Mindhouse doc series will spotlight unlikely heroes who emerged in the 1980s

Mindhouse Productions has scored its latest sports-themed documentary series, this time focusing on the world of darts for Sky.  

Exploring the ‘golden age’ of darts, the three-part series titled Dart Kings is set to spotlight some of the sport’s heroes including Eric Bristow, Jocky Wilson and Phil Taylor.  

Darts Kings Bobby George

It comes after Sky earlier this year ordered a docuseries about darts from Dorothy St Pictures, following the PDC Darts World Championship which reached 4.8m viewers to become the highest viewing figures for darts on Sky Sports and Now ever.  

The Mindhouse series is produced by the award-winning Gods of Tennis producer Nancy Strang, marking the latest collaboration between Sky and Mindhouse following Lockerbie and Tell Them You Love Me.  

“Darts is now a huge television spectacle and one of the biggest sports in the UK,” said Strang. “But the people that really put the game on the map were a cast of brilliant working-class players who emerged in the 1980s and who, with their remarkable talent and personalities, transformed the pub game into what it is today.   

“This series is an opportunity to celebrate those players, to lean into this magnificent sporting subculture and the soap opera of their rivalries and lives; while reliving some of the greatest moments in the game’s history.” 

Starting in 1972, Dart Kings sets out to explore the unlikely heroes of the sport in a time where extraordinary skill was mixed with boozing and chain smoking, as well as an open-door policy to fans and media.

The series will chart darts through the decades of the 1970s, 80s and 90s featuring candid interviews with the stars of their day, including Bobby George, John Lowe, Keith Deller, Bob Anderson, Dennis Priestley, Dave Whitcombe, Linda Duffy and Maureen Flowers as well as commentary from Richard Ashdown, Julie Welch and Peter Purves, and infamous sports promoter Barry Hearn.  

Darts Kings was commissioned for Sky Documentaries by Hayley Reynolds, acting director of documentaries and factual with Kathryn Taylor as commissioning editor for Sky.  

The executive producers for Mindhouse are Nancy Strang and Emma Whitehead. The series producer is Claire McFall with Becks Chapman as producer. The line producer is Dejan Cancar.  

Darts Kings will debut on Sky Documentaries in 2025.