thirty years ago this month something as basic as two men hitting balls around a table with a stick gripped the nation by the throat .
it was as iconic a moment of the eighties as duran , yuppies , football hooliganism and mrs thatcher handbagging the unions .
it was steve davis -- lean , robotic and unsmiling -- versus dennis taylor -- tubby and splendidly bespectacled .
` and so the lights go down , ' whispered commentator ted lowe to 18.5 million viewers .