23:03 > 0:23:06And down for the black. Back in the circle.
0:23:06 > 0:23:08WILL PANTS
0:23:08 > 0:23:11My grandad would be so proud.
0:23:11 > 0:23:15When you think about the Crucible,
0:23:15 > 0:23:18it's 17 days on red alert.
0:23:18 > 0:23:22You're just on tenterhooks all the time. Knowing that you've won it,
0:23:22 > 0:23:24the emotion starts welling up inside you.
0:23:24 > 0:23:27And, of course, the other thing is, when I lose the '85 final,
0:23:27 > 0:23:29on the last ball,
0:23:29 > 0:23:32I walked to the table with the possibility to win it.
0:23:32 > 0:23:34And everybody's ooh-ing and aah-ing in the crowd,
0:23:34 > 0:23:37and you're on tenterhooks, because they're on tenterhooks,
0:23:37 > 0:23:40and everybody in the room is absolutely transfixed by it.
0:23:40 > 0:23:42If I pot it, what happens?
0:23:42 > 0:23:44- I win it.- Yeah.- And that would have been my fourth.
0:23:44 > 0:23:47- Got to give them a couple, though, haven't you?- Yeah.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50That's what everybody told me, and I hated those words.
0:23:50 > 0:23:51I hated them.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58I did manage to make amends for losing the final in 1985.
0:23:58 > 0:24:02I won three more world titles that decade.
0:24:02 > 0:24:05Life was good for me and my manager and friend Barry Hearn.
0:24:05 > 0:24:07Look at him on his mobile.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10You could back then. We go way back.
0:24:10 > 0:24:13Today, Barry runs World Snooker.
0:24:13 > 0:24:15He's done all right, hasn't he?
0:24:15 > 0:24:18- Morning. What you doing here? - Morning. How you doing?
0:24:18 > 0:24:19All right?
0:24:19 > 0:24:22- All right? - All right?- Obligatory handshake.
0:24:24 > 0:24:26- COMMENTATOR:- Congratulations there
0:24:26 > 0:24:31to the Embassy World Champion Steve Davis from his manager Barry Hearn.
0:24:31 > 0:24:34The young man, just 23 years of age,
0:24:34 > 0:24:36coming from Plumstead, London,
0:24:36 > 0:24:41is now the Embassy World Champion 1981.
0:24:41 > 0:24:42What a prophetic image that was,
0:24:42 > 0:24:46Barry Hearn bursting into the arena and embracing you in a way
0:24:46 > 0:24:50that completely almost crushed your ribs, and it's a fabulous image,
0:24:50 > 0:24:53and who was to know that Barry Hearn would then go on
0:24:53 > 0:24:58to run, and some might say rescue, snooker for the 21st century.
0:24:58 > 0:25:01When people say, "I've always wanted to see the Taj Mahal,
0:25:01 > 0:25:03"I want to see the Hanging Gardens of Babylon,"
0:25:03 > 0:25:06to me, I wanted to be at the Crucible
0:25:06 > 0:25:12with my mate, who was going to absolutely smash everybody up.
0:25:18 > 0:25:20Leading up to the Crucible, you know, '81,
0:25:20 > 0:25:24it wasn't just about you winning the World Championships for me.
0:25:24 > 0:25:26It justified me in a strange way, you know?
0:25:26 > 0:25:29- We'd beat the world. - We'd beat the world.
0:25:29 > 0:25:30And it was so...
0:25:30 > 0:25:32It was a personal thing.
0:25:32 > 0:25:34That was the one day of my life...
0:25:34 > 0:25:37- Yeah, yeah.- ..that was the most exciting.
0:25:37 > 0:25:39I am an excitable person,
0:25:39 > 0:25:44I have never felt things going through my body that I felt in '81.
0:25:44 > 0:25:48I mean, it's not the greatest work of art I've ever seen.
0:25:48 > 0:25:50- No, not at all.- But the characters are in there.
0:25:50 > 0:25:54- Look, Mike Watterson, who started the Crucible.- Ann Yates.- Ann Yates.
0:25:54 > 0:25:55Bill Werbeniuk.
0:25:55 > 0:25:57And then the Reardons and the Spencers.
0:25:57 > 0:26:01- And when we talk about characters... - It's a schoolyard there.
0:26:01 > 0:26:05Not in that picture is another of the Sheffield characters,
0:26:05 > 0:26:09one of the cast at the Crucible, John Airey -
0:26:09 > 0:26:12a superfan, I suppose we'd call him.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15'81 was the first year, so this is the 36th year.
0:26:15 > 0:26:17There's some dodgy pictures, if you go on YouTube,
0:26:17 > 0:26:21of a 14-year-old kid with a bowl-head haircut and dodgy flares
0:26:21 > 0:26:24jumping up and down. Yeah, I've been coming every year since.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27You know, there's probably 30, 40 people
0:26:27 > 0:26:30have been coming for donkey's years.
0:26:30 > 0:26:33You know, you build relationships, and everybody likes snooker,
0:26:33 > 0:26:36that's the common bond, and you can sit down there and watch the snooker
0:26:36 > 0:26:38and chat in the pub afterwards with a pint.
0:26:38 > 0:26:40It's a nice, relaxing holiday.
0:26:40 > 0:26:42I remember the Crucible as many wonderful things
0:26:42 > 0:26:45but never as a holiday resort.
0:26:45 > 0:26:48The same people go there every year, practically.
0:26:48 > 0:26:50And not only do they go there every year,
0:26:50 > 0:26:53they sit in the same seat. Can you believe it?
0:26:53 > 0:26:56Can you believe booking your holidays for a week at the Crucible?
0:26:56 > 0:26:59There's something wrong with these people.
0:26:59 > 0:27:02They want looking at, you know. They should consult somebody.
0:27:02 > 0:27:03It's ridiculous. I used to go in,
0:27:03 > 0:27:06I said, "Hello, George, Bill, Fred. Nice to see you back this year.
0:27:06 > 0:27:07"Have a good tournament."
0:27:07 > 0:27:09I'm asking THEM to have a good tournament and they said,
0:27:09 > 0:27:11"Nice to see you again, Ray."
0:27:11 > 0:27:13- It's different here, isn't it?- Yeah.
0:27:13 > 0:27:14I think there's any few things
0:27:14 > 0:27:18going for it. One, which I think is often overlooked in snooker venues,
0:27:18 > 0:27:19the acoustics help.
0:27:19 > 0:27:22- Yeah.- In here it's like playing in somebody's front room -
0:27:22 > 0:27:25everything's soft and cushioned, and the balls click nicely.
0:27:25 > 0:27:27How many sessions a tournament do you watch here?
0:27:27 > 0:27:31Well, I guess it's, what, 17 days times three, so...
