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[Lucreto]

The show is set within "The Crystal Maze" - a labyrinth consisting of four different "zones" and its centrepiece called "The Crystal Dome".

Each show has a team of contestants travel across the zones, competing in a range of different challenges, with a "time crystal" won for each challenge successfully completed. Upon reaching the centre dome, a time limit is calculated based on the crystals obtained and the team have to collect as many gold tokens as possible in the allotted time to win the prize.

The Presenters


Richard O'Brian (1990-1993)

Richard O'Brian was the first host when it launched in 1990 and stayed for 4 seasons. He brought a very individual and distinctive style. This started with his physical appearance he always wore a long fur coat (leopardskin in series 1 and 2; black and white in series 3 and 4), paired with a brightly coloured shirt, skinny fit trousers and long, sleek leather boots.


Edward Tudor-Pole (1994-1995)

Tudor-Pole sported a look that has been described as "Georgian" and included an elaborate waistcoat and tunic, off-white sleeves and trousers, and long black boots similar to O'Brien's.


Stephen Merchant (2016)

In 2016 the show was revived as a once off for Stand Up to Cancer 2016 telethon, the host this time was Stephen Merchant all the winnings collected by celebrity players raised funds for Cancer Research UK.


Richard Ayoade (2017)

The Zones

Aztec

Futuristic/Future

Medieval

Industrial

The games
Each game involved a contestant venturing into a room on their own. The host advised the contestant on the time limit or special rules before allowing them to enter. As soon as the door was closed and locked, the timer was started.

There are four categories of game:

Skill games, tests of dexterity and accuracy. Including target-shooting, miniature vehicle driving and timing tests to get balls into the correct holes.

Physical games, tests of speed and strength. These included demolishing targets, climbing without touching the floor, using a zipwire and avoiding obstacles.

Mental games These included arranging 2D or 3D puzzles or solving a brainteaser.

Mystery games, which did not fall into the previous three categories. These included treasure hunts, sliding puzzles and finding the location of a crystal in a room using clues.

The Show begins Friday 23rd June At 9pm of Channel 4.


Edit: I plan on expanding all sections over the next week. Any suggestions please PM me.

 

[LoveCake]

Cool, cannot wait for this, however there is no beating Richard O'Brian imo.

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Super hyped for this, sets look amazing and Ayoade is a great choice.

Would have preferred Ocean to Industrial though

 

[Ashodin]

Oh man is this essentially Escape Room, the TV Show? That would make it super relevant for today's tastes.

 

[muteki]

Should I anticipate a timely and legal method of watching this in Ameriland?

 

[Cindres]

Oh shit the first episode is tomorrow night? Cannot wait! I didn't see the Merchant special but I'm definitely down to see what Ayoade brings to the show.

 

[frankie_baby]

Cant wait for it

Should I anticipate a timely and legal method of watching this in Ameriland?

Do british game shows ever get shown over there?

 

[Sephiroth503]

Is the theme tune intact?

 

[muteki]

Cant wait for it




Do british game shows ever get shown over there?

I can't think of any, just interested in it because of Ayoade and a few threads here and what I've been able to find on youtube.

 

[frankie_baby]

I can't think of any, just interested in it because of Ayoade and a few threads here and what I've been able to find on youtube.

Just find some "dodgy" way to watch

 

[Visualante2]

Oh man is this essentially Escape Room, the TV Show? That would make it super relevant for today's tastes.

You can get trapped in the room, but it's not really an escape room puzzle. If you don't think you can get the crystal in the time limit you can leave at any time. Creates a great tension for some of the maze like rooms.

 

[Delusibeta]

Should I anticipate a timely and legal method of watching this in Ameriland?

AFAIK, nobody's picked up this for a US broadcast. I would expect BBC America would be the most likely channel to get this. That said, your best bet is getting a VPN, point it towards the UK, and watching it on channel4.com.

 

[mclem]

It's O'Brien.

Oh shit the first episode is tomorrow night? Cannot wait! I didn't see the Merchant special but I'm definitely down to see what Ayoade brings to the show.

