The PDC World Darts Championship 2026

The PDC World Darts Championship has grown to become, in every sense of the word, a destination event. The Alexandra Palace, the championship's home since 2007, draws in huge crowds year on year and is now a firm fixture in the sporting calendar. Running from December 11th to January 3rd, the WDC 2026 is estimated to have attracted over 180,000 fans across the 24 days, almost doubling the previous year's figure. Viewing hours were second only to our Premier League Football Coverage, which points to an increasingly popular spectacle that audiences have taken to their hearts. To accommodate demand, the championship has expanded from one hall into a multi space spectacle within Ally Pally and includes more competitors than ever giving even more opportunities for fans to dress up and get involved. At the eye of this darting maelstrom Sky's production team, with more than a little help from Sky Post Production's editing maestros, not only harness the energy of this vibrant event, but elevate the action with some dazzling, fast turnaround shortform pieces that punctuate the live action...and all done at breakneck speed as the event unfolds. It's a dizzying challenge but one to which the Darts Team rise to year after year. The slick operation on-screen is only made possible thanks to some cool, creative heads behind the scenes. For a deep dive into how the Edit Producers dream up the eye-catching VTs, and how the Editors turn those dreams into reality...read on.

Sophie Lamb – Content Producer

The Darts World Championship is a huge operation and involves a significant team effort to succeed with an on-site crew which includes a Producer, Director, Director’s Assistant, VT Crew, Production Manager, Camera Ops, Floor Manager, Sound Team and Graphics Ops for each session with two sets of crews per day over a total of three weeks. We also have three Editors each day, working staggered starts on a split shift pattern to accommodate the afternoon and evening sessions. Then there are three Assistant Producers per session and as the ‘float’ I would typically start at 11am and then work through to the end of the night, or until everything was sorted for the next day. My role includes everything from assigning edits to creating content so I would set the team working on various VTs whilst arranging features and shoots. I’ve now worked on several tournaments including the 2025 World Championship, the World Matchplay, the Grand Slam and the Grand Prix.

The Darts has become a huge fixture in the sporting calendar with the headline being a record 51.2 million viewer hours across a tournament. The tournament itself has expanded to now feature £1 million in prize money, with more dates and broader participation, whilst also extending its reach beyond traditional strongholds into Asia and the Middle East. The ‘Luke Littler Effect’ has played a huge part in the event’s growth with massive viewership boosting the sport's worldwide appeal. The extraordinary story of a teenager winning last year’s PDC World Championship has taken the sport and the world by storm. For Luke to repeat the feat again this year has been just incredible.

Conversations with Sky Post's Planning department about our editing needs for the championship start during the summer. When booking Editors the qualities we look for are that they be Premiere Pro proficient with a strong knowledge of After Effects. Being able to use both at speed is essential too. We have a combination of fantastic Sky Post regulars including Trev Hart, Luke Smith, Andrew Carpenter and Mark Sison who are all quick and creative Editors, and this year we’ve also added some new faces from the pool of exceptional Sky Sports editors. Those new faces, including Mark Reddaway and Irene Kelly, all did incredibly well. Mark made some lovely graphics and is already somebody that we would like to use regularly. Irene was incredibly conscientious and diligent and always went above and beyond her remit which was a huge asset. She worked in her own time to complete the Premier League Darts VT that was going out on the Monday after the final. Her attitude means that she’s a delight to work with. Alongside them are some of our favourite, top-level freelance Editors including Hugh Lutley and Michael Vischer as well as Yodhvir Kandola who stepped in on the final which was fantastic and really made a difference to the day.

The range of work that the Editors are asked to do includes Openers, Big-Ups, Features, Stings, Closers as well as Interview Quotes. These are quick turnaround edits as they are shot in the morning and needed sometimes for the top of show or as soon as the first match is completed. The edit rota which matched the right person with the right kind of work was excellent. For example, having a quicker Editor for fast turnaround VTs like stings alongside an Editor with more time to spend on Big-Ups and Openers worked really well.

