The Rack Pack is right up my street. I was big into snooker in the 80's and 90's . The time when the sport was massive and it had some larger than life personalities. None larger than the focus of this film Alex "Hurricane Higgins" Higgins. I never liked Higgins very much back then because being from Plumstead I was a big Davis fan . This BBC film doesn't sugar coat Higgins at all. it's quite brutal in it's portrayal and because of that I have to compliment the director Brian Welsh . Probably the most impressive thing about this is the casting. Luke Treadaway is great as Higgins ( the accent strays a little at times) as is Will Merrick as Steve Davis but the inspirational piece of casting is Kevin Bishop as Barry Hearn. Bishop got Hearn down to a T. I absolutely loved this film and if the BBC keep producing dramas like this they can have no complaints from me about the licence fee.

The Rack Pack is more of a reminisce on the good old days of snooker in the 80s, than an informative look at it. While it's a great piece of entertainment, it does nothing to solve the problems snooker faces now, i.e, why there are so many clubs shutting down despite the top dogs claiming it's a global sport. To get snooker to the heights or, at least back to the glory days of 85 would be near impossible if there were more clubs and talent scouts around to nurture the next generation of talent. Sadly, for me, this film was just a piece of dotage on the past, a time that will never be recaptured unless something is done now to inject a bit of vigor into the game at grassroots level. A great watch, but a forgettable piece of drama that won't leave you craving to watch it again and again...For a detailed review, go to the NEWSHUB/Snooker: what do you learn from the Rack Pack...

Just before the start of the 1982 snooker world championship, Alex Higgins gave an interview to a newspaper. He criticised Steve Davis as staid and downplayed his own chances for the tournament. Davis as defending champion was knocked out in the first round and Higgins went on to win the tournament.Ten years earlier Higgins was the youngest world snooker champion, a bolt of lightning in a sport known to be slow and played by old men. My older brother used to rave about Higgins in the 1970s.Then again if you watch this film the only person that raved about Higgins were people who never met him or got to know him. Higgins was a drinker, drug taker, womaniser and a bona fide hell raiser. I think this film just showed us the edited highlights and a toned down version at that. There was a disgusting true incident where he threatened to send the paramilitary terrorists to sort out Dennis Taylor that was wisely excised from this film.Nerd Alert Warning: I saw Steve Davis when he made his snooker television début in Pot Black in 1978 where he played Fred Davis. I saw him do the first televised 147 break which was on ITV and hence not commentated by Ted Lowe as shown here. I even remember his chat show 'A frame with Davis.' Actually I am a fan of Steve Davis even though he is a Tory supporter.This drama made Davis out to be a lot more nerdy than he was at the time but I think it was just to add contrast to the characters. Barry Hearn as portrayed here was a lot more jovial than the hard headed businessman he is and you have to be ruthless if you enter the world of boxing promotion which Hearn did in the mid 1980s. I did think the actor playing Higgins was just too much of the caricature of the Higgins we know from the press and television although I was amazed by the potting skills of the actors or it might had been clever use of CGI.Of course there was a lot more shades of greys in real life back in the days when snooker took off in the 1980s. We just see Higgins and Jimmy White as the bad boys of snooker and the press were more interested in the rivalry between White and Davis who were the emerging new generation.Yet during the era many snooker players lived life to the hilt with booze, drugs and women. Even Cliff Thorburn shown here as dull and with a dodgy Canadian accent was exposed as a cocaine user.Still a celebration of a time when snooker was more than a load of old balls.

After watching the final on Sunday 17.1.16 and then the scenes for this film I was well eager to download it on the iplayer. What a treat. I'm 62 and in those days I lived in a snooker hall. Pot Black in black & white and colour eventually. This film really did bring back the nostalgia. I found the actors portraying the snooker players to be very realistic and all did excellent jobs. Brilliant directing and story line. Self destructing Higgins and clean cut Davis where brill in my opinion. Steve was great as he comes out of his shell, gains his conference and gets cheeky with the help and guidance of of Barry Hearn. Same goes for self destructing Alex 'no malice he was a great guy' I will deff watch this again I enjoyed it that much. A must see for snooker fan and all. I hope they do one about Rocket Ronnie, I'd love that. Well done all those involved with the making of this top notch film. I