Worth Watching: 'Jerry Springer: Fights, Cameras, Action' and 'Darts Kings'

Worth Watching is back for 2025.

Hello,

Welcome to Worth Watching.

Can we talk about the astonishingly high TV ratings over the Christmas period?

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl has now been watched by 16.3 million people in the two weeks since it debuted. Meanwhile, Gavin & Stacey: The Finale has been watched by 19.3 million, making it the most watched bit of television, excluding news and sport, since modern records began in2002.

What I find fascinating is that these are not the final figures. They will be out in several weeks. The figures for the most recent Gavin & Stacey special have already surpassed the 18.5 million who watched the 2019 special, whilst Wallace & Gromit has beaten the 14.3 million people who tuned in for their last animation in 2008.

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January is a dark and miserable month, but what lightens it is the amount of good television on offer, so some decent shows this week. If you are paid subscriber to the full newsletter, you can see my tips of what shows might be worth your time in 2025.

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FIVE SHOWS TO WATCH THIS WEEK

Jerry Springer: Fights, Cameras, Action (Netflix - two episodes) - A two-parter looking at the rise and fall of the most tabloid and controversial talk shows of all time. Jerry Springer featured topics such as ‘I Married a Horse!’ and often featured guests who punched each other not long after walking out on the stage.

It was a talk show that didn’t care how lowbrow it could go so long as you kept watching (they once invited members of the Ku Klux Klan on as guests). This documentary lifts the lid on what this show was like to work on, and highlights that its tabloid nature was initially the result of desperation, as when the show originally debuted as a typical talk show, the ratings were terrible.

A surprising thing is that this documentary only has two episodes. Such conciseness is a rarity for Netflix. At times, the doc could have gone a little bit more in-depth.

If you found this documentary, watch… Jeremy Kyle Show: Death on Daytime, which explores the dark side of daytime television shows such as these.

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Darts Kings (Sky Documentaries / NOW - all episodes) - A sign of a great documentary is how it brings you in and gets you hooked on a topic you wouldn’t usually be interested in. This week, I have been low-key obsessed with darts, thanks to this new documentary looking back at the history of the sport.

Coinciding with Luke Littler’s recent win at the World Darts Championships, this series looks at how the sport rose from a game at working men’s clubs and pubs to a televisual event with more than 10 million viewers. With a great use of archive and anecdotes, it also introduces you to some of the people who revolutionised the sport, such as Eric Bristow and Phil Taylor.

It is also made by Mindhouse, a small production company co-founded by Louis Theroux, which has already done a string of great docs that have been featured in this newsletter. These include Boybands Forever (on BBC iPlayer), Tell Them You Love Me (NOW and Sky), and Gods of Tennis / Snooker (on BBC iPlayer).

To subscribe to the full version of this newsletter, become a paid subscriber for £3.50 a month. The fee is increasing to £4 at the end of the month, so now is a great time to join.