Alex Higgins: The People's Champion
Documentary charting the life of snooker legend Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins. Contributors include Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Dennis Taylor and Barry Hearn.
One man transfixed television viewers during snooker's golden age - Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins. This poignant documentary charts the remarkable rise and fall of the snooker genius, from his early days growing up in Belfast to his climb to the top of the sport as two-time world champion.
Higgins was pure showbiz, a mercurial talent at the table who played the game like nobody had done before. Boxing had Muhammad Ali, football was blessed by George Best - snooker had Alex Higgins. Yet like Best, Higgins's brilliance was flawed by his demons. We chart the depressing lows - the alcohol abuse, threatening to have fellow Ulsterman Dennis Taylor shot, headbutting a senior member of snooker's hierarchy and falling out of a top floor window and living to tell the tale after a row with his then-girlfriend.
The Higgins story is completed with the final chapter of his life spent battling throat cancer; desperate hours spent in pubs and working men's clubs trying to rekindle his halcyon days; finally unable to eat properly because he'd lost his teeth and in the end, ultimately found dead alone in sheltered accommodation.
At times uplifting, but at other moments very sad - this is a rollercoaster journey charting the life of snooker's 'rock and roll star'.
Contributors include Jimmy White, Ronnie O'Sullivan, Dennis Taylor, Barry Hearn, Steve Davis, Ray Reardon and members of the Higgins family.
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Credits
| Role | Contributor |
|---|---|
| Narrator | James Nesbitt |
| Producer | Jason Bernard |
| Director | Jason Bernard |
| Participant | Jimmy White |
| Participant | Ronnie O'Sullivan |
| Participant | Dennis Taylor |
| Participant | Barry Hearn |
| Participant | Steve Davis |
| Participant | Ray Reardon |
Broadcasts
- Wed 1 Sep 201021:00
- Sun 26 Sep 201019:00
- Sun 17 Apr 201119:00BBC Two except Wales
- Sat 4 May 201316:30BBC Two except Northern Ireland
- Wed 14 May 201422:30
- Thu 15 May 201402:15
- Mon 15 Dec 201422:35
- Sun 17 Jan 201620:30
- Mon 18 Jan 201600:15
- Tue 19 Jan 201620:00
- Thu 15 Nov 201822:00
- Sun 19 Apr 202017:00BBC Two except Scotland
- Sun 3 May 202022:35BBC One Northern Ireland & Northern Ireland HD only
- Sun 2 Aug 202021:00
- Sun 9 May 202122:00BBC Two except Scotland
- Wed 19 Apr 202321:15
- Sun 28 Apr 202423:10
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