Bullseye was a popular game show which tested people’s darts skills and general knowledge. At its peak, it regularly attracted audiences of around 20 million viewers.
Presented by comedian and TV personality Jim Bowen, the programme ran for 15 series on ITV between 1982 and 1995. A revival presented by Dave Spikey was produced for Challenge and aired in 2006.
What did contestants have to do to try to win Bullseye?
Contestants played in pairs – one amateur darts player and someone who was good at trivia. There were three pairs of contestants competing in each show.
The first three rounds involved the Category Board – a dartboard divided into 10 sections each labelled with a quiz subject. The dart player, often referred to as the ‘thrower’, would try to aim for the categories their partner – the ‘knower’ had selected and if they hit it successfully, they would get a cash bonus.
Regardless of whether the dart hit the chosen category, the knower would have to answer a question on whatever subject was selected. If the knower answered correctly, they would collect money for the team.
The amounts each team could win would increase in each of the three rounds. For the first seven series of Bullseye, the team with the lowest score at the end of the three category board rounds was eliminated.
However, from the eighth series onwards, all three teams were able to continue to the next part of the game.
What was Pounds for Points?
In this round, the darts player would throw three darts at a standard board and the contestant who scored the highest would win control of the game, allowing their partner to answer a question. If they got the answer right, they would win £1 for every point the thrower had thrown - so 180 points would mean £180 for the team.
If the knower got the answer wrong, the question would pass to the team with the second-highest score. After three questions, the highest scoring team would go through to play Bully’s Prize Board.
All three teams would receive the amount of cash they had accumulated during the show so far, some Bullseye-themed memorabilia and the famous ‘bendy Bully’ – a rubber version of the show’s mascot.
Who was Bully?
Bully was a brown bull wearing a red and white striped shirt. He featured in the Bullseye logo and an animated version of the character appeared at various points during the show.
Did professional darts players get involved?
The Bullseye show featured a charity interlude in which a professional darts player or sometimes a celebrity name would throw nine darts at a matchplay board. For each point scored, the show would donate £1 to a charity of the winning team’s choice.
If the guest darts player scored higher than 300 then the charitable donation would be £2 per point.
What was Bully’s Prize Board?
The finale of the Bullseye TV show was when the winning team played for big prizes by facing Bully’s Prize Board. The dartboard was a custom-made one for the show with red and black sections.
The narrow red sections each represented a different prize, while hitting the black was worth nothing. If a player hit the same red section twice, they would lose that prize.
However, if a team hit the same red section a third time, they would get the prize back again. There were a total of eight prizes up for grabs on the board – usually low to medium-value items like a remote-controlled car or a television.
If the team hit the bullseye then they would win a larger prize known as Bully’s Special Prize.
Did the team keep all the prizes?
At the end of the Bully’s Prize Board round, the team could decide whether to walk away with the prizes they had won or gamble them all for a mystery star prize. The star prize was usually a big ticket item like a holiday, speedboat, car or caravan but the contestants had to decide whether to play for it without knowing what it was.
If they did decide to play, the team would be given six darts and both contestants would be expected to play, throwing three each. The non-darts playing member would throw their darts first and the aim was for the pair to throw a total of 101 or more.
This round involved a standard dartboard and if they reached the total, they would win the star prize and everything else they had already won earlier in the show. However, if they scored 100 or less, Bowen would tell them they would leave with nothing but “their bus fare home”.
If the winning team decided not to gamble, the opportunity to play Bully’s Star Prize Gamble would pass to the contestants who came second or even third if the others all passed. The prize itself was only revealed at the very end of the show when it had either been won or lost.
What TV channel can you watch it on now?
You can still watch repeats of Bullseye on the digital channel Challenge. You can find it on channel 47 on Freeview, channel 164 on Virgin and channel 160 on Sky.
What were the Bullseye catchphrases?
Bullseye TV show host Jim Bowen had a number of famous catchphrases. These included:
“You can’t beat a bit of Bully.”
“Stay out of the black and into the red, Nothing in this game for two in a bed.” This referred to the red and black sections on Bully’s Prize Board.
“Let's have a look at what you could have won.” This was said when the final star prize was revealed at the end if the team hadn’t scored enough to win it or all the contestants had decided not to gamble.
“Now the cash you won for charity earlier... that's safe.”
“Super, smashing, great.”
“You win nothing but your bus fare home.”
Who kept track of the scores?
Darts referee and commentator Tony Green played an important role as the show’s announcer. He kept track of all the scores and provided the voiceovers and commentary.
Is Jim Bowen still alive?
Sadly, Jim Bowen died in 2018 at the age of 80.