20/09/81: British Professional Darts Championship begins

On Sunday 20 September 1981, BBCTv began eight day coverage of the British Professional Championship, a brand new tournament in which 32 of the top darts players in Britain were to compete.

The first round began that  afternoon with four matches, and featured were the No 1 Seed and World Champion, Eric Bristow against Tony Ridler, and the No 8 Seed Cliff Lazarenko, who played against Lionel Smith. The programme was introduced by Peter Purves from the Club Fiesta, Stockton.

Daily coverage carried on throughout the week with highlisghts being shown in an evening programme at around 10.15 pm. The final on Sunday 27 September, won by Jocky Wilson, was broadcast live from 1.55 pm.

source: BBC genome, dartsdatabase.co.uk