Gladiators is a British television sports entertainment game show, an adaptation of the American programme and its format, American Gladiators, and was produced by LWT for ITV from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000, with a revival made for Sky 1 between 2008 and 2009. The programme's format sees four contestants, two male and two female, compete in a series of physical events against the show's "Gladiators", eventually competing in one final event, with contestants aiming to secure a place in the grand final and be crowned champion for their respective series. There was no money rewarded to the winner in any episode, until the final.
American Gladiators is an American competition television program that aired weekly in syndication from September 1989 to May 1996. The series matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own gladiators, in contests of strength and agility.
London Weekend Television (LWT) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm to Monday mornings at 6:00 am. From 1968 until 1992, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Thames Television, there was an on-screen handover to LWT on Friday nights. From 1993 to 2002, when LWT's weekday counterpart was Carlton Television, the transfer usually occurred invisibly during a commercial break as Carlton and LWT shared studio and transmission facilities.
ITV is a British free-to-air television network with its headquarters in London, it was launched in 1955 as Independent Television under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to BBC Television, that was established in 1932. ITV is also the oldest commercial network in the UK. Since the passing of the Broadcasting Act 1990, its legal name has been Channel 3, to distinguish it from the other analogue channels at the time, namely BBC 1, BBC 2 and Channel 4. In part, the number 3 was assigned because television sets would usually be tuned so that the regional ITV station would be on the third button, with the other stations being allocated to the number within their name.
The show was presented by Ulrika Jonsson throughout its original run, alongside John Fashanu (1992 – 1996 & 1999 - 2000) and Jeremy Guscott (1997–1998), with John Sachs providing commentary on each event, and John Anderson refereeing the contests. A group of cheerleaders also accompanied the show, known as the "G-Force". The success of the British series spawned further adaptations in Australia and other countries, while a children's version for the UK, entitled Gladiators: Train 2 Win, was also created and broadcast on CITV between 1995 and 1998.
Eva Ulrika Jonsson is a UK-based Swedish television presenter and model. She became known as a TV-am weather presenter, moved on to present Gladiators, and became a team captain of the show Shooting Stars.
John Fashanu is an English television presenter and former professional footballer of Nigerian (paternal) and Guyanese (maternal) descent. In his former career, he was a centre-forward from 1978 until 1995, most notably in an eight-year spell at Wimbledon F.C. in which he won the FA Cup in 1988 and scored over 100 goals in all competitions.
Jeremy Clayton Guscott is an English former rugby union outside centre who played for Bath, England and the British and Irish Lions. He also appeared for England on the wing.
Format
The series involves contestants battling against a 'Gladiator' in a number of events to secure points for the final event, The Eliminator. Typically, four contenders would appear in each episode, two male (Red and Blue) and two female (Pink and Yellow), and each contender would compete in five or six events, depending on the series or time constraints.
In each event, the contenders will score a number of points, usually ten for a win. Typically, both male and female contenders would compete in the same events; however, during series six, this format was removed, and female contenders would play easier games, whilst the male contenders 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 headstart in The Eliminator assault course with every point ahead of their competitor worth half a second. The winner of The Eliminator then goes on to compete in the next round.
In positioning, a 'head start" is a start in advance of the starting position of others in competition, or simply toward the finish line or desired outcome. Depending on the situation, a head start may be inherent, obtained by special privilege, earned through one's accomplishments, or granted mercifully by an opponent.
A typical series contains fifteen episodes – eight heats, four quarter finals, two semi-finals and the grand final. Occasionally, a celebrity or charity special will be broadcast after the grand final. Mini series, such as the final season (series 8), would consist of 3 episodes: 2 heats and a grand final.
Gladiators: The Ashes 1 was the first Ashes series for Australian Gladiators and UK Gladiators.
Gladiators: Springbok Challenge 1 was the first Springbok Challenge series for South African Gladiators and UK Gladiators.
