Gladiators (1992 British TV series)

The format of the TV show Gladiators involves various contestants battling against one of the shows' resident Gladiators, in a number of physically challenging events. The objective is for the contestant to secure points (and the 'Gladiator' to prevent this) for the final event, The Eliminator. Typically, four contestants would appear in each episode, two male (Red and Blue) and two female (Pink and Yellow), and each contestant would compete in five or six events, depending on the series or time constraints.

In each event, the contestants will score a number of points, usually ten for a win. Typically, both male and female contestants would compete in the same events; however, during series six, this format was removed; female contestants would play easier games, whilst male contestants would play more difficult games. Once all five or six games are played, the number of points is totalled and the contestant with the highest number of points gets a head start in The Eliminator assault course, with every point ahead of their competitor worth half a second. The winner of The Eliminator then progresses to compete in the next round.

A series typically consisted of fifteen episodes: eight heats, four quarter finals, two semi-finals, and the grand final; apart from the first series, which consisted of nine episodes: six heats, two semi-finals and a grand final. Occasionally, a celebrity or charity special was broadcast after the grand final. Mini series, such as the final series (series 8), would consist of three episodes: two heats and a grand final, whilst the two International series consisted of seven episodes: four heats, two semi-finals, and a grand final.

In the late 1990s, when the popularity of the programme began to wane, a spin-off entitled Gladiators: Train 2 Win was produced and was broadcast on CITV in 1996, based on Gladiators 2000, the children's 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).

• During the first series in 1992, on the first game of 'The Wall', contender Nicola Bawden slipped away from Scorpio (Nikki Diamond). Scorpio had managed to get hold of her, but she slipped off moments later and dropped to the floor. It was later revealed that Bawden had greased her legs. It was also discovered that Bawden had undone her laces so that Scorpio could not hold onto her training shoes. Although this wasn't explored on the actual programme, the incident was given a mention on the show's first home video release, Into the Arena, as Scorpio made a complaint. After reviewing the footage, referee John Anderson ruled that whilst Bawden did use excessive grease on her legs, there was no actual rule prohibiting this, therefore she was allowed to retain the points she had earned. However Anderson also said that Bawden's actions were not in the spirit of competition, and so new rules were immediately put in place to prevent her or any other contestants from trying the same tactic. Scorpio was shown to be unhappy with the referee's ruling, and with Bawden's apparent lack of sportsmanship, but when Bawden advanced to the semi-final, Scorpio would get another chance to pull her off the wall and was successful on her second attempt.
• After the Wembley live shows in 1993, Phoenix (Sandy Young), Flame (Kimbra LeAnne Standish), and Hawk (Aleks Georgijev) were dismissed from the show, having received the lowest number of votes from fans in a magazine poll. Series director Nigel Lythgoe was heavily criticised for the decision, and was slammed by TV critics for such ruthlessness. For reasons unknown, Bullit (Mike Harvey), who also appeared at the live shows, was never transferred to the television series. He was dropped for unknown reasons, and despite many press articles regarding the incident, no reason for his departure was ever given.
• During the third series in 1994, Panther (Helen O'Reilly) suffered one of the worst injuries seen on the show when she fell from her platform during 'Tilt' and severely injured her back. She returned to the show later in the series, and remained with the show for a further two years before permanently retiring from the show.
• After the third series in 1994, a newspaper uncovered evidence that Shadow (Jefferson King) had taken steroids. King later confirmed the rumours were true, and was dismissed shortly afterwards. In 2021, he was jailed for six years for the kidnapping, beating, and false imprisonment of Aaron Ali.[7]
• Series five became known as the 'season of injury'. Before filming started, Jet (Diane Youdale) retired after being injured during a live show in Sheffield on Pyramid. This led to the event being dropped for the upcoming series five. Amazon (Sharron Davies) severely injured her knee during training, and had to retire from the show (she did however appear on all publicity material for this series). Laser was brought in as a replacement, and even used the same costume but with minor changes. Laser made her debut in the fifth episode. Zodiac's (Kate Staples) appearances were limited to only two, both on Danger Zone, due to an injury on Pole Axe during training. She permanently retired from the show the following year. Nightshade (Judy Simpson) made only sparse outings during the series due to a severe virus picked up the previous year in Australia during filming for the first Ashes series. She had to be helped off after a game of Skytrak by the training team, and her final appearance came when beaten on her speciality event, Duel, the only defeat she suffered during domestic competition.
• Also during the fifth series in 1996, it was reported by the media that Hunter (James Crossley) and presenter Ulrika Jonsson were in a relationship. Although heavily denied at the time, Jonsson later admitted it in her 2003 biography.[8]
• After the sixth series in 1997, Warrior (Michael Ahearne) was sacked from the show.

Series seven in 1998 saw noticeable changes; two new male Gladiators joined the team, Diesel and Vulcan. Vulcan was the 'bad boy' of the Australian version of the show, and was brought in to be a rival for Wolf. Behind the scenes aspects were added, including clips of the contenders selections, and training as well as clips showing the contenders choosing which Gladiator they would face on a certain game via coin toss. Three new games were introduced; Catapult, Dogfight, and Vertigo. This was the most new events introduced in a single series since 1994. However, all three failed to win appreciation with viewers. As well as the three new games, four established events (Powerball, Pendulum, Gauntlet, and Whiplash) had rule changes.

Another change was the Gladiators' costumes; the emblems (bow for Hunter, playing cards for Ace etc.) were removed, and a standardised costume was introduced: red for females, and blue for males. The actual 'cut' of each gladiator costume remained the same from the previous series. The basic design was part of the word Gladiators displayed in black on each costume.

