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Gladiators was a popular long running game show produced by LWT for ITV in the United Kingdom from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000, (though there was another series filmed in South Africa against the South African Gladiators in 2000 but this was not for UK broadcast) an adaptation of the United States game show American Gladiators, which had developed a cult following in the UK through its late night TV showings, as well as an Australian spin-off. Repeats of Gladiators series are currently shown on Challenge and Ftn.
The show pitted contestants in a variety of physical events against the 'Gladiators', who would attempt to prevent them from achieving maximum points on a variety of games.
After this, the two contestants would race each other on The Eliminator, an assault course containing climbing, balancing, and cargo nets. The contender with the most points received a half second head start for every 1 point they were in front by.
The show was originally presented by John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson. John Fashanu was replaced by Jeremy Guscott in 1997, before returning for the final mini series in 1999.
The referee was John Anderson and the timekeepers over the show's run were Andrew Norgate, Derek Redmond and Eugene Gilkes. John Sachs commentated for the show from the beginning to the end and the Gladiators were cheered on by a group of cheerleaders, known as G-Force.
Apart from the off-series live events, all the Gladiators tapings took place at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham, England.
=Gladiators series and shows=
The first series began on 10 October 1992, airing 9 episodes. The original format of the series had the top 4 contenders in the 6 qualifying heats go through to the semi-finals. The series only had 6 events to begin with before having to add new events in later series.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
†Overall Series Winner
Broadcast in September 1993, this series saw a noticeable change to the 1992 series in that there were new events, new Gladiators and an extended run of shows into what became the norm of 8 heats, 4 quarter finals, 2 semi-finals and the grand final. This series also had a celebrity special in which presenter John Fashanu took part and ultimately won.
The Eliminator course was also modified, comprising of two high and low hurdles, a rope climb, the hand ladder/hand bike, rolling beams, an extended cargo net, zip line, balance beam and the travelator.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
†Overall Series Winner
The first set of Wembley live shows saw the roadtesting of both new Gladiators and new events. Some of the contenders from the live shows made it onto the televised shows. Tilt, Suspension Bridge and Joust were all road tested and carried forward onto the next series (albeit with slight modifications). Atlaspheres, The Wall and The Eliminator were also played.
Highlights from these shows were shown in a preview episode to the 1993 series.
Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
Broadcast in September 1994, This series has been thought of as the best series by many fans due to the impressive calibre of contenders. It was this and the 1995 series that attracted the most viewers.
One of the more notable aspects of this series was the reduction of six events per show to just five. This was mainly due to time constraints in the National Indoor Arena. A celebrity and armed forces special formed part of this series. Olympic gold medallist Kelly Holmes auditioned for this series but later withdrew to compete in the European Athletics Championships. [1]
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Derek Redmond
†Overall Series Winner
Although no new Gladiators were roadtested in these competitions, there was one new event tried out, Cannonball Run, which went on to appear in the televised shows under the name Hit & Run. Some of the contenders from these shows went on to be in the televised shows.
Atlaspheres, The Wall, Powerball, Hang Tough, Duel and The Eliminator were also played. Cobra had to be sidelined during the shows due to an ankle injury he picked up after an event.
Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
The first International Series was held in the Summer of 1994. 4 Countries were involved and the series was a huge success all over the world.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Mike Adamle<br /> Event commentators: John Sachs and Mike Adamle<br /> Referees: John Anderson and Larry Thompson<br /> Timekeeper: Derek Redmond
†Overall Series Winner
Broadcast in September 1995, this is seen by many fans as the pinnacle of the show. The viewing figures were at their peak and most fans agree that the events and Gladiators were at their strongest this year. This season saw the last viewings of favourite events Joust and Tilt which were axed due to safety reasons.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
†Overall Series Winner
The last set of live shows to be staged saw quite a few injuries sustained, particularly for the women's Gladiator team, resulting in both Amazon and Jet having to leave Gladiators due to injuries on the Pyramid event. This also resulted in the Pyramid event being axed for the 1996 series.
One new event was road tested, Sumo Ball, which went on to appear in the 1996 series. The other events played were Atlaspheres, Powerball, Gauntlet, Hang Tough and The Eliminator.
Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England<br> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Time Keeper: Andrew Norgate<br />
‡ New Gladiators
Former women's domestic and international champion Eunice Huthart became Gladiator Blaze for this series of live events. However she retired from being a Gladiator before the televised series began filming to represent the UK as a contender in the first Ashes series.
One of the new events to be introduced in the 1995 televised series, Pendulum, was due to be premiered in the Sheffield live shows. However, the safety net used was not modified for the arena and the game could not be played. For the first few shows the pendulum could be seen stored in the ceiling before it was later taken down. Instead Joust was played, in a rather strange move as the event was hardly played during the televised series.
