The Crystal Maze
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| The Crystal Maze | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Game show |
| Creator(s) | Jacques Antoine |
| Presenter(s) | Richard O'Brien (1990-1993) Ed Tudor-Pole (1993-1995) |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of episodes | 83 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | Channel 4 |
| Original run | 15 February 1990 β 31 August 1995 |
The Crystal Maze was a game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1990 to 1995. Repeated episodes are often shown on digital television channels, most recently Ftn and Challenge from January 2007. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O'Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole. Each show was one hour long, including commercial breaks.
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[edit] Format
Originally, Chatsworth Television intended to make a British version of the French show Fort Boyard, but when it became clear that the fort would not be available at the time of the pilot show, Fort Boyard's creator Jacques Antoine was consulted about developing an alternative format that could be shot elsewhere. As a result, the show ended up substantially different. It was filmed on a very large set, originally at Shepperton Studios, but in later series at an adapted aircraft hangar.
The set was divided into four 'zones' (originally Aztec, Medieval, Futuristic and Industrial β Industrial was replaced by Ocean from series 4 onward), as well as the 'Crystal Dome', a giant geometric acrylic glass bubble at the centre of the maze where the teams play their final challenge after playing in all of the four zones.
On each episode, a team of six contestants (led by a team captain, sometimes with a vice-captain) would enter the 'maze', starting from a pre-determined zone, and choose to play three or four games of various sorts in each zone before entering the Crystal Dome.
The objective of the game was to collect as many 'crystals' as possible whilst in the zones in each game. When the team reached the Crystal Dome, they had to collect as many gold 'tokens' as they can in order to win a prize. Each crystal that the team won earlier would allow them five seconds in the Dome to collect tokens. Therefore, if the team won many crystals they stood a better chance of collecting a high gold token count.
Before each zone game, the team captain would choose which contestant would play and which type of challenge the game would involve. Games were classed as 'physical', 'mental', 'skill' or 'mystery'. These were typically puzzle games, often involving dexterity. The chosen team member would be sent into a chamber to play a game, and their team-mates could advise them from the outside (except in specific mental games where the team would be instructed not to confer). Successfully solving the puzzle would release a crystal.
Each game was given a time limit between two and three minutes. If the contestant failed to exit the chamber in the allotted time, or failed in such a way as to void the game, for example, losing too many lives or touching the floor where it was forbidden (these were referred to as "Automatic Lock-In" games), they were 'locked in'. Contestants that got locked in were unable to participate any further with the team, and would not be able to enter the Crystal Dome. The team captain could buy a contestant's freedom at any time by forfeiting a crystal, or choose to leave them locked in. A small number of games did not allow contestants to exit without winning the crystal, usually achieved by having the crystal freely accessible but requiring a puzzle to be solved to get out.
After competing in all four zones, the remaining contestants went into the Crystal Dome, in which gold and silver tokens made of coloured foil paper were blown around from beneath the floor by huge fans. Their aim was to post into a clear glass container (Edward Tudor-Pole calls it "The Cosmic Pyramid," while Richard O'Brien simply calls it "The Letterbox") 100 more gold tokens than silver tokens to win; each silver token gathered would cancel out a gold token. A final balance of 50 gold tokens entitled team members to a runner-up prize in the first series but this was dropped in subsequent series.
All of the prizes awarded to the team were usually once-in-a-lifetime adventure holidays. Earlier in the show individual prizes for each contestant were handed out; from series 5 onwards the contestants could choose a single prize shared by the whole team. Winning teams were few and far between; a testament to how much of a challenge the show actually was. All players that participated won a commemorative crystal saying "I cracked the Crystal Maze, 199x", despite the fact that the vast majority failed.
In series 2, a gold/silver gauge would appear on-screen during whilst the team played in the Dome so viewers could watch how many gold and silver tokens the contestants had collected. This was scrapped from series 3 onwards.
[edit] The zones
The four zones featured in the maze varied in terms of both games and setting - Aztec and Medieval were set in the distant past, Industrial and Futuristic were more modern. Teams began their game in one of the zones and progressed either clockwise or anti-clockwise around the maze; this meant that a team would alternate between the past and modern zones.