Talking of stings, the infamous Ally Pally Wasp decided to make a comeback. First spotted in the 2012 World Championship where he stung Adrian Lewis during his title defence, the famous insect was back to terrorise players and delight fans. Gracing us with its presence in the edit truck, it gave me the idea that we needed a VT to reflect the striped assassin's "pantomime villainous" role at Ally Pally. AP Luke Hopkins and Editor Andrew Carpenter then worked their magic, and the Wasp VT was born. It's final hurrah of the 2025 World Championship was during the final where, although trying its best to disrupt the unstoppable Luke Littler, it wasn't enough as the then 18-year-old took the trophy home for a consecutive year, but not before the infamous VT had gone viral. 

It was a great effort from all involved and the atmosphere in the truck was very positive. I thought the event was a huge success, everyone played their part and came together as a team. I’m so pleased that everyone wants to work on it again. It’s such a huge success story with Luke Littler significantly growing the sport, more prize money on offer than ever before and even more dates in the calendar. It was the most global World Championship to date so let’s hope it continues that upward trend. Massive thank you to all the Editors involved and from everyone behind the scenes in Planning. It really is a team effort.

Bea Goddard – Assistant Producer

As Assistant Producers (APs) we produce all the edits from end-to-end which includes ideating, organising and managing shoots, working with the Editors to come up with a visual style and prepping the edits on Premiere Pro. This involves finding music, footage, grabs and any other relevant content on the onsite archive or on the MAM. Some APs like to fully edit the piece for the Editors to embellish with colour and graphics, while some of the less experienced APs will hand over the skeleton prep and paints and then sit with the editors to craft the content together.

As a more experienced AP, this year I took more responsibility to support Content Producer, Sophie Lamb, and to help train Junior APs and Production Juniors in their edits. Each edit shift generally has two APs and one Junior AP or Production Junior, then the Content Producer would work hours that bridge the gap between the two shifts. APs would have an early (9am-4pm) shift and a late (3pm-11pm) shift up until the final two days when it would become one shift (12-11). Editors would work staggered schedules starting at 9am, 10am and 12pm. 

This is my fourth Worlds and it honestly gets better every year as my confidence in the work improves, but particularly this year as I have worked on more Darts than ever in 2025, and there was a real buzz around the tournament.

The Worlds has is the biggest tournament in darts, in terms of profile and prize money, which is how the Darts ranking is calculated. The tournament requires a huge, sustained effort and from working on it throughout the season, it feels like the culmination of the year’s work. 

From a work perspective, the Darts is special for the Multi Sports Team as it is the only event that all the APs in the department, and some from other teams too, work on together. This means there’s a brilliant amalgamation of ideas and sources of inspiration, and it really contributes to our team spirit. Personally, I always look forward to working with different people from across the department. It’s always been one of Multi’s biggest gigs, but now more than ever it feels like the event that everyone is talking about. Whilst the championship is on, it’s pretty hard to walk down the street, past a pub or even just someone’s TV in their living room without seeing the Darts on!

From a cultural perspective, the so-called “Littler effect” has been undeniable, and that’s been reflected in the viewing figures. Like all sport, Darts relies heavily on storylines, and Luke Littler has captured the attention of the entire country. The coverage works by emphasising the fun of attending the event, plus the scoring system makes the sport simultaneously accessible to new audiences and gripping to die hard fans, as set play means a comeback is feasible at any moment.

Overall, the event was a massive success. The expanded format came with some concerns about the quality of the early matches, but almost every session brought the required excitement and some new underdog heroes. From my perspective the tournament ran really smoothly. I hope Gian van Veen will show in the coming years that he’s someone who can push Littler. He had an amazing although emotionally intense run throughout the tournament, but Littler was truly just on fire.

Eve Ray – Sky Post Production, Planning Supervisor

Sky Post Production have a longstanding relationship with the Darts team to supply edit talent throughout the World Darts Championship, the biggest tournament on the Darts calendar. Throughout the year Post Production Planning work with Sky Sports to supply OB editors on many tournaments, and for Darts this includes the Premier League and World Matchplay. However, due to the scale and time of year, the World Darts Championship is certainly the biggest OB we plan for.