The other events to be played were Atlaspheres, Pyramid, Powerball, Gauntlet and Duel. These shows were notable in that it was the only time that Panther played Pyramid and the only time that Zodiac and Vogue played Joust.
Venue: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
This was the first Ashes series. The UK team travelled to Australia to battle it out on Aussie soil. It was seen as a great move as it was a chance to see how another country handled the show.
Venue: Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Brisbane, Australia <br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Kimberly Joseph<br /> Event commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referees: John Anderson and Mike Whitney<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
†Overall Series Winner
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: Ulrika Jonsson, Mike Adamle, Kimberly Joseph and Glenn Hicks<br /> Event commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referees: John Anderson, Larry Thompson and John Forsythe<br /> Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
A full listing of Gladiators, contenders and events can be found on the International Gladiators 2 main article.
This second International Series was the biggest ever Gladiators tournament. Over 60 competitors from all over the world came to Birmingham to compete for the title.
International Gladiators 2 Champions: Peggy Odita (USA) and Pat Czismazia (USA)
Broadcast in September 1996, During training for this series, both Gladiator Zodiac and contender Nikki Claxton suffered bad injuries on the Pole-Axe event, leading to it being axed for this series. Pyramid had also been axed due to career ending injuries to Jet and Amazon. Tilt was also axed due to the injury to Nightshade the year before and Joust was also axed, although the reason for this was never fully explained.
Zodiac's injury meant that she had to sit out the majority of this series. In fact, the only event she competed in was Danger Zone, in its two appearances. Nightshade also made few appearances this season due to illness and injury including suffering a strained neck on Skytrak (she had suffered a neck injury the previous year on Tilt). Both Zodiac and Nightshade left after this series. Panther also made a reduced number of appearances in this series. Because of this, a last minute addition to the team was made, Laser, although because of the nature of her arrival, she never appeared in any of the souvenir programmes.
One new event, Sumo Ball, which was road tested in the Wembley Live shows, appeared.
The Eliminator also had a slight adaptation in which a maze of elastic wires dubbed Spaghetti Junction, was added. This proved unpopular with viewers and was dropped after this series.
There was a slight format change to this series, in which the contenders were split into two teams, North and South, depending on where they came from, hence the title of this season was Gladiators: The Challenge. The Northern team was coached by Eunice Huthart and the southern team by 1993 male champion Phil Norman. The series saw the format of four Northern heats, Two Northern Semi finals, a Northern final, four Southern heats, two Southern semi finals, a Southern final and a Grand Final.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event Commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Time Keeper: Andrew Norgate<br />
†Overall Series Winner
This second Ashes series was brought to the UK and held at the NIA in Birmingham.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: Mike Hammond and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event Commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson and John Forsythe<br /> Time Keeper: Andrew Norgate<br />
†Overall Series Winner
Main Article: Gladiators season 6<br> This was a season that saw a few changes. Several new Gladiators were introduced but they never really settled into the Team and only lasted the one Season. Gold however left after this Season but made a return for The Springbok Challenge 2.
The Eliminator saw a few changes. A second cargo net was introduced, replacing Spaghetti Junction. A series of parallel bar swings replaced the rolling beam and two balancing see-saws replaced the balance beam.
This season also saw the introduction of split events, meaning at a certain point of a show, the woman would play one event and the men would play a different event.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: Jeremy Guscott and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event Commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Time Keeper: Eugene Gilkes<br />
†Overall Series Winner
South African contestants were invited to Birmingham to compete in the "Springbok Challenge".
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: Glenn Hicks and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event Commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Time Keeper: Andrew Norgate<br />
†Overall Series Winner
‡Gladiators not appearing in future shows
A full listing of contenders and Gladiators can be found in the Gladiators season 7 main article. Season 7 Champions were Jane Smith and Dave Walter.
This was the shows last full season. It was seen as the last nail in the coffin for the show by many fans. New games were introduced that were very poor, several events were changed that never really took off and the Gladiators costumes were changed.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: Jeremy Guscott and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event Commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Time Keeper: Andrew Norgate<br />
Main Article: Gladiators season 8
This was the last ever Domestic season of Gladiators. It was put together at the last minute as the show was axed but then the production was asked to stage a final mini series. It was decieded to bring back previous champions to battle it out for the Title of "Supreme Gladiators Champion".
A Battle Of The Giants special also formed part of this series in the male gladiators (bar Diesel and Vulcan) battle against each other. The winner was Hunter.