A general consensus amongst fans and viewers is that Futuristic Zone was often considered the most difficult, with a higher proportion of automatic lock-in games. By contrast, in earlier seasons, the majority of crystals were won in Aztec zone, which consisted of more physical games.
During travels through zones, a map was displayed showing the whole maze itself. Each zone had a different colour code; Aztec was yellow. Medieval was green. Industrial was purple, its replacement, Ocean, was blue. Futuristic was originally blue, but from series 4 onwards, it changed to grey to avoid confusion with the Ocean zone. And the Crystal Dome was white. At the map, the zone the team travelled to next was zoomed in on the map so viewers could get a clear view of the zone.
[edit] Entering the maze
When a team started The Crystal Maze, they had to overcome an obstacle to enter their first zone. These were:
- Aztec: row across a river in canoes
- Medieval: open or climb over a portcullis
- Futuristic: answer a question set by the computer
- Industrial: climb over oil kegs and wire mesh and/or open the gates with a key (from 1990-1992)
- Ocean: remove a metal grille and climb down a net ladder (replacing Industrial from 1993-1995)
[edit] Games on The Crystal Maze
- See also: Games on the Crystal Maze
[edit] Moving from zone to zone
When a team finished in one zone, they had to overcome an obstacle to get into their next zone. These were:
- Aztec to Industrial: Crawl through a pipe
- Aztec to Ocean: Walk across Stepping Stones, make way through SS Atlantis equipment and then crawl through a tunnel
- Industrial to Medieval: Climb up a ladder and swing across a chasm
- Ocean to Medieval: Climb a ladder, crawl through a small tunnel and then descend stairs
- Medieval to Futuristic: Cross a log over a bubbling swamp
- Futuristic to Aztec: Go up a lift and climb down a stepped wall or swing on vines
[edit] Popularity
The show's heyday was around 1991-1993, when word of mouth had spread. It was regularly Channel 4's highest watched programme, mainly seen by children and young adults (particularly university students who made it into a cult show), reaching a peak of 7 million viewers for the 1993 Christmas special. The Christmas specials were to cater for a younger audience, and often featured teams of children trying to crack the maze itself, with adapted easier versions of some of the more difficult puzzles.
At the beginning of the 1993 Christmas special, a short two minute film was shown which featured Richard and his "Mumsy" (played by Sandra Caron), who resided in the Medieval zone, leaving the maze for a new life with her boyfriend Dwayne (a new age biker apparently, though he was never seen). Edward Tudor-Pole from the rock band Tenpole Tudor was then introduced and became the host for the final two series. Coincidentally, Ed once played Riff-Raff in The Rocky Horror Show, which Richard O'Brien wrote. O'Brien also played this role in the movie adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Ed often referred to some companions in the maze such as Bert the horse and Starbuck the cat, and he flirted with the computer in the Futuristic Zone, which he called Barbara.
When Channel 4's contract with producers Chatsworth TV expired, they didn't renew it and the show ended in late 1995. Eventually, Challenge (a satellite digital channel owned by Virgin Media Television, then known as Challenge TV) bought the rights for all six seasons and frequently shows series 1-4 throughout the year. The two series presented by Ed Tudor-Pole started again on Challenge on Monday 12th February 2007, The kids' specials started on Monday 5th February 2007, in which there were five in total, screened the Christmas before the adult episodes (from Christmas 1990 to Christmas 1994). This may be to do with Ftn, another Virgin channel and available on Freeview, showing the programme from January 2007. From January, it could be seen on Ftn weekdays at 6pm (moved to 7pm as of February 12, and replaced by Gladiators from March 20).
The Crystal Maze was named Greatest UK Game Show of All Time in a 2006 poll by the UKGameshows.com website [1].
[edit] Theme tune
The theme tune for The Crystal Maze was composed by Zack Laurence and is entitled Forcefield. Zack Laurence also composed the theme tunes to other Chatsworth gameshows including Treasure Hunt and The Interceptor.