0:27:31 > 0:27:33- 50-odd.- Gee whiz.
0:27:33 > 0:27:35The morning sessions are the trickiest ones.
0:27:35 > 0:27:36You've got to be here for 10am.
0:27:36 > 0:27:39And you've had paracetamol for breakfast.
0:27:39 > 0:27:40And you can't fall asleep in the front row
0:27:40 > 0:27:43because you'll look like a real mug, then.
0:27:43 > 0:27:45Some sessions are slower than others
0:27:45 > 0:27:48but a new story is never far away.
0:27:48 > 0:27:51Take the Bradford Crooner, who'd never won a match at the Crucible.
0:27:52 > 0:27:55Now, Joe Johnson is the kind of story... This is why I love snooker.
0:27:55 > 0:27:58We all used to cheer for our Welsh snooker players,
0:27:58 > 0:28:01and when Terry was drawn against this bloke we'd never heard of,
0:28:01 > 0:28:05Joe Johnson, we were thinking, "That's it, Terry's through."
0:28:05 > 0:28:08We're in the corridors backstage,
0:28:08 > 0:28:09which is usually adorned
0:28:09 > 0:28:11with pictures on the walls of the players.
0:28:11 > 0:28:14- That's right.- And then all of the press cuttings.
0:28:14 > 0:28:16- Yup.- Back in 1986,
0:28:16 > 0:28:19you became more featured in the press
0:28:19 > 0:28:21as the tournament unfolded.
0:28:21 > 0:28:25Yeah, I think that had something to do with the singing with the band.
0:28:25 > 0:28:30# Here I stand with my everlasting love... #
0:28:30 > 0:28:33It's great for me because, you know, the focus came on to me,
0:28:33 > 0:28:36and I seemed to handle it pretty good.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39It was nice to be the focus instead of you.
0:28:39 > 0:28:44But then you did one of the best comebacks that we'd seen.
0:28:44 > 0:28:47He was playing Terry Griffiths on this table and he was 12-9 down.
0:28:47 > 0:28:49I had never beaten him as well.
0:28:49 > 0:28:51He had given me some real good hidings, Terry.
0:28:51 > 0:28:54Any time he wanted to beat me, he could beat me.
0:28:55 > 0:28:58You could see Joe thought he'd lost.
0:28:58 > 0:29:00- COMMENTATOR:- Terry marching on a bit here.
0:29:01 > 0:29:04He missed a green off the spot
0:29:04 > 0:29:06and we're talking about one shot changing a game.
0:29:06 > 0:29:08Well, that changed my destiny.
0:29:08 > 0:29:11He completely relaxed and he just started swinging.
0:29:11 > 0:29:14- COMMENTATOR:- What a performance this is by Joe Johnson.
0:29:14 > 0:29:17How do you combat this sort of snooker?
0:29:18 > 0:29:21A quite remarkable match.
0:29:21 > 0:29:23He was playing natural, you know,
0:29:23 > 0:29:25club snooker, where he wasn't worried about anything
0:29:25 > 0:29:28and it made me 300 quid, so I was happy.
0:29:30 > 0:29:31Fast-forward to the final.
0:29:31 > 0:29:33Who was it I played? I've forgotten who it was(!)
0:29:33 > 0:29:35You totally destroyed me.
0:29:35 > 0:29:38For me, a completely different feeling to the year before
0:29:38 > 0:29:39where I had lost to Dennis.
0:29:39 > 0:29:42I just went, "Hands up, I've been outplayed."
0:29:42 > 0:29:43You absolutely flew.
0:29:43 > 0:29:46- COMMENTATOR: - Joe is a terrific player
0:29:46 > 0:29:49and probably his greatest attribute coming through
0:29:49 > 0:29:52this World Championship is his cool,
0:29:52 > 0:29:55calm and collected manner at the table.
0:29:56 > 0:29:58I was playing totally relaxed snooker
0:29:58 > 0:30:00and you were probably under pressure
0:30:00 > 0:30:02from losing the year before.
0:30:02 > 0:30:04You may have had something in your mind...
0:30:04 > 0:30:06I don't mean this disrespectfully,
0:30:06 > 0:30:09but I think you probably thought that I was an easy touch.
0:30:09 > 0:30:11I always knew how good you were.
0:30:11 > 0:30:15But you must have fancied it, you must have done.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19- COMMENTATOR:- Just 17 days ago, he was a rank outsider.
0:30:22 > 0:30:24The crowd here at the Crucible
0:30:24 > 0:30:27are going mad for Bradford's Joe Johnson.
0:30:28 > 0:30:29CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:30:32 > 0:30:36The most remarkable world final I have ever seen.
0:30:36 > 0:30:40It was a win for the underdog and everybody was cheering for him,
0:30:40 > 0:30:43you know? It's not that they didn't want Steve to win,
0:30:43 > 0:30:45it's that they generally,
0:30:45 > 0:30:47and it's the way the British public are normally,
0:30:47 > 0:30:49they generally want the underdog to win
0:30:49 > 0:30:51and it was a fabulous performance.
0:30:51 > 0:30:53That's one of the things I love about snooker.
0:30:53 > 0:30:56I love looking at that last 32 thinking, "Is there someone here?
0:30:56 > 0:30:58"Is there a Joe Johnson
0:30:58 > 0:31:01"that's going to come through and is going to get through to the final?"
0:31:01 > 0:31:03Or maybe a new star is born?
0:31:03 > 0:31:06Do you still get the excitement when you come to the Crucible?
0:31:06 > 0:31:08Oh, I love coming to the Crucible.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11I come here every year and it's brilliant to walk back in
0:31:11 > 0:31:13but it's tinged with sadness
0:31:13 > 0:31:15- because we're not going to play here any more.- I know.
0:31:17 > 0:31:18I know we're not.
0:31:18 > 0:31:20Steve's going to do some trick shots.
0:31:20 > 0:31:22- A couple of trick shots. - Two trick shots.
0:31:22 > 0:31:24I don't know what I'm going to do.
0:31:24 > 0:31:28This may not work in the end, but it looks fantastic, right?
0:31:28 > 0:31:30If I get four, I'm happy.
0:31:30 > 0:31:32Five is very, very good. Six is the miracle one.
0:31:41 > 0:31:44Did you get that? Did you get that?
0:31:44 > 0:31:47Retirement from the game comes to us all.
0:31:47 > 0:31:50I announced mine at the Crucible in 2016,
0:31:50 > 0:31:53but was delighted to stay part of the BBC team.
0:31:53 > 0:31:55Showbiz!
0:31:55 > 0:31:57Staying warm at the Crucible.
0:31:57 > 0:32:01It's the other side of superheated sport in Sheffield. Ask Hazel.