For our team, planning for this event begins at the end of the summer when the majority of our editors are back from their holidays and we all have the capacity to start thinking about Christmas. This early planning also gives us plenty of time to provide any required training for our team on workflow or technical requirements which may have changed from the previous year’s OB. 

The tournament takes place in December during prime holiday season. We need to balance staff Christmas holiday requests and factor in edit schedules for the rest of Sky Sports back at Sky Studios throughout that busy period to ensure we are fulfilling all our commitments.

Aside from the OB’s we edit lots of Darts content here in Sky Post throughout the year, starting with Player Profiles and Stings at the season start, continuing throughout the year with Openers and Promos etc. Darts edits are often AFX heavy, and we have a core team of editors who Production like to work with on a regular basis who are key members of the team at the OB. Ally Pally also presents a fantastic opportunity to introduce fresh editing talent who have been honing their skills throughout the year across various other Sports edits and relish the opportunity to work in a new environment. This year we introduced three new editors to the OB pool which not only exposes them to different workflows and experiences but provides Production with a variety of talent and helps to contribute to Post Production’s arsenal of skill that we can provide Sky Sports in general. 

We know from experience that three days in a row working on the OB is the maximum before the danger of fatigue can set in for our Editors, so early planning is crucial to ensure we have enough people on rotation to fulfil duty of care to our Edit Team whilst honouring our commitment to Darts. 

The Planning Team aim to have the schedule finalised for Production by mid-November. Of course, there are always life events and sickness which can impede even our best laid plans, but the community spirit and willingness to help amongst all of our colleagues here in Post means we can always find solutions. Planning for Ally Pally is very much a team effort across all areas of our department, the willingness to collaborate and the enthusiasm on show from all involved makes the process a really rewarding end to the year.

Luke Smith - Lead Editor

Working at the World Darts Championship during the festive period has been a staple of my work calendar for the last decade. For me it’s as much a part of Christmas as mince pies and eggnog! It’s the perfect Christmas sporting event as well: fancy dress, bright lights, loud music, and, of course, a cornucopia of entertainment for the punters and viewers at home. Not to mention no offside rule or VAR and a rulebook simple enough for even the most casual viewers to follow along.

From a creative standpoint, Darts has always been one of my favourite sports to work on. Every sport has a ‘structure of feeling.’ The way you approach a Golf Opener or Feature is very different to the way you’d approach one for Boxing for example. Darts, though, probably has the broadest aesthetic palette of all sports. Almost anything goes, which means there’s room to bring a wealth of ideas to the table.

The Darts can be fun—sometimes silly. If anyone caught the Ally Pally wasp VT during this year’s broadcast, they’ll know what I mean. But it can also be moody and introspective, much like some of the Boxing coverage. In many sports, the style of the output is dictated by the sport itself. In Darts it’s often flipped with much of the style and mood being dictated by our output. As co-creators of the content, this gives us tremendous creative power. But with power comes responsibility… so we use it wisely and go easy on the star wipes.

On the OB, there’s a constant balancing act between time pressures and creating aesthetics that truly lift a piece. Compare it to other sports: Lewis Hamilton speeding around an F1 track instantly gets the heart racing. A boxer with a bloodied face limping back to their corner has a primal, visceral effect. Two people throwing darts at a small board aiming for tiny red pockets of compressed sisal fibres? On the face of it, not the same emotional impact, so how can I help to embellish this piece while still hitting TX deadlines? And will I still have time to edit two more packages before the broadcast? These are the questions an editor needs to ask themselves on a Darts OB.

Experience helps. Knowing from memory how long it takes to cut certain VTs, communicating with the Producer about priorities and the order of play, and keeping a bag of editing tricks up your sleeve all speed up the process. A drive loaded with effects, presets and clean crowd effects is essential. Flares, filters, appropriately licensed fonts? If you got ‘em… bring ‘em! 

Speed in Premiere Pro is also crucial on the OB. As we primarily work on Avid at Sky, switching to Premiere, along with all its different shortcuts and workflows, can be tricky on your first day onsite. There’s very little time to find your feet though as TX deadlines are always looming, so this is the time to draw on all of your experience.

