Pot Black was a snooker tournament in the United Kingdom broadcast on the BBC. Each match was contested over a single , where other tournaments were significantly longer. The event carried no ranking points, but played a large part in the popularisation of the modern game of snooker. The event was first held in 1969 with a field of eight players and ran annually until 1986. The event resurfaced for three years in both 1991 and 2005. The series was followed by events for other categories of players, with juniors and seniors events, and a celebrity version held in 2006.
The series was created by the BBC2 controller David Attenborough, shortly after BBC2 began broadcasting in colour. Snooker, a game using coloured balls, was suggested as a suitable way to sell the new technology. The series helped transform snooker from a minority sport played by just a handful of professionals into one of the most popular sports in the UK. Mark Williams made the highest in the competition's history, a 119.
History
The BBC began broadcasting in colour in 1967 and was on the lookout for programmes that would exploit the new technology. The idea of broadcasting snooker, then still a minor sport, was the brainchild of David Attenborough, who was the controller of BBC2 at the time. Based on , the game of snooker was recognised as a good way to promote the BBC's new colour broadcasting capability.
The first Pot Black tournament was held in 1969 at the BBC Studios in Birmingham, and the recorded Pot Black programme was aired on BBC2 on 23 July 1969. The programme continued until 1986, by which time an increasing number of snooker events were being televised and the Pot Black format was becoming outdated. The programme was revived in 1990 but was then discontinued after the 1993 edition. The 2006 edition of the tournament took place at the Royal Automobile Club in Central London on 2 September 2006; Mark Williams defeated John Higgins in the final with a 119 clearance, the highest break in the event's history. In the 2007 edition, the last Pot Black (to date) which aired on Saturday 6 October 2007, Ken Doherty won the final 71–36 against Murphy.
There have been six century breaks compiled at the event.
Format
The Pot Black tournament used several formats over its history. Eight players participated in the first event, but the number of players varied between six and sixteen over the years. It was originally played as a knockout tournament, but later employed a round-robin format.
Production
Each Pot Black tournament was recorded in a single day at the BBC's Pebble Mill Studios in Birmingham, and the matches were then shown in half-hour Pot Black programmes on BBC2 over the winter. The press co-operated by not revealing the scores until after a match had been transmitted. In 2005 and 2006, the whole tournament was broadcast in a single day.
Winners
Below is a list of the winners by tournament.
Pot Black
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Winner
! Runner-up
! Final score ()
! Final score ()
! Highest break
|-
| 1969
|
|
| align = "center" | 1–0
| align = "center" | 88–29
| (99)
|-
| 1970
|
|
| align = "center" | 1–0
| align = "center" | 88–27
| (54)
|-
| 1971
|
|
| align = "center" | 1–0
| align = "center" | 61–40
| (73)
|-
| 1972
|
|
| align = "center" | 1–0
| align = "center" | 75–43
| (66)
|-
| 1973
|
|
| align = "center" | 1–0
| align = "center" | 93–33
| (110)
|-
| 1974
|
|
| align = "center" |
| align = "center" | 147–86
|-
| 1982
|
|
| align = "center" |
|-
| 2010
|
|
| align = "center" | 1–0
| align = "center" | 43–30
|-
|}
Seniors Pot Black
{| class="wikitable"
! Year
! Winner
! Runner-up
! Final score ()
! Final score ()
|-
| 1997
|
|
| align = "center" |2–0
| align = "center" |85–32, 70–17
|}