Sky announce new three-part golden age of darts docuseries “Dart Kings”

Produced by award-winning Mindhouse Productions

WEBWIRE – Friday, November 29, 2024

In the New Year, Sky step up to the oche with this brand-new three-part docuseries Dart Kings (3×60). Produced by the award-winning Mindhouse Productions (Boybands Forever, Lockerbie, Gods of Tennis, Louis Theroux Interviews) and from BAFTA-winning executive producer Nancy Strang, the series marks the latest collaboration between Sky and Mindhouse Productions following the BAFTA win for Lockerbie earlier this year and the critically acclaimed Tell Them You Love Me.

Coming to Sky Documentaries and NOW in 2025, the series takes viewers on a nostalgic trip down memory lane through the golden age of darts and shines a spotlight on the nations most unlikely sporting heroes Eric Bristow, Jocky Wilson and Phil Taylor.

In 1972, darts staggered out of the pub and onto British primetime television, bringing with it a cast of by todays standards – unlikely sporting heroes. Today, discipline is key to sporting success but in those first moments when the game hit the bigtime, the greatest players mixed extraordinary skill at the oche with boozing, chain-smoking, and an open-door policy to fans and the media alike.

Yet it was this combination of skill and raw, unfiltered personality that brought in television audiences of over 10 million and created some of the most memorable characters in sporting history.

Against a backdrop of rising unemployment and unrest in 1980s Britain, darts brought entertainment and energy to British audiences. Join us as we explore the incredible journeys of three of the greatest names in darts, charting their rise, rivalries, heartache, and triumphs through the 1970s, 80s and 90s.

The series features candid interviews with the darts stars of their day including The King of Bling Bobby George, John Lowe, Keith Deller, Bob Anderson, Dennis Priestley, Dave Whitcombe, Linda Duffy, Maureen Flowers alongside commentary from Richard Ashdown, Julie Welch, Peter Purves, infamous sports promoter Barry Hearn and the legend that is Phil The Power Taylor.

Nancy Strang, Executive Producer at Mindhouse, says: Darts is now a huge television spectacle and one of the biggest sports in the UK, but the people that really put the game on the map were a cast of brilliant working-class players who emerged in the 1980s and who, with their remarkable talent and personalities, transformed the pub game into what it is today. This series is an opportunity to celebrate those players, to lean into this magnificent sporting subculture and the soap opera of their rivalries and lives; while reliving some of the greatest moments in the games history.

Hayley Reynolds, Acting Director of Documentaries and Factual at Sky, added: In the year of Dartsmania, were thrilled to be teaming up once again with the brilliant team at Mindhouse, to tell the origins story of a sport that really is like no other. Whether you are a darts fan or not, this series will set the scene for how this sport enchanted the nation and grew its fandom that we see today. Sky is proud to support such an epic sport across our various channels”

Dart Kings is a Mindhouse production, commissioned for Sky Documentaries by Hayley Reynolds, Acting Director of Documentaries and Factual. Kathryn Taylor is the Commissioning Editor for Sky. Executive Producers for Mindhouse are Nancy Strang and Emma Whitehead. The Series Producer is Claire McFall. Becks Chapman also produces and the Line Producer is Dejan Cancar.

Dart Kings will be coming to Sky Documentaries and streaming service NOW in the new year.

About Sky

Sky is one of Europes leading media and entertainment companies and is part of Comcast Corporation, a global media and technology company that connects people to moments and experiences that matter. At Sky we Believe in Better. Its in our DNA.

Were famous for innovation. We offer the worlds smartest TV, Sky Glass; our plug and play streaming puck, Sky Stream; the best aggregation platform, Sky Q: and streaming services NOW and WOW. We provide connectivity you can count on in mobile, fast, secure, reliable residential and business broadband, as well as smart home protection through Sky Protect.

Were Europes premium content producer. We create award-winning original content, produce the biggest live sporting events, and we provide free access to news and the arts. Our new state-of-the-art film and TV studio Sky Studios Elstree is projected to attract 3 billion of new production investment to the UK in its first five years and create up to 2,000 jobs.

We are a diverse and inclusive employer that has a positive impact on society and the communities that we work and live in. Sky plays a major role in the UKs cultural economy and, in 2022 alone, supported a contribution of 20 billion to UK GDP, broadcast 70,000 hours of elite sports coverage and invested over 130 million to provide news to consumers free of charge.

About Mindhouse Productions

Mindhouse is an award-winning independent production company founded in 2019 by filmmakers Louis Theroux, Arron Fellows and Nancy Strang, with Sophie Ardern appointed director in 2022. Telling compelling stories with intelligence and humanity, it has quickly established a reputation for tackling thought-provoking and complex subjects, while also developing new talent and innovative projects that inform, entertain and inspire.

Recent TV projects have included the four-part Sky Documentaries series Lockerbie, which won a BAFTA in 2024 for Factual Series; the award-winning feature documentary Tell Them You Love Me for Sky Documentaries and Netflix US, the six-part series Louis Theroux Interviews for BBC Two; the two-part Netflix #1 hit Can I Tell You A Secret?; the Grierson nominated three-part series The Space Shuttle That Fell To Earth for BBC and CNN; as well as the Amazon Prime Video feature documentary KSI: In Real Life.

Since 2023, Mindhouse has also built on its success in producing podcasts with several series: Rylan: How To Be A Man and How To Be In The Spotlight for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds, plus two series of brand-new Spotify Original podcast series, The Louis Theroux Podcast.

Other productions have included two series of Channel 4 series Sex Actually with Alice Levine; Channel 4 David Baddiel: Jews Dont Count, a one-off documentary exploring antisemitism, BBC Panorama documentary The Champions League Final: What Went Wrong?, plus the critically acclaimed three-part series Gods of Tennis, which followed the Grierson nominated Gods of Snooker, both for BBC Two.

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