0:32:01 > 0:32:03It's a greenhouse, remember.
0:32:03 > 0:32:06It might look beautiful but it's very cold.
0:32:06 > 0:32:10It is the world's second-longest annual sporting event
0:32:10 > 0:32:13behind the Tour de France.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17You kind of go through something every April, don't you?
0:32:17 > 0:32:21You come out the other end of it after a Crucible campaign.
0:32:21 > 0:32:24The slave drivers that work us drive us into the ground.
0:32:24 > 0:32:27They are actually all laughing in our ear now.
0:32:27 > 0:32:28Steve buys his own chocolate brownies
0:32:28 > 0:32:30and doesn't offer anybody else one.
0:32:30 > 0:32:33That's the sort of people you're dealing with. He's a coffee snob.
0:32:33 > 0:32:38I had my run in the 1980s, and then this bloke took over -
0:32:38 > 0:32:41world champion seven times in the 1990s.
0:32:41 > 0:32:45It wasn't as if we hadn't seen him coming.
0:32:45 > 0:32:47- COMMENTATOR:- The under-16 champion from Fife in Scotland
0:32:47 > 0:32:50making his TV debut, Stephen Hendry.
0:32:51 > 0:32:53Stephen came into the picture,
0:32:53 > 0:32:55and when a Scotsman is playing at the Crucible,
0:32:55 > 0:32:59you're rushing back from training to watch him play and, you know,
0:32:59 > 0:33:00it was a fantastic time.
0:33:02 > 0:33:05I think many people thought before Stephen Hendry came along
0:33:05 > 0:33:07that Steve Davis owned the Crucible
0:33:07 > 0:33:10and then came this young, freshfaced Scot
0:33:10 > 0:33:15who exuded a winning mentality probably like we've never seen
0:33:15 > 0:33:18and will never see again.
0:33:18 > 0:33:20Hendry had the potting thing...
0:33:20 > 0:33:22just like the magnificent break-building of...
0:33:22 > 0:33:24The same cue...da-da-da, da, da, da,
0:33:24 > 0:33:25hit the ball.
0:33:25 > 0:33:30He made snooker look like it was being played on
0:33:30 > 0:33:32a three by six bar box table.
0:33:32 > 0:33:35I mean, he just never missed.
0:33:36 > 0:33:40He was 16 years old when he turned professional.
0:33:40 > 0:33:45He was 21 when he won his first World Championship in 1990,
0:33:45 > 0:33:46the youngest ever.
0:33:46 > 0:33:48He ruled the '90s.
0:33:48 > 0:33:53He was still only 31 when he won his seventh title in 1999.
0:33:53 > 0:33:56It's a strange old thing, trying to analyse why we stopped.
0:33:56 > 0:33:59Do you think, after all these years, you still love the game?
0:33:59 > 0:34:01Not in exactly the same way but it's in your blood?
0:34:01 > 0:34:04I know what you mean, it's what we're best at, snooker.
0:34:04 > 0:34:06So I don't think it ever leaves you and I think i will always be
0:34:06 > 0:34:09involved in the game cos basically it's all I know.
0:34:16 > 0:34:20I love the game, I loved it more when I was playing on Sunday nights
0:34:20 > 0:34:21but I still enjoy it.
0:34:21 > 0:34:24You, all of a sudden, said, "Well, now that I'm not winning,
0:34:24 > 0:34:26- "I'm going to retire."- Hmm. - Whereas I went,
0:34:26 > 0:34:27"I'm losing but I still love the game
0:34:27 > 0:34:30"so I'm going to carry on playing even if I don't win."
0:34:30 > 0:34:33Two different mentalities from two of the biggest winners in the game.
0:34:33 > 0:34:34Yeah. For me,
0:34:34 > 0:34:36there's loving the game
0:34:36 > 0:34:38and there's enjoying what you get out of it
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and although I love the game, when you took away the winning,
0:34:41 > 0:34:45which was the ultimate for me, you took away the sort of desire.
0:34:45 > 0:34:48Perhaps it's a lot easier when you're young.
0:34:48 > 0:34:51This is Stephen at 17 at his first Crucible...
0:34:51 > 0:34:52when it's all in front of you.
0:34:52 > 0:34:55I get to the Crucible and I'm drawn against Willie Thorne
0:34:55 > 0:34:57and I'm thinking, "Don't disgrace yourself.
0:34:57 > 0:35:00"Don't lose 10-0 or 10-1 on live TV."
0:35:00 > 0:35:02I lost the match 10-8,
0:35:02 > 0:35:05got that sort of famous nice applause from him going out,
0:35:05 > 0:35:07which I look back on now and I just think,
0:35:07 > 0:35:09"Oh, God, I want to punch him!"
0:35:09 > 0:35:11But he didn't mean it, like, sarcastically.
0:35:11 > 0:35:13- He was just relieved.- Probably, yes.
0:35:13 > 0:35:16I think I will win it in the next five years.
0:35:16 > 0:35:18I always just loved playing there.
0:35:18 > 0:35:21I think a lot of players you sort of hear moaning,
0:35:21 > 0:35:22"Oh, it's too long,"
0:35:22 > 0:35:24and then they get to the semifinals, they get beat,
0:35:24 > 0:35:26"Oh, I'm tired, I'm drained."
0:35:26 > 0:35:29Complete nonsense, I just loved it.
0:35:29 > 0:35:32Even if you have four matches go to the final frame,
0:35:32 > 0:35:35I think, you're at the World Championship, at the Crucible,
0:35:35 > 0:35:37you still get yourself up for the final somehow.
0:35:39 > 0:35:42- COMMENTATOR:- And with that break of 71,
0:35:42 > 0:35:46Stephen Hendry brings a great championship to an end.
0:35:46 > 0:35:50He has beaten Jimmy White by 18 frames to 12
0:35:50 > 0:35:53to become the youngest-ever champion.
0:35:53 > 0:35:58To some degree, you broke millions of snooker fans' hearts
0:35:58 > 0:36:01on many occasions because you did more damage in the finals
0:36:01 > 0:36:04of the World Championship to Jimmy White than I did.
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Was there any part of you that felt a bit sorry for Jimmy?
0:36:08 > 0:36:09Er...no.
0:36:13 > 0:36:17When interviewed, you realised he was brutal as a competitive animal.
0:36:17 > 0:36:21He was a more clinical animal than I was, even back then.
0:36:21 > 0:36:26And any suggestion of a social moment or something that may be fun,
0:36:26 > 0:36:28he said, "No, why do that? Why do that?
0:36:28 > 0:36:30"It's winning, it's only winning."
0:36:30 > 0:36:32And you think, "Oh, all right."