Furthermore, now that the World Championships have moved to being a HDR broadcast, there’s an added complexity. Even once you’ve mastered the nuanced technical specifications of HDR delivery, getting footage to look good in both SDR and HDR is a challenge. It’s the Goldilocks theory: too hot or too cold, and one output suffers. Old reliable methods for a quick cinematic look - like slapping on Magic Bullet with five minutes to air - can create far too much contrast in SDR. You might grade while watching the HDR only to realise the SDR looks awful. It’s a new challenge for Editors, but you’re not alone. Everyone from Camera Operators to Media Managers all have new considerations with HDR, and best practices are still being refined. So, that’s the Christmas Darts OB in a nutshell: fast-paced editing with lashings of creativity poured on like thick Christmas dinner gravy. Just don’t forget to make sure nobody looks as red faced as Santa’s suit on the HDR output!

Mark Reddaway – Editor

I was asked in advance of the event if I wanted to work on the Darts over the Christmas period. It was a job I had wanted to do and one of the biggest events of the year, which I typically watch at home, so I was excited to add this to my CV. To get me up to speed, Planning’s Amy Hatton organised my HDR and Workflow training as well as looking at some of the typical edits I’d be up against with Editors who had done the job previously. While I was happy to edit on Premiere Pro, I discovered I would also need a hard drive full of assets as well as some After Effects projects and templates that I knew well. With no internet connection for our equipment, and with the fast turnaround of edits, this would be invaluable.

I’d worked on OB’s previously in my career as an EVS op before I came to Sky, so I knew roughly what to expect. The truck compound itself was situated in the Ally Pally’s Main Hall where we had three edit stations, three setups for the producers and the EVS Media Manager. It’s a cool venue, but the walk up the hill from the tube was no joke - definitely a lot faster on the walk back! Once the public started to arrive at the venue the noise levels really ramped up. There was loud music playing pretty much constantly which, as you can imagine, made audio editing a bit of a challenge. It was recommended that I take noise cancelling headphones with me and that made a huge difference.

Typical edits were the Story Of The Day, typically a comms led, arty piece; Quotes Packages, which were multicam, painted interviews; Head 2 Head Quotes which were packages with the two players going up against each other; Big Ups of the players and matches, as well as Openers. You could be given a multitude of these to do in one day, so speed was key. With the Quotes Packages, you wouldn’t have very long to turn them around as they’re filmed once the players arrive, which in the grand scheme of things isn’t long before they play, and there were many of these per session alongside everything else. Communication with the Producers was key and you often found yourself jumping onto the system to hunt for paints ahead of time. Occasionally, there was time to prep these, but more often than not there wasn’t so you were just working on the fly to get stuff done. Many pieces were sent with minutes to spare due to matches not lasting as long as we might have hoped!

Being a live event meant it really felt like being part of team. Usually, back at Sky, you might see one or two of the Assistant Producers, whereas at the OB you saw and worked with multiple AP’s each day. Plus, you could chat to other Editors if you had a question or during the little moments of downtime during the day. These were real hardworking days, so you all felt like you were working together to create everything needed for the show. Hearing the constant talkback from the main truck with the Director and Producer also added to the live vibe.

I was complemented for my speed numerous times by Sophie the Content Producer who mentioned that she wanted me to do more days next year which was great to hear. By the end of the tournament, it all became a bit of a blur. On one day I think I did nine edits, with the vast majority of those being very time sensitive. We were very glad when one of the games went to an extra set, but generally very proud that everything made it to air which was what really mattered. The buzz of working on a live show and the nice feedback I received shows that I’m more than capable at this is my level of work. I’m excited to see what opportunities this opens up going forward and what other OB’s I could potentially get myself onto this year.

The Darts isn’t without its stresses but it’s an environment I feel I deal well with even if it’s one that I hadn’t been part of for over thirteen years. I had to put myself outside my comfort zone, but that’s something I need to do more of as an Editor. It was a really good experience, and the World Championships is a great event. I imagine it won’t be the last time I end up working there but if the weather is as cold next year, I’ll take my colleague Robbie’s advice in bringing an electric blanket!