Game of Throws: A song of darts, mental health and working class desire
Imagine lifting the Darts World Championship title, receiving your cheque for £500,000 and then hosting a live Q&A at Stourbridge Football Club. Welcome to ‘Game of Throws’, Sky Sports’ behind-the-scenes documentary that encapsulates the true culture of everyone’s favourite Christmas sport.
The story of darts is nothing short of remarkable. From its humble beginnings at the Circus Tavern to sell-out nights at Alexandra Palace, the sport is growing into something far greater than anyone could have imagined.
A record 4.8m people tuned in to watch the 2023/24 World Championship final between Luke Humphries and Luke Littler, with the nation gripped by the 16-year-old’s journey to runner-up. The record figure represents the highest ever non-football peak on Sky Sports, and marks a 143% increase on the 2023 final between Michael Smith and Michael Van Gerwen.
What ‘Game of Throws’ does best is display the honest lives of professional darts players, who invariably come from working-class backgrounds. Furthermore, it lays bare their real life struggles, with mental health a prominent theme throughout the must-watch documentary.
Barry Hearn: “I could just smell the money”
Barry Hearn is the man behind the rise of darts. In 2001, the sporting promoter took over the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC) in a bid to revolutionise the sport. Hearn said “I can just smell the money” when he first stepped into the Circus Tavern in Purfleet to watch the PDC World Championship.
Speaking in the documentary, the promoter speaks of the allure of the sport that sucked him in. “I just saw thousands of me. I looked around and saw blokes having a good time, having a few pints and having a bet. They were watching world-class sport in a party atmosphere. I didn’t know another sport with that kind of atmosphere. I was captivated from day one.”
While darts had potential, it would have been hard to fathom that blokes drinking pints and smoking cigarettes would find their feet on the oche at Alexandra Palace. However, Hearn did just that by creating a roster of characters, with boxing-esque walk-ons that portray the everyday working-class person.
The humble roots of professional darts players
Something that fascinated me when watching the documentary was how top players’ habits have remained the same despite their significant success. 2023 World Champion, Smith, banters with fans at Stourbridge Football Club in a Q&A when a man makes a dig at the number of finals he flopped.
Smith still lives in his hometown of St Helens and is a staple of the community, attending his local pub for Christmas dinner. While I didn’t expect him to be gracing an expensive high rise apartment in central London, he appears unfazed by his success and has remained true to his roots.
Indeed, this appears true of most of the players in the documentary, with current World Champion, Luke Humphries, living in Crewe. Then there is Littler, who was 16 at the time of filming, living with his parents in Runcorn.
Littler is just a boy who loves throwing tungsten, but he has emerged as a national icon. The 17-year-old was recently announced as a nominee for Sports Personality of the Year and was the UK’s most searched athlete on Google for 2024.
Game of Throws highlights cutting issues in sport
For me, the most poignant message from the documentary revolves around mental and physical health, which is often overlooked within the sport. James Wade has visibly suffered on stage, with footage showing him bursting into tears while leading a televised match.
While Wade may have been mocked at the time, he speaks of his relief at receiving his bipolar and ADHD diagnosis. Such a diagnosis allowed him to understand his emotions, which came to the fore in a solo sport played in front of thousands of spectators.
Nathan Aspinall is another top player who suffered on stage, having developed the dreaded D word, ‘dartitis’ while on the oche in Brighton. Aspinall also suffered a repetitive strain injury on his elbow and literally could not release the dart. He discusses his struggles while receiving painful physiotherapy treatment on the treatment table.
Van Gerwen exudes the trademark personality of many high-profile professional athletes, with his confidence and arrogance on show. He speaks of living in a hotel due to touring for over 250 days of the year and spends his time watching Netflix before having an early night. With the players constantly on tour, this is an issue shared with individual sports like tennis, golf and cricket.
Despite the issues faced by players, you get a feeling that this is something they merely deal with in the pursuit of greatness. Although darts is not considered a sport by some, people will have to start taking notice, with television figures increasing at lightning speed.
Whether you are a darts fan or not, ‘Game of Throws’ is more than worth a watch. It showcases cutting issues in sport and offers a behind-the-scenes journey like no other.
