Blood on the Carpet: 'Poisoned Arrows' (S2, E4)

This is from Series 2 of BBC's Blood on the Carpet. Narrated by Jim Carter. Shown in 2001.

[@fiddler8395]

The irony. Jim Carter is the narrator of this documentary and introduces “one of the cruelest attacks on any sport” the Smith and Jones sketch. @10.15 in the sketch the caller is played by ..Jim Carter.

[@Saxonbedwitch]

Single pint😂

[@dominicmackrill5953]

Look where the PDC is now, and the BDO went bust. Says it all.

[@harrymonk6]

It happens it used to be the news of the world then bdo bow pdc

[@Mr_Jingles_147]

When the BDO were absolutely on their knees in the mid 2000's Barry Hearn approached Olly about helping them out, and making the BDO a sort of development tour for the PDC. They offered to use the PDC influence to generate more events etc, but even then, when rock bottom, Olly refused. Stubborn til the bitter end.

[@matimus100]

And it's not even a sport

[@Qwcgvv]

Barry hearn has since stated he's glad the BDO turned down his offer and saved him 2 million pounds

[@danielcook2082]

Now the BDO doesn't exist because they wouldn't adapt

[@jimmyburch87]

​@@matimus100it clearly is.

[@johnmc3862]

Indeed though I wouldn’t believe a word Barry Hearn says.

[@edjones521]

A large part of the attraction of darts to TV was Sid Waddell's commentary. People would tune in to listen to him as much as watch the darts. He was a huge selling point yo TV companies. Not mentioned in this doc

[@sidneygreen9120]

Yes Sid made a huge impact to the game of darts absolute legend 👍

[@freakyscumbag]

Look at the BDO now, and look at the PDC ,,darts didn’t need Croft, but Croft needed darts and top players for his greed ,,but they worked him out and the rest is history,,,R I P BDO

[@TheMarathonomahos]

Credit to Ollie. The game wouldn't be what it is today without him. Unfortunately his quest for ownership of a sport destroyed him. No one owns any sport. The BDO could have continued as it was perfectly well, but now as the WDF, it is strictly amateur, which isn't a bad thing necessarily. It's still a good feeder system, but doesn't offer what it once did.

[@craigcharlesworth1538]

I think he just liked the amateur game. He always seemed happiest in the pubs and clubs rubbing shoulders with the amateur players and seemed to find dealing with the top stars tiring and not enjoyable. The problem was he also liked having money and status and for those things he NEEDED the top guys. I think he did well enough at keeping the BDO reasonably competitive throughout the late 90s and 2000s; a new group of players like Barney, Wolfie Adams and Ted Hankey managed to come along who were still very decent players and could still make the Lakeside feel like a big event. But when they all either defected to the PDC or retired there was nobody really coming up behind them and the quality dropped off a cliff very quickly. Shame.

[@tonyjonesbassoonwhippet2271]

"They do eat a lot because they've got to" 😂

[@BuyOneGetOneFree]

Did you see the narrator Jim Carter was the scorer in the ‘Not the 9 o’clock News’ sketch?

[@TS-1267]

... WOW! Former U.S President Jim Carter Narrating The Darts Score... What Did We Do To Deserve That Punishment..🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿✌️🎯

[@squirrelpatrick3670]

no way! That's a spot

[@BuyOneGetOneFree]

@@squirrelpatrick3670 Yes!… The head butler out of Downton Abbey… (not the former US President)…

[@squirrelpatrick3670]

I remember the sketch from the time... a bitter pill for darts to swallow, but maybe it was for the best in the long run

[@BuyOneGetOneFree]

@@squirrelpatrick3670 And last week we almost had a world champion who isn’t even old enough to buy a pint in a pub…!

[@bullyinspace]

The experts in comms

[@stephenturner6075]

I miss the darts on BBC2.

[@mickbrilliantfootballeroft327]

Yeah, knowing it is there as a comfort your very unlikely to watch, but on occassion. :) Keep Darts on telly.

[@dundundun363]

Its funny seeing Croft bomb it about in a Roller but refused to pay the players 😂

[@ROOKTABULA]

Funny to a sociopath perhaps.

[@dundundun363]

@@ROOKTABULA point being he was an absolute tool, obviously

[@squirrelpatrick3670]

I don't think he made his money from darts, he was a businessman... 'kitchen tile magnate'

[@thewhitedoncheadle8345]

no it was about money, thats what the players like bristow cared about. lets not bullshit

[@gavindoherty7809]

Absolutely, and in doing so they ensured the surival of the professional game, and the BDO went belly up.

[@andrewwickstead3802]

The Croft s to a degree were control freaks….. as Ollie said they didn’t own the players and he didn’t own the game so they could do what they wanted and they did!!!!!

[@lewissmith3896]

And it led to the downfall of their organisation.

[@danielmoran9902]

This is being narrated by the geezer from Downton!

[@antster1983]

Yep. Jim Carter was the narrator for _Blood on the Carpet._

[@s4squatch1]

My favourite BDO player was Ted Hankey but you don't hear much of him these days. I wonder what happened to him ? 😏

[@paulmartin4971]

Yes I liked the Count also but he was a bad loser lol 😂

[@martinjackson565]

Went inside for sexual assault

[@craiggodwin5960]

Prison for sexual assault

[@Jwg13]

Jailed for being a nonse

[@elaineplatt8707]

Jail

[@sidneygreen9120]

Oli was 💩on but just look at the PDC now 👍, half a million to the winner for throwing darts amazing 😲😳😮🤯

[@johnmc3862]

And the audience full of drunken louts.

