The Rack Pack (2016) User Reviews (16)

Sporting Drama About Success and Failure

[l_rawjalaurence · 7/10 · 19 January 2016]

THE RACK PACK tells a straightforward tale by contrasting the life of clean-cut Steve Davis (Will Merrick) with that of maverick Alex Higgins (Luke Treadaway). Obsessed with snooker from an early age, Davis was taken up by manager Barry Hearn (Kevin Bishop) and transformed into a media personality. His trademark gestures on the snooker table was carefully studied; and he was encouraged to make jokes about his allegedly boring public persona. Success on the table only helped to increase his profile; throughout the Eighties he was always the man to beat.

Higgins was the complete antithesis. A genius at the table, he led a wild private life dominated by drink. He had a family, with a long-suffering wife (Nichola Burley) and two children, but they eventually left him. He had plenty of money and spent the lot; in desperation he approached Hearn to manage him, but was abruptly refused. His star declined; by 1990 he had been eliminated in the first round of the World Snooker Championship.

Brian Welsh's production tried to adopt an even-handed approach, but it was palpably clear that Higgins's story was dramatically more effective, thereby proving Barry Hearn's point that people respond to failure more enthusiastically than success. Luke Treadaway's performance was thoroughly creditable, combining relentless self- confidence with chronic insecurity. He needed the company of others, especially his practicing (and drinking) partner Jimmy White (James Bailey); when White signed up for Hearn, Higgins was left completely isolated.

The only real criticism that can be leveled at this production was that it did not really take account the positive aspects of Higgins's life. He was certainly self-destructive, yet he also put snooker on the map as a televised sport. In the days of Ray Reardon and John Spencer the game was perceived as respectable yet rather staid, the kind of thing suitable for the BBC's POT BLACK yet not a ratings winner. Higgins's colorful personality helped to transform the game into a huge success during the Eighties, attracting viewing figures far in excess of mainstream sports such as soccer.

Nonetheless, Welsh's production made a thoroughly competent job of recreating snooker's glory days, with its recreation of the Crucible Theatre and John Sessions's memorable impersonation of "Whispering" Ted Lowe's commentary interspersed with the BBC's original soundtrack.

Get potted

[Prismark10 · 6/10 · 20 January 2016]

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.

Documentary drama of 1980's Snooker and the characters behind it

[Fudge-3 · 8/10 · 31 January 2016]

In the 1970's the BBC show Pot Black started to create some TV personalities like Ray Rearden and Dennis Taylor. Who would have thought that a program about two men taking turns to hit balls with sticks would be popular but it took off. Pretty soon the world championship snooker tournament was being televised. Millions of viewers proved they had the desire and stamina to watch games that lasted hours, interest in the players grew and the prize money rocketed.

The Rack Pack documents snooker's rise in popularity and how it alternatively made and broke two people. It focuses on Alex Higgins and Steve Davis. We see one personality being created from almost a blank canvas. On the other hand we see a dynamic personality destroyed by inner demons, be repaired and then self destruct.

In parts this film is funny, sad, informative and made me reflect on the need for identifiable personalities in sport. Do we need "bad" boys in our viewing before we really engage? At 88 minutes this film isn't as long as some snooker frames and is well worth your time.

#Pot the balls and screw you#

[jennielusty · 7/10 · 6 April 2016]

I thought the movie was very good, the first half brought some very good music tracks back to life. I seem to remember that in 1979 the snooker was on the BBC for hour after hour, and if memory recalls Higgins lost to Taylor during that championship. However 1979 was a dark year for most of the people in the U.K. when something happened that made the £ or $ sign more important than people. It took Higgins another ten years until 1982 to win the title again, which is where the film portrays him to be struggling as the best, but not the most commercialized snooker player. The films shows one of the main characters out to be a child of this greed for cash. Nearly forty years later I still have the same opinion as do nearly all my mates of that said person. Anyway good sounds, good story, (not sure if all snooker player portrayed sold their souls for cash) In short it appears that the title would of been more appropriate to be named as, (Barry Hearne is a CTNU)

Could've been good

[mlmrhino · 7/10 · 17 January 2016]

Great idea for a story and was immediately interested but from when I first watched the trailer, I thought, why oh why do they hire English actors to play Ulstermen? Plenty of good Irish actors out there and Luke Treadaway just isn't up to it. Perhaps those with little Irish contact will not notice but it disappointed me from the start.

Apart from that it was quite entertaining and a glimpse into the start of snooker as we know it. I met Barry Hearn around 84 as a young kid. I wish I would've met Alex Higgins. Hope Alex is right and the miracle happens and Jimmy does finally become world champion!. I hope his daughter gets paid for this too. The film is about Alex and he's dead, she should get royalties

The Rack Pack

[tr91 · 9/10 · 18 January 2016]

Having just watched Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Barry Hawkins 10-1 to win his 6th Masters title, I tuned in to The Rack Pack on BBC iPlayer for a great throwback to the 70s & 80s of Snooker. I myself have been a massive snooker fan for the past 10 years, I know a lot about players from the past from reading various books about them and of course seeing a lot of them still involved in snooker today, playing and commentating/analysing.