It's already up on 4od, although I haven't seen it yet.

Is the theme tune intact?

Reorchestrated, but yes.

Since the show was something of a cultural phenomenon, quite a few comedy programmes referenced it:

The Mary Whitehouse Experience
Cardinal Burns
Adam and Joe - Particularly appropriate, given Adam Buxton has a hand in the new one.
Maid Marian and her Merry Men



Also worthy of note, for people who're okay with foreign-language gameshows: The original The Crystal Maze was a replacement because things weren't ready for a UK version of Fort Boyard, so they made their own setup. Fort Boyard has, however, still kept going in its native France, and the latest series happens to start... this Saturday. I watched last year's series and it's an awful lot of fun, I tend not to find the language barrier too much of a problem, and there are a number of ways to watch it live. That's on France 2.

 

[Qasiel]

I'm really looking forward to this, as I grew up absolutely loving the original series.

I have a friend who works for the production company in their IT department and he sent me a picture of a crystal he was allowed to take. I swore at him a lot.

 

[Cindres]

It's O'Brien.



It's already up on 4od, although I haven't seen it yet.



Reorchestrated, but yes.

Since the show was something of a cultural phenomenon, quite a few comedy programmes referenced it:

The Mary Whitehouse Experience
Cardinal Burns
Adam and Joe - Particularly appropriate, given Adam Buxton has a hand in the new one.
Maid Marian and her Merry Men


Also worthy of note, for people who're okay with foreign-language gameshows: The original The Crystal Maze was a replacement because things weren't ready for a UK version of Fort Boyard, so they made their own setup. Fort Boyard has, however, still kept going in its native France, and the latest series happens to start... this Saturday. I watched last year's series and it's an awful lot of fun, I tend not to find the language barrier too much of a problem, and there are a number of ways to watch it live. That's on France 2.

I'll definitely check it out tonight either way.

So it's celebrity special again, are we getting a new full proper season? I was under the impression we were getting a new season with regular folks as contestants?

 

[mclem]

I'll definitely check it out tonight either way.

So it's celebrity special again, are we getting a new full proper season? I was under the impression we were getting a new season with regular folks as contestants?

A run of sleb episodes (Lineup for second: Scarlet Moffatt, Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Joey Essex, Jodie Kidd), segueing into a normal civilian series. I've heard 15 civilian episodes, 5 celebrity ones, although I'm not sure they'll do all the celebrity ones in one go; I've heard talk of a Christmas episode, which will obviously be held back for a bit!

 

[Gowans]

Will be watching tonight! Loved the Stephen Merchan special.

 

[Mindwipe]

A run of sleb episodes (Lineup for second: Scarlet Moffatt, Steve Jones, David Coulthard, Joey Essex, Jodie Kidd), segueing into a normal civilian series. I've heard 15 civilian episodes, 5 celebrity ones, although I'm not sure they'll do all the celebrity ones in one go; I've heard talk of a Christmas episode, which will obviously be held back for a bit!

Yes, one of the celeb episodes in your list is the Christmas special, which for obvious reasons doesn't air until Christmas.

My understanding is that the celeb ones are airing first, though from what I hear there was still a bit of active discussion at C4 about it.

 

[Any Questions]

Am in on this. Series set to record

 

[Menome]

Since the show was something of a cultural phenomenon, quite a few comedy programmes referenced it:

The Mary Whitehouse Experience
Cardinal Burns
Adam and Joe - Particularly appropriate, given Adam Buxton has a hand in the new one.
Maid Marian and her Merry Men

My favourite parody has always been "The Crystal Muck" by Dick & Dom:

https://youtu.be/zQSR7P9gmDY

 

[bosseye]