Arena Birmingham is an indoor sporting and entertainment venue in Birmingham, United Kingdom. The Arena, which is owned by parent company, the NEC Group, is situated in central Birmingham. When it was opened in 1991, it was the largest indoor arena in the UK. It is currently the third-largest indoor arena in the United Kingdom.
The event line-up changed from series to series, with new events being added every series, however over the years some events were dropped due to safety reasons (Joust, Pole-Axe, Pyramid and Tilt), some never made it onto screen (Breakthrough & Conquer and Cyclotron) and one just disappeared without any explanation despite being both popular and not causing any injuries (Pursuit).
Cast and crew
Presenters
Over the course of the 8 domestic Series, Gladiators had 3 main presenters. Former TV-am weather presenter Ulrika Jonsson was with the show from the first episode and in many ways was the main anchor due to her TV background. Despite having no hosting experience, footballer John Fashanu was given the role of male host of the series. For Series 6 and 7 he was replaced by rugby player Jeremy Guscott.
TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise. Its daily broadcasts were between 6 am and 9:25 am.
International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1–2, Springbok Challenge
Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, The Royal Tournament 1997
Notes
Both Cobra and Lightning were never originally intended to be Gladiators. Instead, they trained and entered as contestants, and it wasn't until hours before the first recording that it was decided two more Gladiators would be required for the series. This is the reason neither appear on the cover of the music CD that was released to accompany the series. They were both upgraded to full-time participants in show three, and both remained until the very end of the programme.
Fox originally appeared as a contestant during the Wembley live shows of 1993. She was hand-picked to be a reserve Gladiator for the sixth series, however, she ended up becoming a full-time participant after Gold injured herself during training. When the British series ended, Fox became a member of the South African Gladiators team, appearing in their final domestic season.
Laser originally trained and entered as a contender but was later made into a reserve Gladiator due to several Female Gladiators being unable to compete due to ongoing injury problems. She later ended up becoming a full-time Gladiator, even appearing in the Second Ashes series.
Vulcan joined the British Gladiators series after his native Australian edition of the series was cancelled. In international Gladiators 2 and both Ashes competitions, he competed for Australia.
Wolf later became the team coach for the new set of Gladiators, who appeared in the 2008 revival of the series.
Gladiators is a British television series which aired on Sky1 from 11 May 2008 to 25 October 2009. It was filmed in Shepperton Studios and was produced by Shine Limited. It was a revival of the earlier series of the same name and based on the American version of the show. The US, UK and Australian versions of the show were all revived in 2008.
Diesel and Vulcan only participated in the "Battle of the Giants" special in season 8.
Contenders
Applicants who wanted to take part in the show had to go through vigorous fitness tests before they were selected to take part. Footage of several of the tests were broadcast during behind-the-scenes segments during both the first and second series. Notable competitors on the show include future British 400-metre hurdler Chris Rawlinson and Wales International Rugby Union winger Glen Webbe. Female wrestler Non Evans who appeared only once as a contestant during the sixth series. Cage fighter Alex Reid also appeared as a contestant during the seventh series. Most competitors achieved brief local fame, but series three women's champion Eunice Huthart earned great recognition, and briefly presented late night television before becoming a stunt double. Several competitors from the show's history later went on to appear on Total Wipeout, the most notable being series seven contestants Colm Curran and Micah Hudson. Series 5 winner Mark Mottram went on to become a professional stuntman and was Pierce Brosnan's stunt double in the James Bond films. He appeared in Batman (as Heath Ledger's double). He is married to Debbie Mottram, who was a cheerleader he met on Gladiators. Series 1 winner Weininger Irwin appeared in the BBC series Back in Time for Brixton in November 2016, in which a family experience 50 years of black British history;[2] in one episode, he and his family watched his victory in the first Gladiators series final.
Sam Codjoe reached the series 3 final. However he was injured at the beginning of powerball, the fourth game of the night, as a result of a mistimed tackle from Shadow and was replaced by Phil Campbell (whom he defeated in his semi-final). The £2000 runner up cheque was equally split between the two as both were deemed to have competed in three games.
