WE continue the countdown to the 2018/2019 William Hill World Championship by taking a look back at last year's incredible tournament in pictures.
Darts' biggest-ever event will be held from December 13-January 1 at London's Alexandra Palace, with 96 players competing for £2.5 million in prize money and the Sid Waddell Trophy live on Sky Sports - with tickets still ON SALE.
Here is the story of the 2017/18 World Championship told in pictures...
Photos courtesy of official PDC photographer Lawrence Lustig.
Round One
The calm before the storm...Alexandra Palace was ready for a magical 15 days of darts.
Fans flocked to the Palace, creating an electric atmosphere at the Christmas festival of darts.
Michael van Gerwen defeated fellow-Dutchman Christian Kist 3-1 with the third-highest first round average in the tournament's history.
A relieved Phil Taylor celebrates after enduring a few nervy moments in his 3-1 win over Chris Dobey to begin the final World Championship campaign of his legendary career.
Rapid-fire Dutchman Jermaine Wattimena came through an epic five-set showdown with Joe Cullen.
A proud moment for Keegan Brown who dumped out 11th seed James Wade.
A resurgent Vincent van der Voort saw off number eight seed Dave Chisnall in straight sets.
Legendary 63-year-old crowd favourite Paul Lim rolled back the years to defeat former Lakeside Champion Mark Webster.
Despair for two-time champion Adrian Lewis who suffered one of the biggest shocks in the history of the tournament as he was beaten by German qualifier Kevin Munch.
Round Two
Paul Lim agonisingly missed double 12 for what would've been one of the most sensational nine-dart finishes in history during his 4-1 defeat to Gary Anderson.
Rob Cross survived match darts to win a thriller against Michael Smith on the final night of action before Christmas.
Jamie Lewis produced the performance of his career to knock out Peter Wright.
Round Three
Raymond van Barneveld in his vintage pose after easing past compatriot Vincent van der Voort 4-1.
Phil Taylor continued his pursuit of a 17th William Hill World Darts Championship with a 4-0 whitewash of Keegan Brown.
Quarter-Finals
Rob Cross continued his dream debut after overcoming Dimitri Van den Bergh in another nine-set epic.
Phil Taylor tried his hand as a cameraman as he saw off two-time World Champion Gary Anderson to reach the final four.
Semi-Finals
Van Gerwen could only stand and applaud as Cross won a last-leg shoot-out to continue his fairy tale story.
Taylor hands Lewis the board as a momento after what would turn out to be his last win in professional darts.
Final
An emotional Taylor savours the moment during his last walk-on.
After a sensational performance which saw him average 107.67, this was the moment Cross hit a 140 checkout to win it in style.
There was mutual respect between Cross and Taylor throughout the match and during the presentation.
Cross stands proudly with his trophy in front of the crowd on an emotional night at Alexandra Palace.