Bullseye

Bullseye
General Info
Presented by	Jim Bowen (1981-1995) Dave Spikey (2006) Freddie Flintoff (2024)
Original Release	28th September 1981 - 8th July 1995 17th April 2006 - 22nd September 2006 25th December 2024
Network	ITV (1981-1995) Challenge (2006)
Show Info
No of Episodes	354 (inc. 11 Christmas specials)
No of Series	15
Running Time	30 mins
Picture Format	4:3 (1981-1995) 16:9 (2006, 2024)
Producers/Production Company	ATV (1981) Central (1982–1995) Granada Yorkshire (2006)
Distributor	ITV Studios

Bullseye is a British darts-themed television game show created by Andrew Wood and Norman Vaughan. The show features three pairs of contestants, each consisting of an amateur darts player and a quizzer, competing in darts games and quizzes to win cash and prizes.

The original series aired on the ITV network and was produced by ATV in 1981, then by Central from 1982 until 1995. Jim Bowen presented the show during its entire 14-year run. A revival produced by Granada Yorkshire for the Challenge TV network, hosted by Dave Spikey, aired in 2006.

The show sported an animated mascot named Bully, an anthropomorphic large brown bull who wore a red and white striped shirt and blue trousers. Bullseye attracted audiences of up to 20 million viewers at its peak.

Rounds

Bully's Category Board

A dartboard divided into 10 sectors was used, each representing a different category and further subdivided into outer, middle and inner areas. Three rounds were played, with every team receiving one turn in each. On a team's turn, the darts player threw one dart and attempted to hit either the bullseye or a category chosen by their partner. Doing so awarded a cash bonus to the team and allowed the partner to answer a question in the chosen category. However, if the dart hit a different category that was still in play, no bonus was awarded and the partner had to answer a question in that category instead. Hitting a category that was out of play or failing to hit the board at all forfeited the team's turn. Questions were worth £30 each in Round 1, £50 in Round 2, and £100 in Round 3. The values on the board (working inward from the edge) were £30, £50, and £100; the bullseye awarded £200 and was always in play. In the first series, these values, working inward, were £20, £10, and £30, with the Bullseye worth £50. Categories were removed from play after one question had been asked. In the first series, hitting the bullseye entitled the non-darts player to select any value of question to be asked for a value of £50.

Starting in series 3, if the contestant in control missed the question, the first opponent to buzz-in could answer and attempt to steal the money. In early series, the opponents could silently buzz-in during the question and/or while the contestant was thinking, but were only asked for a response if the contestant missed. Later, they could only buzz-in after a miss, triggering an audible signal. If neither opponent buzzed-in, or if the first to do so also missed, the host gave the correct answer and the game continued.

For the first seven series, the lowest-scoring team was eliminated from the game after the third round. In the event of a tie for low score, the darts players for the tied teams each threw three darts at a standard matchplay board and the high scorer's team advanced. From series 8 on, all three teams continued to the next portion of the game.

The names listed for Bully's Category Board in alphabetical order were:

• Affairs
• Art
• Bible
• Books
• Britain
• Faces
• Food
• History
• Myths
• Places
• Pot Luck
• Science
• Showbiz
• Spelling
• Sport
• Words
• World

Pounds for Points

Each darts player threw three darts at a standard matchplay board, and the one who achieved the highest score won control of a question for their partner. Starting in series 2, an incorrect response passed the question to the team with the second-highest score, then the third if necessary; the first team to respond correctly won £1 per point scored by their darts player. After three questions, the team with the highest cash total from the first two rounds went through to play Bully's Prize Board. All three teams received their accumulated cash totals, as well as show-themed souvenirs that included darts, pens, patches, tankards (or goblets for female contestants), and "Bendy Bully" rubber dolls in the likeness of the show's mascot.

Initially, if two or more darts players achieved the same total, a re-throw was held and the high scorer won control of the question, for the value of the original throw. Later, the re-throw was eliminated and the question was played on the buzzer by the tied partners.

Charity interlude

At the beginning of part two, a professional darts player (or occasionally a celebrity during the first four series and the 2006 revival) would throw nine darts at the matchplay board. The show donated £1 per point scored to a charity of the winning team's choice, or £2 per point if the total was 301 or higher. Celebrity players were given a 60-point head start, but often performed badly and would contribute some of their own money to the donation.

One episode of series four originally broadcast on 3 December 1984, featured comedienne Carol Lee Scott as the celebrity guest darts thrower. Bowen and Scott had known each other for many years prior after both having appeared on the same bill at various working clubs. However, as mentioned in Bowen's 1998 biography From a Bundle of Rags: Autobiography of Jim Bowen, the pair had a backstage exchange after filming of the episode, with Bowen commenting on Scott's performance which led to the pair trading several offhand comments, after which they refused to ever speak again.