John Anderson has been the head official. Before every event he called: "Contender ready! Gladiator ready!. " similar to his American counterpart, Larry Thompson, but he added a countdown, "Three! Two! One!" before starting the game. During celebrity specials Anderson took a more light-hearted attitude to the show such as adapting his call to "Little contender ready!" when Willie Carson took part. John had an assistant on the show, known as the "Official Timekeeper". The role was predominately filled by Andrew Norgate since 1993, (2nd series and his first appearance) 1995 (4th series), 1996 (5th series), (1998 7th series), and 1999 until 1 January 2000 (8th series and his last and final appearance) who was also a producer. Norgate was replaced by athlete Derek Redmond for series 3 and Eugene Gilkes for series 6 and also for the 1998 Springbok Challenge series, and his arch-nemesis is male gladiator Wolf.
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 childrens' 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").
Controversies
This article's Criticism or Controversy section may compromise the article's neutral point of view of the subject. Please integrate the section's contents into the article as a whole, or rewrite the material.(April 2014)
During the first season in 1992, on the very 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 turned out that Bawden had greased her legs. It also turned out that Bawden had undone her laces so that Scorpio could not hold onto her trainers. Although this wasn't explored on the actual programme, the incident was given 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 while 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 trick. 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 sacked from the show, having received the lowest number of votes from fans in a magazine poll. Series show runner 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 season in 1994, Panther (Helen O'Reilly) suffered one of the worst injuries seen the show when she fell from her platform during Tilt and severely injured her back. She returned to the show later in the season and remained with the show for a further two years before retiring permanently.
After the third season in 1994, a newspaper uncovered evidence that Shadow (Jefferson King) had taken steroids. King later confirmed the rumours were true and was sacked shortly afterwards.
Season 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 season 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 season). 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 2, both on Danger Zone, due to an injury on Pole Axe during training. She retired permanently the following year. Nightshade (Judy Simpson) made only sparse outings during the season 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 final appearance came when beaten on her specialty event Duel, her only defeat 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.[3]
After the sixth season in 1997, Warrior (Michael Ahearne) was sacked from the show, after being arrested for a firearms offence. Despite many questions at the time about his departure, the real reason was only revealed six months later in a newspaper article.
Format changes
Season seven (1998) saw the show have an overhaul. 2 new male Gladiators joined the team. Diesel and Vulcan. Vulcan was the "bad boy" of the Australian version of the show. He 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. 3 new games were introduced. Catapult, Dogfight and Vertigo. This was the most new events introduced in a single season since 1994. However all 3 did not go down well with viewers. As well as the 3 new games, 3 established events (Powerball, Pendulum and Gauntlet) had rule changes.
Another change was the Gladiators' costumes. The "logos" (Bow for Hunter, Playing Cards for Ace etc.) were removed and a standardised outfit was brought in. Red for females and blue for males. The actual "cut" of each gladiator costume remained the same from the previous season. The basic design was part of the word "Gladiators" written in black on each outfit.
Despite the changes, Viewing figures continued to drop and the series was axed on 11 February 1999. However ITV agreed to film another 4 episodes. These episodes were filmed in summer 1999 at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham. Consisting of a 3-part mini-series which saw previous winners compete to be crowned "Champion of Champions" 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). These 3 episodes attracted good ratings for the time slot with the series making it into a new millennium, finally bowing out on New Year's Day 2000.
For four years a series of 'live' shows were played in the Spring ahead of the recording of the televised series. These shows were used to roadtest new event concepts and new Gladiators.
1993
Venue:Wembley Arena, London, England Presenters:John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson Female Gladiators: Flame, Jet, Lightning, Panther, Phoenix, Scorpio, Zodiac Male Gladiators: Bullit, Cobra, Hawk, Saracen, Shadow, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Referee: John Anderson Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate Dates: 26–28 March[4]
The first set of live shows was used to roadtest three new potential events ahead of the televised series. One of the events, Tilt, would be used in the televised series with little modification. Joust was also roadtested in this series with pugil sticks being used but the sybikes were much larger and lower to the ground than the events ultimate appearance in the televised series. A third new event taken from the American series, Breakthrough And Conquer, was also roadtested but would not be taken forward. An 'updated version' of Duel on a rocking suspension bridge using pugil sticks was also played[5] and this format would be modified and played as a new game called Suspension Bridge in the 1993 televised series. Atlaspheres, The Wall and the Eliminator were also played.