"Ok guys, I'm in a room, I've got.....um.....a Key! And there's a chest with a keyhole! Ummmm.......ok ok ok, what do I do?!"
shouting
"HAVE YOU TRIED EATING THE KEY CHERYL ?"
"DOES IT FIT UP YOUR BUM CHERYL, HAVE YOU TRIED THAT?"
"Ummmm, no I don't think it fits. I'm just going to scrape the key on the walls for now, see if that does something"
shouting
"TRY THROWING THE KEY AT THE CEILING CHERYL, MAYBE THERE IS A SECRET PANEL"
key clattering
"Ummmmmmmm"
"CHERYL! ITS STEVE! DOES THE KEY OPEN ANYTHING"
"What? The chest is made of some sort of plastic!"
"WHAT?"
"What?"
"WHAT?"
"Plastic! What? How much time do I have!"
"2 MINUTES CHERYL"
"What?"
"2 MINUTES!"
2 minutes of bellowing and running circles
"GET OUT CHERYL!"
"What?"
"GET OOOOUTTTT!!"
"The key fits in my bum!"
locked in

Etc. Love crystal maze.

 

[Cronen]

Can't wait! I hope Richard Ayoade does a good job!

 

[mclem]

My favourite parody has always been "The Crystal Muck" by Dick & Dom:

https://youtu.be/zQSR7P9gmDY

I knew I'd missed one, drat.

 

[BladeoftheImmortal]

Weren't the original prizes complete shit?

 

[bosseye]

Weren't the original prizes complete shit?

It was all stuff like "You've won an hours quadbiking in the Quantocks, how about that!"

 

[StayDead]

"Ok guys, I'm in a room, I've got.....um.....a Key! And there's a chest with a keyhole! Ummmm.......ok ok ok, what do I do?!"
shouting
"HAVE YOU TRIED EATING THE KEY CHERYL ?"
"DOES IT FIT UP YOUR BUM CHERYL, HAVE YOU TRIED THAT?"
"Ummmm, no I don't think it fits. I'm just going to scrape the key on the walls for now, see if that does something"
shouting
"TRY THROWING THE KEY AT THE CEILING CHERYL, MAYBE THERE IS A SECRET PANEL"
key clattering
"Ummmmmmmm"
"CHERYL! ITS STEVE! DOES THE KEY OPEN ANYTHING"
"What? The chest is made of some sort of plastic!"
"WHAT?"
"What?"
"WHAT?"
"Plastic! What? How much time do I have!"
"2 MINUTES CHERYL"
"What?"
"2 MINUTES!"
2 minutes of bellowing and running circles
"GET OUT CHERYL!"
"What?"
"GET OOOOUTTTT!!"
"The key fits in my bum!"
locked in

Etc. Love crystal maze.

This is pretty accurate. The people heckling in the Crystal Maze always made things 100x worse hahahahaha.

 

[mclem]

Weren't the original prizes complete shit?

In a very real sense, getting to run the Maze was the prize.

This is pretty accurate. The people heckling in the Crystal Maze always made things 100x worse hahahahaha.

Which reminds me that I probably ought to link the outtakes and production gallery videos.

#1
#2

It's great to see the crew getting as frustrated as we do.

 

[Newline]

My best friend worked on the new crystal maze set as a celebrity agent, it was filmed down in Bristol iirc. Apparently Richard Ayoade was pretty funny but typically awkward. He also said

Spoiler

don't expect any of the celebrities to be successful, they weren't

.

 

[DBT85]

"Ok guys, I'm in a room, I've got.....um.....a Key! And there's a chest with a keyhole! Ummmm.......ok ok ok, what do I do?!"
shouting
"HAVE YOU TRIED EATING THE KEY CHERYL ?"
"DOES IT FIT UP YOUR BUM CHERYL, HAVE YOU TRIED THAT?"
"Ummmm, no I don't think it fits. I'm just going to scrape the key on the walls for now, see if that does something"
shouting
"TRY THROWING THE KEY AT THE CEILING CHERYL, MAYBE THERE IS A SECRET PANEL"
key clattering
"Ummmmmmmm"
"CHERYL! ITS STEVE! DOES THE KEY OPEN ANYTHING"
"What? The chest is made of some sort of plastic!"
"WHAT?"
"What?"
"WHAT?"
"Plastic! What? How much time do I have!"
"2 MINUTES CHERYL"
"What?"
"2 MINUTES!"
2 minutes of bellowing and running circles
"GET OUT CHERYL!"
"What?"
"GET OOOOUTTTT!!"
"The key fits in my bum!"
locked in

Etc. Love crystal maze.

lol15.

