Luke Littler’s novelty Netflix flop was almost saved by Fallon Sherrock

They came for Luke Littler and left full of gratitude for Fallon Sherrock, the first lady of darts playing a blinder to save Netflix headliner Beat Luke Littler from itself. Two hours and 45 minutes was grinding towards eternity when the “Queen of the Palace” nailed double top to claim the half a million quid jackpot and persuade what was left of the TV audience to care about the outcome. This must have been a cracking idea on paper: load a show with a cast of 24 plausible no-hopers, enthusiasts and has-beens, throw them in against the best player in the world for one leg of darts. Nuke the Luke for £501k. 501, get it? Sport is predicated on tension not novelty. Kasey Smith, a 16-year-old junior county player, came out of the pot first. The thought occurred that hers was the warm ball in the bag from which her name was drawn. Kasey Smith (left) only took up darts a year ago (Photo: PA) Or maybe it was a co-incidence that a local girl who once competed in Morris dancing was thrust into the Mancunian spotlight just a year after throwing her first dart in the pub where she works. Kasey started with a treble but would not be troubling her teenage counterpart any further. Next up was Tony Cole, a bank business advisor from Neath, who made it through the filtering process – 501 in 24 darts or less – despite never throwing a dart outside the kitchen of his Neath home. Tony called himself Top Cat. D’oh. The “Kitchen King” surely? Alas, Top Cat melted on the oche. Fair enough. That was the premise. Give a long shot a chance. You never know. Except you do know when the opponent is the back-to-back teenage world champion single-handedly taking darts to all corners of the planet.The show was in the wrong slot, really. It should have been a talent show, gathering up the best amateurs in the world and giving them a chance against the game’s golden arm. That way you might have had sufficient talent to create the theatre the production so lacked. The unknown is good, as long as the subjects have talent. The talent show is etched into Saturday night TV lore, bringing forth any number of likely lads and lasses into our homes. We love their stories, the difference they provide, the journey from nowhere to Simon Cowell’s door is all of us in some way. Gary Lineker was in the anchor seat tasked with teasing one-liners from fellow host Richard Osman, who sat with comedian Lee Mack either side of darting authority Laura Turner. Out on the stage and among the 2,500 crowd was Littler’s mate Angry Ginge, giving his ginger take on life with Luke. There were lots of bad jokes centred on balls in bags and too many young women shaking pom-poms as the entrants made their way to the stage. We saw a couple of 14-year-old, would-be Littlers who are setting fire to his amateur records, others from the darts development pathway. There was “Zacharia The Electrifier”, a professional jockey from Australia, an 18-year-old bin man from Bedford, who failed to clean up (bum bum) a couple of faded ex-pros and finally the hairdresser from Milton Keynes. Littler won 14 straight legs before being downed by Sherrock (Photo: PA) Sherrock was the 15th competitor on the oche, selected in a phone vote ahead of a giggling German pro in a shiny pink shirt. Sherrock knows Littler well, and his family. After 165 minutes on his feet the energy was leaving the Nuke. Sherrock sensed it was time for bed. She started with a ton, threw a maximum and checked out on 43 with her 14th dart. The show at least had a finale worth the bother and Sherrock the second-biggest cheque in the history of darts. Only Littler has thrown a dart for more. Good night.