0:36:32 > 0:36:34And of course it worked. My goodness, it worked for him.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37And maybe if Jimmy had had a tenth of that, and other players,
0:36:37 > 0:36:39he might have just had that.
0:36:40 > 0:36:42Jimmy was doing other stuff.
0:36:42 > 0:36:45Jimmy White would be my favourite player.
0:36:45 > 0:36:47I mean, what a story.
0:36:47 > 0:36:50Got to be the best player never to have been world champion.
0:36:50 > 0:36:52So many finals, so many near misses,
0:36:52 > 0:36:54it just never quite happened for him.
0:36:54 > 0:36:58Six Crucibles, five consecutive Crucible finals.
0:36:58 > 0:37:01Four finals at the Crucible against Stephen Hendry,
0:37:01 > 0:37:04and he's in the record books at losing them.
0:37:04 > 0:37:07And it was heartbreaking. I mean, really heartbreaking.
0:37:07 > 0:37:11I won six finals, Jimmy lost six.
0:37:12 > 0:37:15You must get fed up with the amount of times people say
0:37:15 > 0:37:18the same old questions about, you know, this is the World Championship
0:37:18 > 0:37:21and all that. You had the roller coaster at it.
0:37:21 > 0:37:24Yeah. I'm obviously quite proud of being in six finals
0:37:24 > 0:37:27but do you know what? I don't remember the matches I win.
0:37:27 > 0:37:29Do you only remember the matches you've lost?
0:37:29 > 0:37:31You obviously remember the ones you've lost.
0:37:31 > 0:37:34A couple of the finals, I weren't quite there with Hendry.
0:37:34 > 0:37:36I don't know how I got to the final.
0:37:36 > 0:37:40'92, he's in his fourth final, we've seen him lose three times already,
0:37:40 > 0:37:45he's lost to Davis, Parrott, lost to Hendry already, of course.
0:37:45 > 0:37:47And he's 14-8 up, Jimmy,
0:37:47 > 0:37:49and, listen, at 14-8 up, you're world champion.
0:37:49 > 0:37:51You're world champion. You know you are.
0:37:51 > 0:37:53You're spending your winnings.
0:37:53 > 0:37:56- COMMENTATOR:- This has been a fabulous clearance.
0:37:58 > 0:37:59CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:37:59 > 0:38:02Jimmy White cleared up brilliantly.
0:38:02 > 0:38:0714-8 up with Hendry, and in my corner thinking,
0:38:07 > 0:38:10- "I'll thank him, he helped me. I won't thank him, he didn't."- Don't.
0:38:10 > 0:38:13I know! I should have just rolled up and snookered him but...you know.
0:38:13 > 0:38:16- COMMENTATOR:- And that's why he's the number one in the world.
0:38:16 > 0:38:17Wonderful shot.
0:38:17 > 0:38:19All of a sudden it's 14-12 and, like,
0:38:19 > 0:38:23I couldn't have potted them if they were in a line-up. You lose focus.
0:38:23 > 0:38:26- COMMENTATOR:- His mind must be on the three previous finals
0:38:26 > 0:38:28he's been in.
0:38:28 > 0:38:31I won ten frames in a row to beat him.
0:38:31 > 0:38:33- COMMENTATOR:- And there's a rather sad picture.
0:38:33 > 0:38:36Jimmy will be the saddest person in Sheffield.
0:38:36 > 0:38:40What does that do to you? I mean, how do you take that?
0:38:40 > 0:38:42How do you compute that? He must have been sitting there
0:38:42 > 0:38:44thinking all sorts of things.
0:38:44 > 0:38:50- COMMENTATOR:- He becomes the 1992 Embassy World Champion
0:38:50 > 0:38:52for the second time.
0:38:55 > 0:38:58I think the nation wanted Jimmy White. "Please, Jimmy.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01"Jimmy, please win a Crucible final."
0:39:09 > 0:39:11- COMMENTATOR:- Jimmy White to break.
0:39:11 > 0:39:15Then, '94, of course, you go to a final frame.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19That's his sixth,
0:39:19 > 0:39:22you know, and Hendry has now beaten him in three finals.
0:39:22 > 0:39:25You don't lose six times. You lose five times and then you win,
0:39:25 > 0:39:28then you beat the bad guy. OK, we all know it.
0:39:28 > 0:39:3217-17, I think Hendry is in the balls, and then Jimmy White is in.
0:39:33 > 0:39:36Stephen Hendry - 24.
0:39:36 > 0:39:39And you know what? He's on his way.
0:39:41 > 0:39:44- COMMENTATOR:- Just look at the scores, 17 frames each.
0:39:44 > 0:39:4624 points each.
0:39:46 > 0:39:48What a shot he's taking on.
0:39:50 > 0:39:53CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:39:55 > 0:39:57I thought he was going to win. I was in my chair and I wouldn't have had
0:39:57 > 0:40:00many supporters in the audience when I was playing Jimmy
0:40:00 > 0:40:03but I had two or three in the balcony and looked up and I thought,
0:40:03 > 0:40:05"Well, that's it, I'm not winning this one."
0:40:05 > 0:40:08He potted this brilliant blue into the middle pocket
0:40:08 > 0:40:09and you're thinking,
0:40:09 > 0:40:12"He's on a roll, he's about to be crowned world champion."
0:40:13 > 0:40:18Everyone at home is thinking, "Here we go. Finally."
0:40:26 > 0:40:28GASPS AND GROANS
0:40:30 > 0:40:34You know, he's not even close, he's not even close on that black.
0:40:34 > 0:40:38I had a great winning chance there and I think I rushed the black,
0:40:38 > 0:40:40obviously under extreme pressure.
0:40:40 > 0:40:43As soon as I seen the black wobbling,
0:40:43 > 0:40:45I just shot out of my chair.
0:40:45 > 0:40:46He's cool as mustard.
0:40:46 > 0:40:48Perhaps because I'd resigned myself to defeat,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51but I was so relaxed in that clearance.
0:40:51 > 0:40:53I look back on it now and I think,
0:40:53 > 0:40:55"God, you must have been absolutely shaking,"
0:40:55 > 0:40:57but I swear I was so relaxed.
0:40:57 > 0:40:59And you're thinking to yourself,
0:40:59 > 0:41:02"Jimmy White is not coming back to the table.
0:41:02 > 0:41:04"Jimmy White has lost another world title."
0:41:04 > 0:41:07Not many people could take that.
0:41:07 > 0:41:11Most people would not be able to take, mentally,
0:41:11 > 0:41:13what Jimmy has been through.
0:41:13 > 0:41:17- COMMENTATOR:- Stephen Hendry has proved once again
0:41:17 > 0:41:20that he's the best player in the world.