Venue: National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England<br /> Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson<br /> Event Commentator: John Sachs<br /> Referee: John Anderson<br /> Time Keeper: Andrew Norgate<br />
†Overall Series Winner (Supreme Gladiators Champion)
Venue: Standard Bank Arena, Johannesburg, South Africa<br /> Presenters: Glenn Hicks <br />
†Overall Series Winner
=The Gladiators=
Despite remaining a successful programme, particularly in its early years, Gladiators was not without controversy. One of the earliest criticisms to emerge was that the show seemed to glamorise the use of steroids and bodybuilding, leading several tabloid newspapers to take a keener interest in the Gladiator's personal lives. In 1994, Jefferson King (Shadow) was caught snorting cocaine in a nightclub, and later admitted on daytime TV to using a large amount of steroids during training. He was subsequently fired from the show, due to producer Nigel Lythgoe's belief that he was an unsuitable role-model for children. Another controversy occurred in 1996 when John Fashanu was sacked as co-host of the show, allegedly because of Premiership football match-fixing. The tabloids also focused on the relationship between Gladiator Hunter (James Crossley) and presenter Ulrika Jonsson; the pair initially denied the affair, but later Jonsson admitted it in her 2003 biography. More controversy followed as Warrior, the biggest of the Gladiators, was found in possession of a firearm and was charged.
Only four of the original Gladiators lineup remained by the time the show finished in early 2000: Cobra, Wolf, Lightning and Saracen. Several of the Gladiators were forced to retire due to personal circumstances and/or injuries. The most notable of these was Gladiator Panther, who sustained a neck injury after falling awkwardly on the game Tilt in 1994. Judy Simpson-Cook who played Nightshade contracted Epstein-Barr syndrome and left in 1996, as did Jet, who sustained a damaged hip after a tackle on the game Pyramid. She later pursued a brief career as a television presenter. Contender Nikki Claxton sensationally broke her neck in training for the 1996 Season on the Pole-Axe event.
Arguably the most famous Gladiator, as well as a hugely popular children's TV star, was Wolf (aka Michael Van Wijk), who remained in the show for its entire duration. The most outspoken and rebellious Gladiator, Wolf did everything to break the rules from fighting with contestants, arguing with the referee, pulling off contestants' trousers and bullying the presenters. Much of this was seen as a type of comedy/pantomime performance, yet he remained hugely popular with the show's younger fans, appearing in nearly every show aired. John Fashanu later commented that his popularity in the early seasons was so big, that if he didn't come out at least once during a show, some parents would ask for their money back, as children would have felt cheated. Wolf's villain role was later undermined by the introduction of Australian Gladiator Vulcan, who clashed with Wolf on several occasions. American Gladiators fans who have watched Wolf see him as the British equivalent to the American Gladiator Danny Lee 'Nitro' Clark.
Despite several introductions of new games and elements to keep the show fresh and exicting in the later seasons of the show, a massive ratings decline during it lead to the show to be axed. The final episode aired New Year's Day 2000.
The decline in ratings has been put down to two possible causes: firstly, that the show had become tiresome and repetitive, with the same games and Gladiators, and secondly the rise of reality TV, which had started with the "docusoap" format in the late 1990s, meant that viewership was drawn towards other forms of "infotainment", rather than action gameshows.
In the late 1990s, when the popularity of the programme began to wane, a spin-off entitled Gladiators: Train To Win was produced and aired on CITV (based on Gladiators 2000, the kids' version of American Gladiators). The show featured two teams of children, each captained by a Gladiator (varying each week) which sought to gain the most points. Some of the games differed from those on the parent show; for example, the "Eliminator" round was more similar to the "Pursuit" round (though it still featured the famous "Travelator").
Four celebrity specials were produced during the shows history. The first two, in 1993 and 1994 were aired in the week between Semi-Final 2 and the Grand Final and the other two in 1996 and 1997 were aired over the Christmas period.
Celebrity Special Winners<br /> 1993: John Fashanu<br /> 1994: Derek Redmond<br /> 1996: Steve Redgrave<br /> 1997: Celebrities v Jockeys - Jockeys team (Bob Champion, Willie Carson, Tony Dobbin, Carl Llewelyn, Peter Scudamore)
The Brian Conley Show included a sketch character who was a stuntman and mock Gladiator called Dangerous Brian, performed by Brian Conley himself. His commentator and "sidekick" was Gladiators' John Sachs. LWT produced both shows, and for one sketch, Dangerous had to run The Eliminator with Wolf. [2]
The show inspired many other countries to start their own series. The first 4 countries to get in on the act were Russia, USA, UK and Finland. All four appeared on the first International Gladiators series. Shortly after this series other countries such as Nigeria, Australia, South Africa and Germany followed the trend. The last two nations to air the show were Denmark and Sweden, Denmark beginning in 2002 and ending quickly afterwards. Sweden started in 2001 and ended in 2004, after much success including the only ever Gladiators PC game, 'Gladiatorerna'. With Sweden gone in 2004, no other nations remained, and therefore the Gladiators craze is dead.
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