Dennis Taylor's remarkable 18-17 victory over Steve Davis on the final
black of the 1985 Embassy World Snooker Championship has justifiably
become regarded as one of the great moments in British sport. A record
viewing audience of 18.5m were tuned to BBC Two, the largest after
midnight figure ever recorded and BBC Two's best ever ratings. It was
also, at the time, the largest British audience for a sporting event.
Taylor's exuberant celebrations - complete with finger wagging, foot
stamping and cue waving - provided the perfect release to the tension
that had built as the match progressed towards its thrilling
climax
[on his infamous glasses] I'm short-sighted in one eye and slightly long-sighted in the other - quite an awkward prescription. When I started playing with these upside-down glasses, I think Eddie Charlton... he said, I looked like the cross between Elton John and the front end of a Ford Cortina. And these are proper glass, they're quite heavy really and the glare was coming in. Now I hope I don't... [glass lens falls out of glasses]. [Laughs].