0:41:20 > 0:41:23It's heartbreaking when you watch his speech afterwards,
0:41:23 > 0:41:27you know, because he's such a good loser, he's such a class act.
0:41:27 > 0:41:30What can I say, apart from happy birthday?
0:41:30 > 0:41:31LAUGHTER
0:41:31 > 0:41:33He's beginning to annoy me.
0:41:35 > 0:41:38I'm obviously quite proud of being in six finals, but the way I was
0:41:38 > 0:41:42progressing in the lifestyle, I might have been dead, you know?
0:41:42 > 0:41:44- Really?- Yeah. So I've got to sort of say...
0:41:44 > 0:41:46I mean, is it true? Were you partying between matches?
0:41:46 > 0:41:49You know like you are now with this DJ stuff?
0:41:49 > 0:41:51When you're giving it boom-boom all night?
0:41:51 > 0:41:52There was some of that going on.
0:41:52 > 0:41:54It was either gambling or partying.
0:41:54 > 0:41:57I'm not proud of it but there's nothing I can do about it.
0:41:57 > 0:41:59Listen, I'm 54 and, realistically,
0:41:59 > 0:42:03I can't win the World Championships but I'm still enjoying it.
0:42:03 > 0:42:05I enjoy practising.
0:42:05 > 0:42:08So while I'm still enjoying it, I still believe I can win.
0:42:09 > 0:42:12Listen, this has been a pleasure, as always, mate.
0:42:12 > 0:42:15- Thank you.- Keep rocking and rolling. Thank you.- Terrific.
0:42:17 > 0:42:20Getting inside the head of any snooker player, well,
0:42:20 > 0:42:24it's a gift, and nobody does it better than this man -
0:42:24 > 0:42:29psychiatrist and professor and doctor - Steve Peters.
0:42:29 > 0:42:32- Steve.- Hello.- How are you doing? All right? Nice to see you.
0:42:32 > 0:42:35- You're getting used to this place. - I should have a room here now.
0:42:35 > 0:42:38I know, you should. Well, I'm in dressing room 12 today.
0:42:38 > 0:42:40I'm having problems with my interviewing technique.
0:42:40 > 0:42:42I'm under pressure a bit, so perhaps you can help me.
0:42:42 > 0:42:44Right, not a problem.
0:42:44 > 0:42:48Actually, it's not me, we need to talk about Ronnie.
0:42:48 > 0:42:50Ronnie O'Sullivan.
0:42:50 > 0:42:53It seems to me this is the only place where the players
0:42:53 > 0:42:54could truly unravel.
0:42:54 > 0:42:58The Crucible has a specific challenge even within snooker.
0:42:58 > 0:42:59It was surprising
0:42:59 > 0:43:02when I first started getting into what Ronnie was doing.
0:43:02 > 0:43:05I had to get him to explain to me the nuances of the sport
0:43:05 > 0:43:07so I see how he's perceiving them,
0:43:07 > 0:43:10and then one of the things he mentioned with the Crucible was,
0:43:10 > 0:43:12when it comes towards the worlds,
0:43:12 > 0:43:14I've got to get my endurance on my feet.
0:43:14 > 0:43:16He says, "You're not used to it, you do short frames."
0:43:16 > 0:43:18So here he has to build up with practices
0:43:18 > 0:43:22and on his feet much longer times in order to get that endurance.
0:43:22 > 0:43:24I think perhaps one of the great things that Ronnie can do
0:43:24 > 0:43:28is he's able to play quickly and naturally
0:43:28 > 0:43:30and take his brain a bit out of gear,
0:43:30 > 0:43:34and that must be, at the Crucible, more of an advantage than anything.
0:43:34 > 0:43:36It is, and once he gets into this flow,
0:43:36 > 0:43:39his confidence level for the next shot goes up and up.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43My job is to say, "Well, let's get that confidence, regardless.
0:43:43 > 0:43:46"Don't rely on getting into the flow on a good shot.
0:43:46 > 0:43:48"If it goes wrong and wrong and wrong,
0:43:48 > 0:43:49"learn to deal with that
0:43:49 > 0:43:51"and have the confidence to know it'll happen."
0:43:51 > 0:43:53Most of them are perfectionists.
0:43:53 > 0:43:55They see anything less than winning as, "I've failed."
0:43:55 > 0:43:57And that's a shame because, actually,
0:43:57 > 0:44:00anything is good once you've got here.
0:44:00 > 0:44:01But winning is what you want.
0:44:05 > 0:44:07It's a test of expertise
0:44:07 > 0:44:11to marry the long-form game with a short fuse,
0:44:11 > 0:44:14the least conventional of his generation.
0:44:16 > 0:44:18Our Ronnie.
0:44:18 > 0:44:20You have to go and see a psychologist.
0:44:20 > 0:44:23Oh, I'll fly through them, I know all the right answers for that!
0:44:25 > 0:44:26Well, Steve Peters put you up.
0:44:26 > 0:44:29Oh, no, I've seen so many psychiatrists, psychologists,
0:44:29 > 0:44:32I know exactly what to say. I'll be fine with them.
0:44:34 > 0:44:37So much of a buzz, innit, turning up for the World Championship?
0:44:37 > 0:44:39Is it, though, Steve? 17 days.
0:44:39 > 0:44:42Did you think? I find it a lot of stress and pressure.
0:44:42 > 0:44:45I find when I'm playing, it's fine, but it's the waiting around.
0:44:45 > 0:44:46Yeah, it is, yeah, well,
0:44:46 > 0:44:48you have to wait around for those odd moments of panic.
0:44:48 > 0:44:51You get that fleeting moment where you win it and you're in the zone
0:44:51 > 0:44:54and you're flying. Don't get me wrong, that's an amazing feeling.
0:44:54 > 0:44:56- Yeah.- But 17 days of it? You're, like...- It's a war of attrition.
0:44:56 > 0:44:58Yeah, it's a war of attrition, yeah.
0:44:58 > 0:45:02I've been 16-8 up in the semis thinking, "This could go wrong."
0:45:02 > 0:45:05I'm thinking, like, that's not a nice feeling.
0:45:05 > 0:45:07I don't know, it's just the Crucible.
0:45:07 > 0:45:09I think that does it to you, doesn't it?
0:45:09 > 0:45:12In some ways, he's overcome the mistrust of the marathon -
0:45:12 > 0:45:13in many ways.
0:45:15 > 0:45:17Five-times world champion, but let's face it,
0:45:17 > 0:45:20it really should have been six-, seven-, eight-, nine-,
0:45:20 > 0:45:21ten-times world champion.
0:45:21 > 0:45:24He's a great character to have in the game,
0:45:24 > 0:45:27he absolutely comes down from that lineage of Higgins, White,
0:45:27 > 0:45:30O'Sullivan. He's more talented than anyone in that lineage.