Three new Gladiators, Bullit, Trojan and Zodiac were included in these shows. For unknown reasons Bullit did not appear in the televised series (though would finally appear in a Legends episode of the 2008 revival series). These shows would be the last to feature Flame, Phoenix and Hawk who were dropped before the 1993 televised series.
Some of the contenders from these shows went on to be in the televised shows. One of the contenders, Tammy Baker, would later become a Gladiator, Fox, from 1997 onwards.
Highlights from these shows were shown in a preview episode to the 1993 series and whislt footage of him playing was included, there was no specific reference to Bullit (or Flame, Phoenix and Hawk).
1994
Venue:Wembley Arena, London, England Presenters:John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson Female Gladiators: Falcon, Jet, Lightning, Nightshade, Panther, Scorpio, Zodiac Male Gladiators: Cobra, Hunter, Saracen, Shadow, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Referee: John Anderson Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
This set of live shows saw the entire 1993 team return. Cobra suffered an ankle injury during the shows and had to be sidelined. Only one new event was roadtested in this series, Cannonball Run, which was later used in the 1994 televised series under the name Hit & Run. Atlaspheres, The Wall, Powerball, Hang Tough, Duel and The Eliminator were also played.
Some of the contenders from these shows went on to be in the televised shows.
1995
Venue:Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England Presenters:John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson Female Gladiators: Blaze, Falcon, Jet, Lightning, Nightshade, Panther, Vogue, Zodiac Male Gladiators: Cobra, Hunter, Raider, Rhino, Saracen, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Referee: John Anderson Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate
Four new Gladiators were introduced in these shows over Easter 1995, with Raider, Rhino and Vogue going on to take part in The Ashes series in Brisbane shortly afterwards before taking part in the 1995 televised series. The third new Gladiator, Blaze, was the 1994 female champion and International Gladiators 1 champion Eunice Huthart. However following these shows, Huthart wanted to compete as a UK challenger for The Ashes series and stepped down as a Gladiator.[6]
Unlike the other live shows, these shows took place in Sheffield Arena which was smaller than Wembley Arena. Pendulum had been intended to be roadtested in these shows but the arena was too small to fit the safety net. Instead Joust was played despite it being one of the least used events in the televised series and only making oen appearance in the 1995 televised series before being axed. Powerball, Pyramid and Atlaspheres were also played,[7] with Saracen injuring his knee during Powerball.[8]
1996
Venue:Wembley Arena, London, England Presenters:John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson Female Gladiators: Amazon, Falcon, Jet, Lightning, Nightshade, Panther, Rebel, Rio, Vogue, Zodiac Male Gladiators: Ace, Cobra, Hunter, Rhino, Saracen, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Referee: John Anderson Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate Dates: 11–14 April[9] Number of shows:7
The final set of live shows saw the introduction of Ace, Rebel and Rio as Gladiators – all of whom would go on to appear in that years televised series. Jet would suffer an injury during Pyramid in which she fell awkwardly trapping nerves in her neck[10] and she retired from competition after this event. Amazon, who herself had picked up an injury on Pyramid to her knee, would quit between these shows and the 1996 televised series. Pyramid itself would be axed following both these injuries and a leg injury to Rhino during filming of the event on International Gladiators 2 the year before.
Sumo Ball was roadtested in these shows and would feature as the only new event of the 1996 televised series. Other events played were Atlaspheres, Powerball, Gauntlet, Hang Tough and the Eliminator.