Bronze Bully Trophy

During series 5 through 13 (1985 to 1994), the professional who recorded the highest score in the charity interlude over the course of an individual series won a Bronze Bully Trophy. The winners:

• 1985–86: John Lowe
• 1986–87: Lionel Smith
• 1987–88: Ray Farrell
• 1988–89: Mike Gregory
• 1989–90: Eric Bristow
• 1990–91: Bob Anderson
• 1991–92: Mandy Solomons
• 1992–93: Mike Gregory
• 1994: Kevin Painter

Bully's Prize Board

The team with the highest cash total from both rounds faced a board divided into eight pairs of alternating narrow red and wide black sectors, with a bullseye at the centre. The red sectors were numbered 1 through 8, each corresponding to a different prize, and the bullseye represented a larger item, "Bully's Special Prize." The team threw nine darts, the first and last three by the darts player and the middle three by their partner, and won the prizes for all red sectors they hit. Black sectors awarded nothing, and hitting the same red sector twice forfeited that prize—hence the show's catchphrase, "Keep out of the black and in the red, nothing in this game for two in a bed." A third hit to the same sector awarded the prize once again.

For most of the programme's original run, prize values were restricted by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, which may explain the perceived poor quality of prizes on offer. Although some prizes (such as a remote-controlled toy car or legendary "TV with wired remote control") were laughed at by the studio audience even then, smaller prizes were taken for granted at the time, and they seemed relatively lavish compared to those on offer in BBC game shows such as Blankety Blank - hence the TV recorder which recorded "7 channels for 7 days!". In a 2006 episode, Bully's Special Prize was a fully functional show-themed Fruit Machine.

Bully's Star Prize Gamble

After throwing their nine darts at Bully's Prize Board, the winning team had to decide whether to risk their prizes for a chance at "Bully's Star Prize," a large mystery prize hidden behind a screen in the studio. For the first ten series, the money they had won for themselves was not at risk; beginning with series 11, they had to put up both their money and prizes in order to play. (The team's souvenirs and the money won by the professional for their charity were never at risk.) If they chose to try for the Star Prize, they were given six darts (three per person; non-darts player throwing first) to score 101 points or more on a standard matchplay dartboard. If they succeeded, they received the Star Prize and kept their previous winnings; if not, they lost all cash/prizes they had risked. When money was at stake during Bowen's tenure as host, he would tell the team that they would receive only their "BFH" (bus fare home) if they lost.

If the winning team declined to play, the second-place team had the option to risk their money and try to win the prize; if this pair also declined, the third-place team was given the same choice. The actual prize was only revealed after a team had played the round, win or lose, or if all three teams chose not to play.

Bully's Star Prize was usually a holiday (especially in later series), a car, a caravan or, most infamously, a speedboat. Sometimes in the earlier series, less lavish Star Prizes (fitted kitchens and the like) were given away so as to fit within the IBA's prize limits. In the last two series, after prize limits had been lifted, the Star Prize would sometimes be "Bully's Treasure Chest" of £5,000. In an infamous episode from 1987, the Star Prize was a £2,000 fashion spree.

From series 8 onwards, if the second- and third-place teams had the same total, both were asked if they wanted to gamble. If both said yes, the two darts players threw three darts each at the matchplay board and the higher score won the right to play for the Star Prize.

On the show, it was never made clear if the two winning contestants had to share the Star Prize or if they got one each.

Transmissions

Series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes	Presenter
1	28 September 1981	21 December 1981	13	Jim Bowen
2	10 October 1982	23 January 1983	16
3	27 November 1983	3 June 1984	26
4	2 September 1984	21 April 1985	29
5	1 September 1985	16 March 1986	26
6	31 August 1986	8 March 1987	27
7	13 September 1987	13 March 1988	26
8	18 September 1988	30 April 1989	26
9	29 October 1989	13 May 1990	26
10	2 September 1990	17 March 1991	26
11	1 September 1991	8 March 1992	25
12	6 September 1992	28 February 1993	25
13	26 March 1994	23 July 1994	18
14	1 April 1995	8 July 1995	13
15	17 April 2006	22 September 2006	30	Dave Spikey

Christmas Specials

Date	Presenter
26 December 1982	Jim Bowen
25 December 1983
23 December 1984
28 December 1986
27 December 1987
25 December 1988
24 December 1989
23 December 1990
22 December 1991
27 December 1992

Gallery