By Elliott West
“No praise is high enough, I had such great times with him, and I couldn’t have learned from anyone better.”
Dennis Taylor
Introduction
Every sport has its distinctive commentary voice and for snooker, it was for a number of years, Ted Lowe. I grew up listening to this master at work, who literally whispered his way through matches, a technique adopted by pure chance. Ted who in 1946, worked as the manager at the legendary Leicester Square Hall, often scribbled down the scores on a sheet of paper for the BBC’s ten-minute radio slots during the snooker coverage.
However one evening, the commentator Raymond Glendenning turned up to the microphone worse for wear, suffering from a bout of laryngitis and the desperate producer turned to Lowe and said “Young man, quick. You will have to take over”. A dubious Ted was passed the microphone, highly nervous because his boss, Joe Davis was playing that night. To avoid putting him off while he was playing on a table nearby, Ted began to whisper while commentating.
Afterwards, a downbeat Lowe approached the producer, ready to be berated for his microphone style but the response was the complete opposite. The producer had a big smile on his face and replied “You were absolutely fabulous”.
A Unique Style
Ted Lowe’s commentary was unique. He had a voice that drew you into the drama of the green baize but one that only punctuated the airwaves on occasion with a litter of sentences rather than continuous coverage. He knew when to speak when it mattered, literally having his hand on the pulse of the match. A man who verbalised drama. Such was his periods of silence during commentary that on one occasion, Ted collapsed in the box whilst working with Rex Williams one year at the Masters at Wembley. 15 minutes of silence ensued as Rex went to get help but no one actually noticed because this was Lowe’s style of commentary.
The real reason for this emergency was actually that Lowe was drunk. As he was put on the stretcher and taken out of the Wembley Conference Centre, his earpiece popped out of his ear like a champagne cork. When asked later how he was feeling, Ted jokingly replied “My ear hurts”.
Lowe’s Legacy
Ted Lowe graced the airwaves and television for half a century. A man who cited to have popularised snooker in Australia when Pot Black was transmitted there and the numerous trips he made there for the Winfield Australian Masters and the defining moment in 1975 when on one of two occasions the World Championship wasn’t held in England.
Ted was the man who scrambled around to gather a handful of professional players together for the first Pot Black in 1969, a programme that ran in both these and junior formats until 1993. It was the colour test card of its day, promoting not only the game but also the marvel of colour television, bringing the multicoloured game of snooker to life and attracting a legion of new fans.
Ted was promoted from the steps of the venue to the commentary box itself and was responsible for training a whole host of future snooker commentators including Dennis Taylor and John Virgo. Ted made no enemies in snooker, only friends and admirers. A man whose voice would have been successful in any sport and one that would have made millions if you could can it and sell it. Ironically Lowe was a novice at snooker but it was his vast knowledge of billiards and snooker that made him so popular. He had literally been there since the early days of the game and experienced it blossom, right up until its boom during the 1980s.
Think of any of the classic matches in snooker and you are likely to hear Ted Lowe in the commentary box. He verbalised the players’ shots and emotions, turning silence into electric drama, encapsulating the moment for the celluloid can. A man who broke the mould, who can never be replaced and will always be fondly remembered as a commentary great.