0:45:30 > 0:45:33- It's the truth.- Here we have somebody who has personality,
0:45:33 > 0:45:37who has sporting genius, also wows crowds like I've never seen.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39He's an absolute one-off.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43He's the sort of person that makes people who don't watch your sport
0:45:43 > 0:45:45watch your sport.
0:45:45 > 0:45:48There is no better sight in world sport for me
0:45:48 > 0:45:50than seeing Ronnie O'Sullivan clearing up.
0:45:53 > 0:45:56The one record that will literally never be beaten,
0:45:56 > 0:45:57and you can take it from me
0:45:57 > 0:46:01it won't be, is five minutes 20 seconds by Ronnie O'Sullivan,
0:46:01 > 0:46:02maximum break.
0:46:05 > 0:46:07Probably the most extraordinary feat anyone's ever achieved
0:46:07 > 0:46:09on a snooker table, I would say.
0:46:09 > 0:46:11Certainly televised.
0:46:11 > 0:46:14I think it's one of the most incredible things
0:46:14 > 0:46:15ever seen in sport,
0:46:15 > 0:46:17to be honest.
0:46:18 > 0:46:19One.
0:46:19 > 0:46:22APPLAUSE
0:46:24 > 0:46:26It's artistic, it's creative, it's...
0:46:26 > 0:46:29It's clairvoyant, it's psychic.
0:46:29 > 0:46:33He's tuning in to higher energy, without any shadow of a doubt.
0:46:33 > 0:46:35He's basically got the cue ball on a string.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38We're watching a magician at work.
0:46:39 > 0:46:43- COMMENTATOR:- I'm starting to get a bit excited here.
0:46:43 > 0:46:44It doesn't look hurried.
0:46:44 > 0:46:47He doesn't look as if he's trying to be really quick.
0:46:47 > 0:46:48He just made it look so easy,
0:46:48 > 0:46:50and that's what the greats do in any sport.
0:46:50 > 0:46:55Each shot by shot...he made it look easy, but the speed was phenomenal.
0:46:55 > 0:46:59- COMMENTATOR:- Four minutes for the century. Amazing.
0:47:02 > 0:47:03Right, this is the key shot.
0:47:03 > 0:47:07He needs a good angle on this red to get a good black.
0:47:07 > 0:47:08He's got it, just.
0:47:10 > 0:47:12113.
0:47:12 > 0:47:16There were some bits where he stops and he looks and you think,
0:47:16 > 0:47:18"Come on, hurry up, you've got to break the record!"
0:47:18 > 0:47:20He does it in the time it takes.
0:47:20 > 0:47:22It's unbelievable.
0:47:24 > 0:47:26129.
0:47:26 > 0:47:29- COMMENTATORS:- Perfect. - Yes, absolutely perfect.
0:47:32 > 0:47:33134.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35- COMMENTATOR:- I don't believe this.
0:47:36 > 0:47:38CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:47:42 > 0:47:43What a break!
0:47:43 > 0:47:47What a fantastic maximum break that is.
0:47:47 > 0:47:51Ronnie O'Sullivan's delighted, the crowd's delighted,
0:47:51 > 0:47:54John Virgo and I am delighted.
0:47:54 > 0:47:59Five minutes for one unbelievable maximum break.
0:47:59 > 0:48:01What took him so long(?)
0:48:01 > 0:48:04You know? Incredible.
0:48:04 > 0:48:06Steve, come on, five minutes 20 seconds?
0:48:06 > 0:48:09- And he dropped his chalk.- He dropped his chalk in the middle of it.
0:48:09 > 0:48:11- COMMENTATOR:- Sensational.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14We were all there through television
0:48:14 > 0:48:17and that's the magic of the Crucible, because we were there.
0:48:17 > 0:48:20As David Vine and others have said throughout the years,
0:48:20 > 0:48:23welcome to the best seat in the house.
0:48:25 > 0:48:29That's where I am now, the X, watching the best,
0:48:29 > 0:48:31but somehow still closely connected,
0:48:31 > 0:48:33living every shot,
0:48:33 > 0:48:35glued to every camera shot.
0:48:35 > 0:48:39When I started watching snooker, it was literally one camera,
0:48:39 > 0:48:41possibly two cameras, possibly three.
0:48:41 > 0:48:44Now you've got cameras in pockets,
0:48:44 > 0:48:47you've got a camera looking down on the players as well.
0:48:49 > 0:48:51I think we should say good evening and welcome
0:48:51 > 0:48:53to each of our cameramen,
0:48:53 > 0:48:56because although it looks easy and although they are supposed to be
0:48:56 > 0:49:00anonymous by the very nature of what they're doing,
0:49:00 > 0:49:02without them nothing gets broadcast.
0:49:02 > 0:49:05Let's say good evening. In the corner, it's Darryl.
0:49:05 > 0:49:07CHEERING
0:49:09 > 0:49:11And you watch the dance of the cameras,
0:49:11 > 0:49:14these amazingly experienced cameramen and you think, "My God,
0:49:14 > 0:49:16"he's getting too close," but he knows.
0:49:16 > 0:49:18Instinctively, I've spoken to them,
0:49:18 > 0:49:21they learn the body language of the players, so they know,
0:49:21 > 0:49:23"Oh, he'll do another turn round the table so I'll stay back."
0:49:23 > 0:49:27Or, "All right, he'll stay on that side of the table, so I'll go in."
0:49:27 > 0:49:29They have to predict that so they're not kind of
0:49:29 > 0:49:31breaking the concentration.
0:49:31 > 0:49:33They're fully aware that although their first job is to get
0:49:33 > 0:49:36the pictures to the public, almost equal first is,
0:49:36 > 0:49:38they mustn't break the concentration of the player.
0:49:38 > 0:49:42Now these computer graphics that give you the exact position,
0:49:42 > 0:49:44lower down, and map the ball so accurately -
0:49:44 > 0:49:46how they do that I don't know.
0:49:46 > 0:49:48- COMMENTATOR:- That's what he's faced with there.
0:49:48 > 0:49:51It's extraordinary how it's evolved from one, possibly two cameras
0:49:51 > 0:49:53and Whispering Ted Lowe to this all-singing,
0:49:53 > 0:49:56all-dancing box of tricks that we now have at our disposal.
0:49:56 > 0:50:02Right, Hazel, you sit in my seat, right, and I'll be the presenter.
0:50:02 > 0:50:04I've always wanted to be the presenter.
0:50:04 > 0:50:06This is a bit of a change, role reversal.
0:50:06 > 0:50:08I'm feeling the pressure already.