[edit] Cultural references
In December 1992, video game publishers Codemasters released "Crystal Kingdom Dizzy", one of the last installments in their successful "Dizzy" series. In the final level of the game, Dizzy had to return the lost treasure to its rightful place, but before he could do that he had to take on an obstacle course of moving platforms beneath water, and collect a crystal and make his way out, in a parody of the programme itself. During this course a Richard O' Brien lookalike says in a caption Quick!, quick!, get the crystal!. One of his most well-known phrases on the TV show.
The Crystal Maze was parodied in 1994 in an episode of Maid Marian and her Merry Men (series 4, episode 1 - Tunnel Vision), where the Robin Hood character acting the part of Richard O'Brien [2]. It was also referenced in the 2000 movie Dungeons & Dragons, which featured a maze with similar puzzles, with its owner played by Richard O'Brien. The show was lampooned on The Mary Whitehouse Experience when a group of "contestants" completely failed to complete the "Making a Cup of Tea" game.
On 18 February 2006, a parody of The Crystal Maze (called The Crystal Muck) appeared on Dick and Dom in da Bungalow, featuring a character called 'Richard O'Muck'. The character played the harmonica at moments where the contestants needed to concentrate the most, a parody of O'Brien's antics.[3]
The online multiplayer game RuneScape features a maze of puzzles known as the "Rogue's Den", operated by a character called "Brien O'Richard", while the online comedy sketch show "Loading Ready Run" used the theme of Crystal Maze as the theme tune for the sketch "Sleap Dep Experiment".
Comedy duo Adam and Joe also parodied The Crystal Maze on Channel 4's The Adam and Joe Show using their well known style of using toys. This time, the Crystal Maze was hosted by Yoda. The team was lead by The Emperor and consisted of Jabba the Hutt, Princess Leia, C3P0 and a drunken Obi Wan Kenobi. The game culminated in the team only collecting 1 crystal, and the Emperor being so frustrated with his team's terrible performance, destroyed the Crystal Dome with his Force powers and declared "The pony trekking holiday in Ulswater will be mine!".[4]
[edit] Spin-offs
Chatsworth Television licensed a number of popular SWP gambling machines based on the TV series, originally produced by Barcrest, but now made by JPM. A computer game based on The Crystal Maze was released in 1993 by Sherston Software for RISC OS on the Acorn Archimedes, and subsequently for the PC. A quiz machine based on the show was also produced. A board game was also produced based upon the show, but based on the concept of players competing against each other as opposed to the co-operative style of the TV show.
A Choose Your Own Adventure style gamebook based around the Crystal Maze was also produced in the mid 1990s.
The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze was an attraction usually found in larger bowling alleys and video arcades in the UK. It allowed fans an opportunity to "play" the Crystal Maze for themselves, although there were a number of differences:
- The gameplay is entirely computerised, though some of the games still involve real physical challenges.
- The players have no choice of game categories - all games are chosen by the computer.
- The players never handle any physical crystals - crystals are simply displayed on a screen when won. In some games, winning the game involves reaching and pressing a circular button depicting a crystal.
- There is no locking in. A player escapes by pressing a "Quit" button before time runs out; failure to do so results in the team losing a crystal. In some games, the "Quit" button must be pressed not by the person playing the game, but by a team-mate standing outside the space where the game is played.
- Each game ends immediately when the player wins the crystal - there are no challenges to escape again after picking it up.
- The Crystal dome had, instead of gold and silver tokens, buttons on the dome's vertices which must be pressed while lit to score (equivalent to a gold token). Pressing an unlit button scores negatively (as a silver token).
Five of the first six locations were in Britain, while the sixth was in Japan. Most of the Cyberdrome Crystal Mazes have since closed, as children are no longer familiar with the show. One is still running at Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales.
The makers of the children's TV show Jungle Run openly acknowledge The Crystal Maze as an influence, particularly the current host, Michael Underwood, who was a captain in one of the Christmas specials.
[edit] Presenters
- 1990-1993 - Richard O'Brien
- 1993-1995 - Ed Tudor-Pole
