Sport Is History

Pubs to Prime Time: The Phenonmenal Rise of Darts

Published: 4 June 2026 at 03:00 Europe/London

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Episode notes

Bullseyes, pints and fancy dress, welcome to the whirlwind that is darts. So how did a game once only known for being played in pubs and clubs engulfed in cigarette smoke, make the miraculous rise to becoming a spectacle headlining huge venues on prime time television?

In this episode, Mark and Marcus run us through what made the sport so encapsulating back in the 1970s and 80s, the characters that laid down it's mainstream foundations and the success stories of the time, including one standout final between Eric Bristow and Bobby George.

Every week, Mark Pougatch and Marcus Buckland unpack unbelievable stories from the world of sporting history.

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