The two Lukes and a sport caught between silly and serious

Speed with which darts has changed is almost surreal, but it hardly matters when it attracts so many eyeballs

- Jonathan Liew

Here are plant burgers and arancini on sleek dark plates. There is a beer mat with the face of Brendan Dolan on it. In one corner of the room Michael van Gerwen is being interviewed by Troy Deeney live on TalkSport. In another, an influencer called JaackMaate is filming a video for his YouTube channel.

Dave Allen, the press chief at the Professional Darts Corporation, remembers the first time they held a media launch before the world championship. It was 2008; Phil Taylor and Raymond van Barneveld and Sid Waddell dressed as Santa Claus, holding a huge novelty dartboard. A handful of people turned up, a few photos were taken, and then everyone packed up and went home.

Now, the Sid Waddell Trophy stands backlit on a plinth in a London gastro-bar, while a Netflix documentary crew skim the room. There are enough industrial-strength spotlights to conduct a police manhunt. There is a security detail patrolling the venue for threats. "This is a sterile environment," he whispers into his radio, which is probably the first time in history a darts venue has been described in such terms.

Meanwhile, a man from German television is trying to get Luke Humphries to film a promo for his programme. "If you can look to the camera and say: 'Hi, I'm Luke Humphries, and I'm playing on Sportschau.'"

Humphries's brow furrows a little. "Sports Show?"