It's perfect.

 

[Catvoca]

In a very real sense, getting to run the Maze was the prize.




Which reminds me that I probably ought to link the outtakes and production gallery videos.

#1
#2

It's great to see the crew getting as frustrated as we do.

LEAVE THE SKELETON ALONE, LEAVE IT!
Lol, these outtakes are hilarious

 

[moggio]

This is the essential Crystal Maze video:

Which reminds me that I probably ought to link the outtakes and production gallery videos.

#1
#2

It's great to see the crew getting as frustrated as we do.

 

[JonathanEx]

So because I'm sneaky, I watched tonight's episode through the 48 hour early thing.

I won't spoil details, but I'll spoiler tag just in case people really want to go in blind.

I think it's pretty good - I know there's a few bits that may not be perfect, it's not going to go straight in to your 'love it like you do the classics'. For me, I remember watching it as a kid, but I can't remember like 'oh well they've changed X detail, how dare they'.

Spoiler

Richard: It's basically his Travel Man exaggerated persona. I think that's great, it's the right level of awkward that's different from OB. It's appropriate awkward. Think a more confident Moss. It's a clever choice that I think works. He has a few new catchphrases and quirks that stand out a little but will settle in, I love his 'hand on a stick', first perfectly.

It looks great. No transitions between zones but that's not a dealbreaker for me, it looks and feels like the Crystal Maze proper, not like the one-off comeback from the experience with smoke alarms.

Games are fun, nothing hugely surprisingly different. But they're perfect Maze-fodder, with shoutability and 'I could do that better'.

Aaand the celebs, a bit all overly chatty for each other. And if you think oh no Louis Spence is annoying, you're not alone and you'll enjoy what happens to him.

There's still bits to see: Jarhead (Buxton) and the Knight (Hynes) aren't in ep1, so we'll be gradually introduced to the new things. Lovely.

I think it's a great first episode and it's pretty likely the series will grow on me as it goes.

It seems like they're doing a run of 4 celeb episodes, then it may move timeslot for the regular one (probably a smart idea), but they were being very coded on the podcast I listened to about what that'd be.

 

[mclem]

My best friend worked on the new crystal maze set as a celebrity agent, it was filmed down in Bristol iirc.

Did they have the smarts to book Michael Underwood at any point?

(For those not in the know: Now a TV presenter, but he was the team captain on the very first kids' Christmas special. Booking him would be a great link to the original)

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Oh nice, I didn't know this started tonight. I'll have to set my digibox to record.

 

[Captain Skeleton]

It's back tonight!? And with 20 episodes!? Excited!

 

[JonathanEx]

Not long now, it's on at nine. Very exciting to know it's back on actual TV tonight and an actual series too.

 

[LoveCake]

Its been very good so far already.

 

[Beefy]

Spence is annoying

 

[Cronen]

Ayoade is great!

 

[Beefy]

Hopefully Spence gets locked in. Liking the rest of the show though.

 

[JonnyKong]

Stay locked in you prick!

 

[Faddy]

Celebrities literally too dumb to function

 

[Beefy]

Please don't buy him out

 

[Lucreto]

Why they start with this "celebrity" special?

Should have started with normal people.

 

[mclem]

USE THE INGS

 

[sammex]

I laughed so hard when Louis got locked in. I'd leave him there for the entire game. Frustrating that most of the celebs are as thick as two short planks.

The sets look great though.

 

[MCN]

Geordie lass smashing the mental challenge. Gan on!

 

[Sir_Crocodile]

Lol, I think Louis is staying in there for the duration.

 

[weekev]

Richard Ayoade is brilliant.

 

[Beefy]

.