Unfortunately I wasn't around when these players were at their peak so this film provided me with some great insight. The main actors playing Steve Davis & Alex Higgins were terrific. It was also great to see plenty of other players portrayed in the film such as Jimmy White, Dennis Taylor, Cliff Thorburn, Willie Thorne & even a mention of Stephen Hendry towards the end of the film.

The whole atmosphere of the film was excellent and seemed very realistic. The Crucible looked as good as ever, the commentary was authentic and the crowds looked real. Although many snooker fans will know the outcome of the film and each match that is shown, that doesn't make it any less dramatic. It's just great to see how these characters dealt with the fame that snooker bought them. The film had a lot of heart and the story was told with a lot of realism as well as a lot of good humour. The film also boasts a brilliant soundtrack which sets the scene perfectly.

Overall I am very impressed with this film on iPlayer and I hope to see more of this kind, whether it's about snooker stars or a different sport altogether. Highly recommended to snooker fans especially but I also think people who like good drama programs can enjoy it too.

Great memories - great film

[valleyjohn · 9/10 · 23 February 2016]

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 best thing I've seen in years

[gareth_pegg · 10/10 · 25 January 2016]

From Treadaway's accent and mannerisms, to the clever interposition of excerpts of TV commentary from those early 1980s matches.. this film is (like the Steve Davis era it portrays) universally professional.

The characters are spot on, the emotional story played with respect, but without deference and above all (in capturing the effectiveness of this piece) the snooker sequences are brilliant! If you go onto Youtube and watch Higgins' 1982 Semi-Final "break of the tournament", then straight after you watch Treadaway jerking and swaying to the same beat you will see what I mean. How on this planet they recreated that blue to the top corner??? - The best thing I've seen for at least a year!

Big break

[Lejink · 8/10 · 6 September 2016]

I grew up watching snooker just as it boomed on TV and the Higgins / Davis rivalry came to prominence, so I thoroughly enjoyed this warts and all dramatisation of the relationship between the mercurial Irishman and the stolid Essex boy in the early 80's. I like my sporting and musical heroes to be mavericks so no prizes for guessing where my sympathies lay and from the production here, I suspect that was true for the director too. Unquestionably an often far from pleasant man, an alcoholic with a foul tongue and short temper, Higgins, like that other genius Belfast boy, George Best, always seemed to have one finger poised over the self-destruct button, treating his life like one big game of snakes and ladders, where the falls outnumbered the rises not only in number but in scale.

Sporting rivalry always makes for good copy, as witness down the years Borg and McEnroe, Hunt and Lauda, Ali and Frazier to name but three, where one is usually undramatic and coolly professional, the other as being flamboyant and rebellious. Higgins at his best could beat anyone on the green baize, but with his showmanship, temper outbursts and alcoholic intake all distracting him at times, he could never match the discipline, professionalism and steadiness of a Davis. If Higgins was the self-proclaimed People's Champion, then Davis was the Grannie's Favourite.

This BBC movie accurately captures the 70's and 80's era as snooker came out of the smoky back rooms and, its image greatly cleaned up, onto TV screens as the favourite armchair sport of the nation in the mid 80's. With a largely contemporary rock music soundtrack in the background, although many songs are haphazardly placed in the wrong year, excellent recreations of the big matches themselves and above all a terrific performance by Luke Treadaway as the compelling Higgins, I was certainly transported back to my youth eagerly following the Hurricane's wayward progress in both his sport and his troubled life.

With sharp dialogue, including many good jokes and fine acting support by Will Merrick as the "interesting" Davis and especially Kevin Bishop as the latter's Kingmaker manager Barry Hearn, this was as riveting as watching Higgins compiling a break. I didn't believe everything I saw, especially the scenes where Higgins begs Hearns to be his manager or Davis talking Higgins out of his depression at losing a match when well into his decline, but I recognised enough other scenes and can allow some dramatic licence to heighten the drama.

In the final summing up I'd prefer to watch Higgins play than Davis, but after the match I'm sure I'd prefer to be in the latter's company. I'm sure they played down some of the Irishman's excesses, but being deceased, he probably deserved the respect this fine film affords him.

And just as a postscript, I personally think they should have added his name to Best's for the naming of Belfast's airport, his star burned as brightly and briefly as his footballing near-contemporary.

What do you learn from The Rack Pack drama?

[cgeditor · 8/10 · 25 January 2016]

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...