0:50:08 > 0:50:10You've seen so much stuff at the Crucible
0:50:10 > 0:50:12but obviously you missed the '90s, effectively,
0:50:12 > 0:50:15but you've seen the modern-day era unfold.
0:50:15 > 0:50:16I've witnessed so many amazing things.
0:50:16 > 0:50:20I do remember that the first World Championship we did together
0:50:20 > 0:50:22was 2002, and that was Ebdon's year.
0:50:22 > 0:50:26- Yeah.- That was Ebdon against Hendry, 18-17 in the final.
0:50:26 > 0:50:28I thought they were all like that!
0:50:31 > 0:50:34Much of the drama of the Crucible is about ripping up convention,
0:50:34 > 0:50:37like being known as the Hurricane or the Rocket.
0:50:37 > 0:50:42And then there's Peter Ebdon, who moves at a...slower pace.
0:50:42 > 0:50:45So the Peter Ebdon/Stephen Hendry final,
0:50:45 > 0:50:48possibly the tensest final since 1985.
0:50:48 > 0:50:50The one thing we know about Peter Ebdon,
0:50:50 > 0:50:52and I can speak from personal experience here,
0:50:52 > 0:50:56sometimes we go very late into the night when Peter is playing.
0:50:56 > 0:50:59And I say that in the kindest possible sense, Peter.
0:50:59 > 0:51:01And it went late on
0:51:01 > 0:51:04and Stephen Hendry has a chance to make it eight world titles.
0:51:04 > 0:51:07When I think of Stephen, and I've said it before,
0:51:07 > 0:51:11I likened Stephen to the biggest, baddest,
0:51:11 > 0:51:14meanest great white shark there's ever been
0:51:14 > 0:51:18because he was absolutely ruthless.
0:51:20 > 0:51:24Really, when I should have won 18-16,
0:51:24 > 0:51:28I missed the black off the spot that I thought was in.
0:51:31 > 0:51:33- COMMENTATOR:- Oh, dear, dear, dear.
0:51:33 > 0:51:35Peter Ebdon - one.
0:51:35 > 0:51:36How's he missed that?
0:51:36 > 0:51:39It was just refocus,
0:51:39 > 0:51:42getting the disappointment out of my mind
0:51:42 > 0:51:47of losing the previous frame and just putting everything into it.
0:51:47 > 0:51:50I think back to that World Championship
0:51:50 > 0:51:53and it really was like wringing a sponge,
0:51:53 > 0:51:56a little bit more, little bit more, little bit more, right,
0:51:56 > 0:51:58little bit more, come on, little bit more,
0:51:58 > 0:52:02and that's what it was like. Everything that I am I gave.
0:52:02 > 0:52:05- COMMENTATOR:- Stephen Hendry, he's now got to sit there
0:52:05 > 0:52:08and wonder how many he's going to be behind
0:52:08 > 0:52:10when he gets back to the table...
0:52:10 > 0:52:12IF he gets back to the table.
0:52:13 > 0:52:17I probably made one of the best breaks under pressure
0:52:17 > 0:52:19in my entire career.
0:52:19 > 0:52:21- COMMENTATOR:- What a moment in the life of Peter Ebdon.
0:52:21 > 0:52:24Everything he's worked for,
0:52:24 > 0:52:25dreamt of...
0:52:25 > 0:52:27will become a reality,
0:52:27 > 0:52:29pot this or not.
0:52:31 > 0:52:34It's over!
0:52:34 > 0:52:38Seven-times world champion Stephen Hendry claps his hands and says
0:52:38 > 0:52:44"Well done, Peter Ebdon, you are the Embassy champion of the world."
0:52:44 > 0:52:47Hendry, devastated, no-one likes seeing that.
0:52:47 > 0:52:49When you look back at my face, yeah, I was way shocked.
0:52:49 > 0:52:53That still sends shivers down my spine, thinking about that.
0:52:53 > 0:52:56It was just the satisfaction of knowing that you've beaten
0:52:56 > 0:52:59the most successful player of all time.
0:52:59 > 0:53:01Family and friends there,
0:53:01 > 0:53:04and my daughter Clarissa was there at the end and I held her up.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08And, yeah, it sends a chill down my spine thinking about it now.
0:53:08 > 0:53:13The theatre, the stage and the set, built with infinite care.
0:53:13 > 0:53:16Any special pressure on the World Championship tables?
0:53:16 > 0:53:18Putting them up? Do you feel the heat, the pressure?
0:53:18 > 0:53:21Oh, God, you feel a massive pressure,
0:53:21 > 0:53:22because it's so much coverage
0:53:22 > 0:53:25and the whole world's looking at it.
0:53:25 > 0:53:27I know there's a lot going on at the World Championship
0:53:27 > 0:53:30but at the end of the day it comes down to those big green things
0:53:30 > 0:53:32in the middle of the floor, you know?
0:53:32 > 0:53:34An immense amount of pressure.
0:53:34 > 0:53:37It's not good for us, cos it's tiny.
0:53:37 > 0:53:42From one side of the set to the table is only 5ft 4in,
0:53:42 > 0:53:44or 1.53 in new money.
0:53:44 > 0:53:454ft 10in, innit?
0:53:45 > 0:53:48Average cue size, 4'10", so it only gives them six inches.
0:53:48 > 0:53:52It must hurt when, all of a sudden, you've put your heart and soul into
0:53:52 > 0:53:56making the table, to the best of your ability, perfect,
0:53:56 > 0:53:58and then a player comes off and says...
0:53:58 > 0:53:59- Rubbish.- ..it was rubbish.
0:53:59 > 0:54:02COMMENTATOR LAUGHS
0:54:03 > 0:54:05- COMMENTATOR:- What's he doing?
0:54:07 > 0:54:10I've had that many times, you know? But, you know,
0:54:10 > 0:54:12and sometimes things go wrong,
0:54:12 > 0:54:14but the majority of the time, it's out of your control.
0:54:14 > 0:54:17It's atmosphere, heating, too hot.
0:54:17 > 0:54:19The playing conditions now,
0:54:19 > 0:54:22you just cannot do any more, you know?
0:54:22 > 0:54:26We're almost up to date and ready to start again,
0:54:26 > 0:54:28which brings us to the reigning world champion.
0:54:28 > 0:54:32And here's one of those snooker stories within a story.
0:54:33 > 0:54:38And here comes Leicester's world number one, Mark Selby!
0:54:42 > 0:54:44I did catch the final last year,
0:54:44 > 0:54:47although there was something on that was a little bit more important
0:54:47 > 0:54:48on that particular occasion.
0:54:48 > 0:54:52I was at home with my boys watching Leicester
0:54:52 > 0:54:56win the Premier League title. I'm not sure I've mentioned it before!
