Luke Littler has become a star of Bullseye – 30 years after it was staple of British TV. Prior to his scintillating World Championship success at the age of 17, Littler starred in a reboot of the iconic darts game show, which aired over Christmas. The now-18-year-old hadn’t been born when Bullseye made a brief comeback on Challenge TV in the mid-2000s following its original ITV heyday in the 1980s and early '90s.

But with interest in darts soaring thanks to the Littler effect, a pilot was commissioned with a view to producing a full series. The Christmas special was presented by England cricket legend Andrew ‘Freddie’ Flintoff with Sky Sports spotter Richard Ashdown serving as referee and caller. In keeping with the show’s original traditions, it featured a professional player taking part in a charity throw-off – and Littler was the natural choice.

“Bullseye in itself is amazing, and I’m glad that it’s back on mainstream TV," said Ashdown in an interview for Reach's special publication celebrating Littler's maiden world title. “Make no mistake, Luke Littler has had a massive impact on that. He was the natural choice to be the professional to appear on the pilot, and he was sensational.”. In typical style, Littler soon left the audience in awe. Ashdown, who had the best view in the studio, explained: “He gets the big introduction from Freddie Flintoff, walks on set, says ‘hello’ to everybody. We asked him to throw three darts at the board and he went treble 20, treble 20, treble 20, and I called the ‘180’. That genuinely happened.

HAVE YOUR SAY! Would you like to see a Bullseye series? Tell us in the comments section below. “In the game show world, there is no fudging it, like getting him to throw that dart again. You’re playing for money, everything has to be validated. I’m there as an announcer, doing all the fun stuff, [saying] ‘innnnnn one’ but I’m also adjudicating it. It was legit, he just walked on stage and hit a 180.”.

Ashdown also enjoyed working with Flintoff, 47, despite the former all-rounder’s wise-cracks about his height during the show. He added: “He’s great. I’d never met him before, he was lovely. “It’s great for him to get back [on TV after his devastating car crash while filming an episode of Top Gear in 2022] and he genuinely loves darts. That’s why they went for him. “You just had to see his reaction to Luke’s 180. He was just agog at what was playing out. It was really good fun.

Following a successful pilot, there could now be a full series of the show. Ashdown added: “It was a case of let’s do this pilot with a view to a full series in 2025. That’s been the talk around ITV and the production company who make it. Nothing’s confirmed yet.”. The signs are promising, with the pilot reportedly attracting an overall audience of around 7million, made up of the original broadcast, the Christmas Day repeat and streams via ITVX.