Rack Pack

[rbten · 8/10 · 18 January 2016]

Just watched the Rack Pack on iPlayer and thought it was great, very amusing and moving in turns. The performances were very good, but I can't help feeling they made Steve Davis seem a little bit too nerdy in the early days, asking the manager of the first snooker club about the pockets and the slate for instance. Whilst I'm not denying Alex Higgins' talent, I did think the programme focused more on him, and made him the real main character. Personally, I was never that fond of him as a 'character' and have always admired Steve Davis for the way he handled himself, even moreso now as a respected presenter and commentator of snooker. Also, I'm sure all the real life people gave their approval to the portrayals on film, but I don't think Jimmy White has done himself any favours by agreeing to how he was portrayed in this drama. Finally, these 'real life' docu-dramas always leave me wondering how accurate they are, was Higgins really so rude to Cliff Thorburn and his wife, so that Thorburn laid into him physically. But overall, very enjoyable and watchable, and very well acted.

Wow. Those where the days.

[mk-34089 · 10/10 · 19 January 2016]

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

None Snooker fans will wanna watch this too !

[stevencunliffe33 · 10/10 · 4 August 2020]

Thinking back now,this probably my 4th or 5th review. I had sadly lost my copy of this what can only be described as a classic in my opinion,and only recently managed to source another. Watched again same night and there is (which I was not aware of just how much) so much animosity between the two main characters,which I will just add here Luke Treadway and Will Merrick,both fantastic in their roles here,firstly portraying Alex 'Hurricane' Higgins,he is just as I remember him from the late 70's - early 80's,arrogant,obnoxious but he was at that point the 'peoples champion',so much to his annoyance a new golden boy (aka Steve 'Boring' Davis) emerges and is quickly taken aboard by manager Barry Hearn (played excellently by Kevin Bishop),from the outset his mannerism is true to life,totally nerdy..especially one of his first scenes entering a snooker club (not giving away too much). It portrays the love/hate (mainly on Alex's side,well hate really) and actually quite saddening brief scene where Davis goes back in to arena after seeing Higgins lose (and we see him once more on road to destruction still drinking alcohol long after lights have gone down) and he offers him some real good friend advice,but obviously with Higgins looking through a muddled haze of alcohol/whatever other drugs he could lay his hands on,he refuses and hurls insults at forlorn Davis. Another mention I must say played her part brilliantly was Alex's wife (played by Nichola Burley) ..Hell that woman put up with some s**t before finally realizing Alex was NEVER going to change his ways of drink/drugs and womanizing (didn't know he was such good friends with late Oliver Reed until I watched this movie),and she finally saw sense and left Alex. Alex's best friend in most of this film,Jimmy White (awesome acting James Bailey) sees his rise in game but never quite managing to hit world champion (such a shame I feel),he is supposedly another bad boy of the game,but yet never really see him up to no good here or in real life even (that I recall),but Alex was deeply annoyed/saddened when Jimmy revealed to Alex he had gone and signed with Mr. Hearn and newly formed 'Matchroom Mob'..after this point we see unfortunate Higgins spiral rapidly down,a quite emotional scene where he actually went to see Barry Hearn,begging for him to be signed up,but and rightly so Barry had more sense and refused..only further angering Higgins so he does what he does best and goes for more alcohol. I'm going to leave it at this point,because there are other points in film which I'm not giving away (simply because I want others to enjoy this film as much as I did). Yes,I'm an avid snooker player/fan and pool BUT,and I see this as important..this movie should/will appeal to most viewers not just those fans of the green baize !Honestly wouldn't have thought it was a made for TV movie,but certainly doesn't feel like it either. Be nice to hear what others think after watching this. Look forward to reading more reviews in the future. And at just under 90 minutes in total you not much to lose..I see there are a couple of 'so-so reviews',can't understand why/where from

Snooker Loopy

[fostrhod · 8/10 · 23 September 2023]

The Rack Pack (2016) docu drama about the rise of Barry Hearn's Matchroom stable of snooker players of the early 80's. Focusing principally on the rise of Steve "the Nugget" Davis and subsequent decline of Alex "Hurricane" Higgins. Like all great sports films at the heart of the action is the rivalry between differing personalities, be it Borg v McCenroe, Hunt v Lauda and no doubt there is a film/ book being written about Messi v Ronaldo.

I had'nt realised how much I recalled from my childhood about the early days of snooker on tv. Its a great film and you dont need to know that much about the snooker just to understand that there will always be a new kid on the block to turn over the reigning champ. A snooker loopy 8/10.

A must see for snooker fans

[iainsmith-18061 · 10/10 · 16 November 2020]

Tells the story of the hurricane Alex Higgins & his rivalry with Steve Davis , his battle with drink & drugs , his highs to his downfall but considering its to do with Snooker its a great great film and you'll love it .

John the Arab

[morelli_mark · 10/10 · 6 January 2019]

I should of had a credit as john the Arab, you see 48 minutes in