0:54:56 > 0:54:59- COMMENTATOR:- The final of the World Championship, Crucible Theatre,
0:54:59 > 0:55:02Mark Selby looking for his second, Ding looking for his first.
0:55:02 > 0:55:04It doesn't get better than this.
0:55:04 > 0:55:07It's fascinating that Leicester were winning the title at the same time
0:55:07 > 0:55:11and, yet, here's a huge Leicester City fan, Mark Selby, and, you know,
0:55:11 > 0:55:14that can actually put you off, is the truth.
0:55:14 > 0:55:17You know, you're either thinking, "Am I going to be inspired by this,
0:55:17 > 0:55:18"because," you know,
0:55:18 > 0:55:20"this incredible sporting thing has happened?"
0:55:20 > 0:55:22Or, actually, "Am I going to take my eye off the ball?"
0:55:22 > 0:55:25- COMMENTATOR: - That's an excellent shot.
0:55:25 > 0:55:27I sort of, at the interval,
0:55:27 > 0:55:28I said to my friend,
0:55:28 > 0:55:30"What's the score with Leicester?"
0:55:30 > 0:55:31And it was 0-0 at the time.
0:55:31 > 0:55:34- COMMENTATOR:- It's a fabulous chance here...and it's there.
0:55:34 > 0:55:37Mark Selby, for the second time,
0:55:37 > 0:55:43lifts the world title and he becomes world champion for 2016.
0:55:43 > 0:55:45It was only after I'd won,
0:55:45 > 0:55:47I'd gone back to my seat and one of my friends
0:55:47 > 0:55:48who was sat next to me in the crowd
0:55:48 > 0:55:51said to me that Tottenham had drew 2-2,
0:55:51 > 0:55:52and Leicester were champions,
0:55:52 > 0:55:54so that sort of made it even better.
0:55:54 > 0:55:58This is part two of a sporting double for your hometown.
0:55:58 > 0:56:01CHEERING AND APPLAUSE
0:56:01 > 0:56:06So my big question is, are you going to let them share your open-top bus?
0:56:06 > 0:56:09Well, I didn't get one last time, when I won it two years ago, so...
0:56:09 > 0:56:12The joy afterwards as well, when he realised, I've got it all,
0:56:12 > 0:56:15we've done it all, the whole of Leicester was delighted,
0:56:15 > 0:56:16they'd found a king in their car park,
0:56:16 > 0:56:19they'd won the League title and they'd won the World Championship.
0:56:19 > 0:56:21I watched the end of it. To be honest,
0:56:21 > 0:56:24I'd had a few by that stage so I might not remember it too well.
0:56:24 > 0:56:28The Leicester sporting double, all part of the global appeal of today.
0:56:28 > 0:56:32Prize money this year, nearly £2 million.
0:56:32 > 0:56:35The television audience? Keep adding the noughts.
0:56:35 > 0:56:39I think that last year Ding Junhui in the final attracted
0:56:39 > 0:56:43an audience in China of over 250 million people...
0:56:43 > 0:56:45- Is that what it was? - ..during the middle of the night,
0:56:45 > 0:56:47- watching his match. - 250...- I mean, the 18 million...
0:56:47 > 0:56:49A quarter of a billion?!
0:56:49 > 0:56:51And meanwhile,
0:56:51 > 0:56:52meanwhile,
0:56:52 > 0:56:54bless, players like Mark Williams
0:56:54 > 0:56:59have got "Dai Llewellyn's tractor fitter"
0:56:59 > 0:57:02stitched to their jacket.
0:57:02 > 0:57:06He's going to get amazing hits on their website, it's going to crash.
0:57:06 > 0:57:09- From China!- A quarter of a billion people say, "What's this?
0:57:09 > 0:57:13"Find out." I love that. Because for all its glamour,
0:57:13 > 0:57:15for all that Barry Hearn has brought to the game,
0:57:15 > 0:57:18it still has these wonderful little...
0:57:18 > 0:57:20"petewidginsdoubleglazing.co.uk"
0:57:20 > 0:57:23written across the jacket.
0:57:23 > 0:57:25The whole of China.
0:57:25 > 0:57:27We chuckle at our peril.
0:57:27 > 0:57:29This is the Crucible,
0:57:29 > 0:57:32with its heat that can keep each and every one of us,
0:57:32 > 0:57:35wherever we are, warmed by its glow.
0:57:35 > 0:57:39The dream of people now is to go to the Crucible as a spectator,
0:57:39 > 0:57:44not as a player, to sample that atmosphere that is totally unique,
0:57:44 > 0:57:50that can't be replicated anywhere in the world on a sporting stage,
0:57:50 > 0:57:52which evolves like reading a great book,
0:57:52 > 0:57:55with twists and turns in each chapter,
0:57:55 > 0:57:57and until you get to the final page you don't know who's won it.
0:58:00 > 0:58:02You're so close, it's so intense,
0:58:02 > 0:58:04there's an electricity that crackles in the place.
0:58:04 > 0:58:06You really feel, you know,
0:58:06 > 0:58:09sort of in the centre of a great web and every twitch on the filament is
0:58:09 > 0:58:12something that kind of comes back to you. It's magnified.
0:58:12 > 0:58:14You had these 998 people around you
0:58:14 > 0:58:17and, yeah, you're there in the middle.
0:58:17 > 0:58:21And everyone's so quiet and you can almost hear people whispering.
0:58:21 > 0:58:24People don't think you can hear them but you can.
0:58:25 > 0:58:27It's too small. It's cramped.
0:58:27 > 0:58:29There's not enough room for the players,
0:58:29 > 0:58:31there's not enough room for television, there's lots of things
0:58:31 > 0:58:34that shouldn't be right about the place, but it just is.
0:58:34 > 0:58:37It sends a little shiver down your spine because it's got
0:58:37 > 0:58:39so much history attached to it.
0:58:39 > 0:58:41It's just pure theatre, it's drama.
0:58:43 > 0:58:47It's just the Crucible, I think it just does it to you, doesn't it?
0:58:49 > 0:58:51On my tombstone will not be written,
0:58:51 > 0:58:54"This is the man who took the World Championships
0:58:54 > 0:58:56"away from the Crucible."
0:58:56 > 0:58:59It's staying. And it don't matter how much is involved.
0:58:59 > 0:59:03And I have never said that once in my entire life.
0:59:05 > 0:59:07Great days, mate. Great days.
0:59:09 > 0:59:11That's a wrap, boys, yes?
0:59:11 > 0:59:17I had my time upon this stage, this small space, this compact arena,
0:59:17 > 0:59:19but massive.
0:59:19 > 0:59:21Stand by to be squeezed in again,
0:59:21 > 0:59:26stand by to be transported wherever the Crucible takes us.