Despite the changes, viewing figures continued to fall, and the series was axed on 11 February 1999. However, LWT agreed to film another four episodes for ONdigital, the recently launched digital terrestrial television platform. These episodes were filmed in spring 1999, and saw the return of original host John Fashanu. These consisted of a three-part mini-series, in which previous winners competed to be crowned 'Supreme Gladiators Champion', and a one-off special entitled 'Battle of the Giants', where male gladiators competed against each other for the title of Ultimate Gladiator. The honour went to Hunter (James Crossley).

Similar to the very first series, each episode more or less contained the same games; Powerball, The Wall (female contenders), Swingshot (male contenders), Gauntlet, Hang Tough, and Duel. The only changes were that the male contenders played Atlaspheres instead of Swingshot in the second heat, and Whiplash was played instead of Gauntlet in the Battle of the Giants special.

The four episodes were first broadcast back-to-back on 29 May 1999 on First ONdigital, an exclusive free channel on the ONdigital platform for special events and programmes. The episodes were then shown nationally on the ITV network over the Christmas period, across four successive Saturday nights from 11 December 1999 to 1 January 2000. The ITV broadcast of the final episode on Millennium Day 2000 attracted just over six million viewers.

For four years, a series of 'live' shows were played in the spring ahead of the recording of the main televised series. These shows were used to test new event concepts and new Gladiators.

During the show's first three series, popular model makers Hornby made a selection of action figures and playsets based on the TV show.

The first release of figures consisted of Jet (B800), Shadow (B801), Wolf (B802), Saracen (B803), Cobra (B804), Warrior (B805), and generic figures of a Male Contender (B806) and Female Contender (B807). The first wave of playsets included Duel (B821, which contained American-style Ramrods), Atlasphere Attack (B822, which contained a yellow Atlasphere and a Wolf figure), Danger Zone (B823, with Warrior figure), Atlasphere Challenge (B824, blue and red Atlaspheres with Cobra and Male Contender figures), Super Duel (B825, with Shadow and Male Contender figures), and The Ultimate Challenge (B826, which contains all of the above). B823 was due to include a Hawk Action figure, but due to his departure from the show, a figure was never released.

The second release of figures included Trojan (B815), Hunter (B816), Zodiac (B817), and Panther (B818), as well as revised versions of Jet (B800) and Wolf (B802). A second wave of playsets included The Wall (B827).

A final release of figures were released for the first International Gladiators series. These consisted of a revised version of Hunter, and figures of Hawk (United States), Terminator (Finland), and Dynamite (Russia). In 1995, McDonald's gave away an exclusive range of figures through a Happy Meal promotion. These consisted of new models of Trojan, Wolf, Jet, Lightning, and the previously unreleased Rhino. Notably, many of the moulds for the Hornby series were shipped over to Australia, and reused for a range of Australian Gladiators figures. While the Male Contender remained the same, Taipan has an identical head to Wolf, and Vulcan shares an identical head to Saracen. Figures of Tower, Commander, Condor, and Hammer were also released, along with an identical 'Duel' playset.

Along with these popular models and play sets, everything from decorative display plates to clocks were released. Two audio CD and audio cassette tape compilations were released during the early years of the show, containing tracks such as "Holding Out for a Hero", "We Are Family", and "The Boys Are Back in Town", as well as the instrumental music used during events, and a three minute version of the programme's opening theme song.

During the show's first four series, a number of official VHS video cassette tapes were released by Clear Vision (with some released through their Silver Vision label). These contained episodes, specials, or other material exclusive for home release. Many quickly sold out and are rare. The following VHS releases were available:

• GL001 – Into the Arena – contains heats 1 and 2 from series 1 (1992)[16]
• GL002 – Powerplay – contains heats 3 and 4 from series 1 (1992)[17]
• GL003 – The Conflict – contains heats 5 and 6 from series 1 (1992)[18]
• GL004 – Countdown – contains semi-finals 1 and 2 from series 1 (1992)[19]
• GL005 – The Ultimate Challenge – contains the grand final from series 1 (1992)[20]
• GL006 – The Very Best of Gladiators – contains the special episode 'The Challenge of the Gladiators' (1993)[21]
• GL007 – Gladiators Return – contains the special episode 'Return of the Gladiators' (1993)[22]
• GL008 – Contenders Ready, Gladiators Ready – contains heats 1 and 2 from series 2 (1993)[23]
• GL009 – Arena Attack – contains heats 3, 4, and 5 from series 2 (1993)[24]
• GL010 – Battleground – contains heats 6, 7, and 8 from series 2 (1993)[25]
• GL011 – Combat – contains quarter finals 1 to 4 from series 2 (1993)[26]
• GL012 – The Ultimate Challenge '93 – contains semi-finals 1 and 2 and the grand final from series 2, plus the special episode 'The Battle of the Gladiators' (1993)[27]
• GL013 – The Climax – contains semi-finals 1 and 2, plus the grand final from series 3 (1994), plus footage from the 'International Challenge of Champions I' (1993)[28]
• GL014 – The Gladiators Challenge '94–'95 – contains the special episodes 'The Return', 'The Celebrity Challenge', and 'The Fighting Forces Challenge' (1994)[29]
• GL015 – International Gladiators: The Showdown – contains semi-finals 1 and 2, plus the grand final from International Gladiators I (1994)[30]
• GL016 – The Power To Win – contains the special episode 'The Power To Win' (1995)[31]
• SV001 – Jet: A Video Profile – contains the special episode 'Jet: a video profile' (1995)[32]

• Gladiators (franchise)

• Gladiators — official website
• The GladPod — the Gladiators Podcast
• Gladiators at IMDb
• Gladiators — at BFI, via Archive.org
• International Gladiators — at BFI, via Archive.org
• Gladiators – The Ashes — at BFI, via Archive.org
• Gladiators at UKGameshows.com