Royal Tournaments
In 1997 and 1998 a short segment of Gladiators was introduced to the Royal Tournament event at Earls Court after London Weekend Television won the broadcasting rights from the BBC. Duel would feature in the 1997 Royal Tournament and Pursuit featured in the 1998 Royal Tournament despite it having been axed after the 1996 series. For its Royal Tournament appearance, Pursuit saw a ten-second headstart (rather than three) for the contenders with the course being a sprint round a cone, web trap (over), low wall, web trap (under), hand ladder, high wall, sprint round a cone, spaghetti junction (used in the Eliminator in 1996) and sprint finish. The balance beam and wire bridge from the televised series course were not used. Fox, Rocket, Khan and Hunter took part in the shows despite Rocket and Khan not appearing in the 1998 series and the Gladiators (except Hunter) not having had chance to play Pursuit in the televised series.
Merchandise
During the show's first three seasons, popular model makers Hornby made a selection of action figures and playsets based on the show.
The first wave 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 wave 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 wave 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 plates to clocks were released. Two CD and Audio Tape compilations were released during the early years of the show, containing tracks such as Holding Out for a Hero, We Are Family & The Boys Are Back in Town, as well as the instrumental music used during events.
VHS releases
During the show's first four series, a number of VHS's were released by Video Collection International (The last VHS release was instead released by Silver Vision). These contained episodes, specials or other material exclusive for home release. Many quickly sold out and are rare. The following VHS releases are available:
GL001 – Into the Arena – Contains Heats 1 and 2 from Series 1 (1992)[11]
GL002 – Powerplay – Contains Heats 3 and 4 from Series 1 (1992)[12]
GL003 – The Conflict – Contains Heats 5 and 6 from Series 1 (1992)[13]
GL004 – Countdown – Contains Semi-finals 1 and 2 from Series 1 (1992)[14]
GL005 – The Ultimate Challenge – Contains the Grand Final from Series 1 (1992)[15]
GL006 – The Very Best of Gladiators – Contains the special episode "The Challenge of the Gladiators" (1993)[16]
GL007 – Gladiators Return – Contains the special episode "Return of the Gladiators" (1993)[17]
GL008 – Contenders Ready, Gladiators Ready – Contains Heats 1 and 2 from Series 2 (1993)[18]
GL009 – Arena Attack – Contains Heats 3, 4 and 5 from Series 2 (1993)[19]
GL010 – Battleground – Contains Heats 6, 7 and 8 from Series 2 (1993)[20]
GL011 – Combat – Contains Quarter Finals 1–4 from Series 2 (1993)[21]
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)[22]
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)[23]
GL014 – The Gladiators Challenge '94–'95 – Contains the special episodes "The Return", "The Celebrity Challenge" and "The Fighting Forces Challenge" (1994)[24]
GL015 – International Gladiators: The Showdown – Contains Semi Finals 1 and 2 plus the Grand Final from International Gladiators I (1994)[25]
GL016 – The Power To Win – Contains the special episode "The Power To Win" (1995)[26]
SV001 – Jet: A Video Profile – Contains the special episode "Jet: A Video Profile" (1995)[27]
Related Research Articles
International Gladiators 2 was the second international competition of the Gladiators franchise, consisting of seven episodes. The series was filmed at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham during 1995. Six countries were represented, including United Kingdom, United States, Germany, Russia, Australia, and South Africa. This was the first series to feature the latter three countries, while Finland, who competed in the first International series, did not return for the second competition. While United Kingdom, United States and Australia all had their own domestic series, and sent champion contenders as well as carefully selected Gladiators, the other three countries did not have their own domestic series at the time of filming, although this was not indicated on screen. A total of thirty-six Gladiators competed across the series. This series became known as the 'season of injury', with five out of the six contender stables suffering from injuries prior to or during competition. The only country not to be affected by contender injuries was the United States.
International Gladiators 1 was the first international competition of the Gladiators franchise, consisting of seven episodes. Held at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England, the competition pitted contenders and Gladiators from the United States, the United Kingdom (Gladiators), Finland (Gladiaattorit) and Russia, who did not have a domestic series at the time of production, against one another.
