James R | On 21, Apr 2016

The Rack Pack, BBC iPlayer’s first ever comedy drama feature film, will be broadcast on BBC Two, the BBC has announced.

“A snooker film everyone should go loopy for, whether they’re fans or not,” we wrote in our review of the film, which explores the glory days of the 70s and 80s snooker scene, when huge characters became household names – particularly rivals Alex ‘Hurricane’ Higgins (Luke Treadaway), whose natural talent and showmanship captivated audiences across the country, and Steve ‘The Nugget’ Davis (Will Merrick) who, under the guidance of manager Barry Hearn (Kevin Bishop), ushered in a new era of professionalism.

The film was written by Shaun Pye, Mark Chappell and Alan Connor, who are the team behind A Young Doctor’s Notebook, and directed by Black Mirror’s Brian Welsh.

It premiered on BBC iplayer in January 2016, when it made it into the top 20 most requested titles that month. Since then, it has had over 1 million requests in total, making it the most successful BBC iPlayer Original to date.

Now, that number of views is set to be given a boost, as the BBC plans to air the film on 30th April at 9.30pm, following the semi-final of the World Snooker Championship.

Victoria Jaye, Head of TV Content for BBC iPlayer, says: “The film has been a massive hit with iPlayer audiences, attracting over 1 million requests to date. The film will be the perfect complement to BBC Two’s coverage of the World Snooker Championship, delighting audiences who haven’t already discovered it on iPlayer. The Rack Pack is a great example of how BBC iPlayer’s role within the TV channel portfolio is transforming. No longer is BBC iPlayer just about distributing yesterday’s TV, it’s about originating the TV of tomorrow.”

For more on what’s worth watching on BBC iPlayer, see our weekly iPlayer column – or, for more on The Rack Pack, see what the cast and crew of the film had to say about it at the film’s premiere.

Photo: BBC / Zeppotron / Keiron McCarron

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