[@sidneygreen9120]

@@johnmc3862 yes but what a carnival, and boy do you pay to get drunk 👍🤯

[@mattgiant8836]

I tuned into darts like many other Dutchies because of Barney and Stompe. I loved the characters back then, some almost cosplaying. But darts was not yet professional enough. I remember some used to drink beer during games and get almost pissy drunk lol. I stuck with the BDO until it was just unbareable to watch. But for a sports progress the birth of the PDC was the organic next step into development and it has been progressive. But I remember those days and hold them dear.

[@binzy698]

the history books will show that the two dinosaurs had no business sense, no managerial abilties or darts knowledge. just right place right time. they come across pretty deranged, incompetent and bitter for the most part

[@thelstanedwardsson4374]

20:30 - They pinched Trevor Jones soundtrack score to the movie Angel Heart with Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro here.

[@scoop2963]

BDO fcked it up.

[@iankings6405]

Darts isn’t a sport, it’s a game. 😊

[@darrylmcneill6729]

Just like golf

[@Majormoose1]

By definition darts is a sport 🤦‍♂️

[@andiharper4498]

The Crofts were just out of touch and out of their depth.

[@bigbernie7260]

Tommy looks like he has ate Olly Croft.

[@dlamiss]

Some of the people interviewed for this series must have been pretty bloody naive

[@matimus100]

Swearing nonsense

[@johnmc3862]

💴 💴 💴

[@dlamiss]

In what respect. I meant the series as a whole. The Radio one Bannister episode and my own favourite the Buck Fizz one virtually everyone was made to look stupid... In fairness the darts episode Croft came out of it looking like a sad old man but the rest of the people interviewed came across very well

[@Robbiewa-bg4lu]

Darts now is better off without the backward BDO. And frankly good riddance to them.

[@slavaukraini1991]

True but without the BDO and Olly Croft there wouldn't have been the sport as we know it today. The evolution is there and I'm glad we have the PDC !

[@Robbiewa-bg4lu]

@@slavaukraini1991 Fair point.The BDO did do good for the sport at the time.But the BDO was run by a very stubborn man who failed to see that the direction of travel was changing and he simply refused to embrace change which did a lot of damage to darts,nearly killed the game.Darts thankfully evolved and is now thriving. Lessons need learning so never again will the game be damaged.

[@therainmakerinsider]

Glad Ollie is six feet under. He was a naive control freak.

[@mickbrilliantfootballeroft327]

BDO fovever...or not. :(

[@twilh]

The BDO was and still is the gold standard darts organisation. Its a shame players ran away in fear and headed to the PDC rather than take on Martin "Wolfie" Adams on the Lakeside stage.

[@chevchelios6155]

You are ill!!!! You know nothing, but want to write nonsense! The BDO no longer exists!!!!!!!!

[@robertcolcombe6893]

Doubt wolfie would av won anything with pdc

[@MRAPEXPREDATOR1]

😂😂👍

[@MRAPEXPREDATOR1]

Who’s that other pile of shite, who didn’t have the balls to go to the PDC! Hanks or whatever his name is?

[@robertburke2246]

​@@MRAPEXPREDATOR1He actually did join the pdc

[@danielhornby5581]

The bottom line is that the players valued themselves more highly than perhaps they deserve to be and they managed to get funding from Sky who could pile far more cash into the sport than the BBC.

[@vvvictoriav5958]

If people will pay the money, then they valued themselves correctly

[@elaineplatt8707]

It was not they valued themselves it was the sign of the game going downhill rapidly from losing sponsorship like embassy and the players saw it

[@elaineplatt8707]

So did croft but he did not care because he was still lining his pockets he valued himself to highly

[@THP999]

Taylor and Priestley put their own money up to follow through with what they knew would be successful

[@user-cd5yd3dg4n]

BDO joke. Thank goodness they left tbe BDO. Darts is brilliant these days.

[@Majormoose1]

Both sides were in it for nlthe money but the Crofts blind arrogance and desperate need to control the whole game could have destroyed UK darts all together. Even in these interviews hes a smug SoB... Couldnt stand the old fossil

[@danielrichardcaprani9960]

Ollie you where ripped off,mrs Ollie, your beautiful.... where Working Class,end off.. love to you both,

[@danielrichardcaprani9960]

Never seen such a one sided load of bs,,,,money separates good people 😂

[@MarkL-we8uk]

Not to take away from the levels of commitment, dedication and skill of the participants, however, darts is a game, not a sport.

[@andrewjohnston2850]

and? sports/games are there for entertainment and there is none more entertaining than darts no matter what you call it

[@MarkL-we8uk]

@@andrewjohnston2850 I never cast any doubt on the entertainment factor involved

[@andrewjohnston2850]

@@MarkL-we8uk i never said you did, i just dont see the point of your comment. Who cares if its a sport or a game

[@Sam-gw5pl]

Is archery a game or sport?

[@Smartacus420]

​@@andrewjohnston2850i like darts but calling it the most entertaining is a stretch and a half lol. It's literally just chucking arrows at a board. Hardly gets the heart racing does it