Gladiators: Springbok Challenge 2 was the second Springbok Challenge series for South African Gladiators and UK Gladiators.
Gladiators is a sports entertainment television show that was an international success during the 1990s and early 2000s with versions of the show being filmed for local broadcasters in the United States, the United Kingdom, Finland, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Sweden, Nigeria, and Denmark. However, Russia, Germany, and the Bahamas would also compete in international shows during the series, despite the fact that they did not have their own domestic series.
American Gladiators is an American competition TV show that aired on NBC and Citytv in Canada. Hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, the show matches amateur athletes against each other and the show's own "gladiators" in contests of strength, agility, and endurance. It is a remake of the original series of the same name which ran from 1989–1996, with elements of the UK version of the 1990s. The show is refereed by Al Kaplon, a former American League umpire, who can also be seen as the referee in Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. Play-by-play narration is handled by Van Earl Wright.
The second series of Gladiators started in December 2008 with a Legends Special. The series aired on Sky1 and Sky1 HD. Many changes were made from the first series, including six new gladiators - Cyclone, Siren, Amazon, Warrior, Goliath and Doom. Three more games were added to the event pool - Pursuit & Suspension Bridge, which were seen in the ITV version of the show, and Rocketball. Ian Wright returned as presenter with Caroline Flack, who replaced Kirsty Gallacher. Taking over from original referee John Anderson was boxing referee John Coyle.
The first series of Gladiators began airing on Seven Network on 29 April 1995 following successful versions of the Gladiators format in United States, United Kingdom and Finland. The series closely resembled the UK series albeit with just four events and the Eliminator.
Gladiators: Train 2 Win is a children's spin-off of the British television series Gladiators. Aired on ITV, the series featured younger contestants playing adapted versions of the games featured in the parent series, all while being mentored and assisted by a captain Gladiator. Four series of the programme were broadcast, airing from 2 September 1995 to 13 March 1998.
After the show's third series in 1994, Shadow was sensationally sacked from the show, after a newspaper uncovered evidence that he had taken steroids. King later confirmed the rumours were true and was dropped shortly after. Scorpio also left, and along with Shadow was replaced by Amazon, Raider, Rhino and Vogue. This increased the number of Gladiators from fourteen to sixteen. Andrew Norgate replaced Derek Redmond to become the main timekeeper again.
This was the only series of Gladiators in which there were no changes to the gladiator line up. As such there were no changes to the starting credits and, despite the series popularity, there were no new photoshoots for promotional materials with the photography from the 1993 series re-used for the programmes and merchandise.
There were a number of changes to the Gladiator line up this season. Raider was dropped after one season. Whilst no explanation was given for his axing, he was the first Gladiator to have received a red card. Jet retired following an injury on Pyramid during live shows played at Wembley during Easter 1996. Three new Gladiators were recruited for the 1996 series with all of them appearing in the Wembley live shows prior to the televised series; Ace, Rio and Rebel.
This series saw the Gladiator line up increase to 14 with Falcon, Hunter, Nightshade, Trojan and Zodiac joining. Flame, Hawk and Phoenix were axed following the results from a fan poll, and this series sees the first appearance of assistant referee/timekeeper Andrew Norgate. All of the Gladiators received new outfits with the Gladiators appearing in more post event interviews and interviewing as themselves rather than attempting to adopt a persona.
The most notable change in the show's line-up was the departure of co-host John Fashanu. Fashanu had been accused in a football match fixing controversy the previous year, whilst the fifth series aired on ITV, and the producers chose not to renew his contract. He was replaced for this series by England rugby union player Jeremy Guscott.
On 11 February 1999, it was revealed in the British newspaper The Sun that Gladiators had been axed by ITV following continuing falling ratings—most shows in the previous series had dipped below six million viewers for the first time. This news came not long before the BBC announced that their once flagship Saturday night programme Noel's House Party was also to be axed after it too saw its viewing figures sharply decline. Both shows had regularly aired head-to-head against one another during their peak in popularity in the mid-1990s.
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