| Gladiators | |
|---|---|
Original Gladiators (UK) Logo |
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| Format | Sport |
| Created by | Dan Carr & John Ferraro |
| Presented by | Ulrika Jonsson (1992-2000) John Fashanu (1992-6, 1999-2000) Jeremy Guscott (1997-8) |
| Starring | John Anderson (Referee) John Sachs (Commentator) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 8 (Original series) 2 (International Gladiators) 2 (The Ashes) 1 (Springbok Challenge) |
| No. of episodes | 112 (Original series) 14 (International Gladiators) 6 (The Ashes) 3 (Springbok Challenge) |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | LWT |
| Location(s) | National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | ITV |
| Picture format | 4:3 (1992–8) 16:9 (1999–2000) |
| Original run | 10 October 1992 – 1 January 2000 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | Gladiators: Train 2 Win (1995-8) Gladiators (2008-9) |
Gladiators is a British television series produced by LWT for ITV on Saturdays nights from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000. It is an adaptation of the United States game show American Gladiators. An Australian spin-off and a Swedish one followed. A revival of the show was broadcast on Sky1 in 2008 and 2009 prior to being axed.
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.
Despite being made by London Weekend Television, all episodes of Gladiators and International Gladiators were recorded at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. Gladiators: The Ashes 1 and Gladiators: Springbok Challenge 2, however, were filmed on the sets of the Australian and South African versions of the shows respectively.
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| Gladiator name | Career | Real name |
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| Amazon |
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| Blaze |
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| Falcon |
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| Flame |
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| Fox |
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| Gold |
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| Jet |
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| Laser |
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| Lightning |
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| Nightshade |
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| Panther |
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| Phoenix |
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| Rebel |
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| Rio |
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| Rocket |
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| Scorpio |
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| Siren |
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| Vogue |
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| Zodiac |
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| Gladiator name | Career | Real name |
|---|---|---|
| Ace |
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| Bullit |
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| Cobra |
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| Diesel |
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| Hawk |
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| Hunter |
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| Khan |
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| Raider |
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| Rhino |
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| Saracen |
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| Shadow |
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| Trojan |
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| Vulcan |
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| Warrior |
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| Wolf |
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An unseen UK Gladiator called Shark, real name Metin Hussein, was hired but never used in action. He was all set to be a new bad guy but for unknown reasons he was dropped just before the filming of the 1997 series. He was briefly featured in the background on the Gladiator Training Camp clips in Mauritus. He was replaced by Khan.
Cobra and Lightning were originally not on the 1992 team but were actually going to be contenders. It was decided that two more Gladiators would be needed and so both were added to the final team as reserves, However by show three of that series both were upgraded to full time members of the team. They both stayed with the show till the very end.
Laser, like Cobra and Lightning was originally going to be a contender, then a reserve Gladiator before being upgraded to full member of the team, replacing an injured Nightshade half way through the 1996 series.
Fox, a contender at the original 1993 Wembley live shows, joined the team as a reserve Gladiator four years later. Like Laser the series before, Fox was added to the team full time filling in for fellow new female Gladiator Gold, who had injured herself during training for the series.
Both Fox and Laser would later join the MTN South African Gladiators Team. Whilst Fox would keep her Gladiator name, Laser who competed in the first Springbok Challenge series was renamed "Sheena" she however never competed in a domestic series of MTN Gladiators.
Applicants who wanted to take part in the show had to go through fitness tests to before they were selected to take part in the show. Future British 400 metre hurdler Chris Rawlinson and Wales International Rugby Union winger Glen Webbe were the most famous of these to compete. 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.
The relationship between "Hunter" (James Crossley) and presenter Ulrika Jonsson was a tabloid focus during 1996 and 1997. The pair initially denied the affair, but later Jonsson admitted it in her 2003 biography.[1]
After the Wembley live shows in 1993 Phoenix, Flame and Hawk were sensationally sacked from the show having received the lowest number of votes in a magazine poll.
"Bullit" having only just joined the team for the 1993 live shows, was dropped from the show shortly after they had finished. He remains the only Gladiator (excluding Blaze) who was not transferred over to the TV series, No reason for this was ever given.
"Shadow" was sacked from the show in 1994, after a newspaper uncovered evidence that he had taken steroids.
"Warrior" after being arrested for a fire arms offence found himself also cut from the show in 1998.
"Raider" remains the only Gladiator on the show to face an immediate exclusion from the show, for having pushed a contender who beat him in the Gauntlet. The contender, while on the floor, had kicked Raider out of the Gauntlet so as to win, and was not punished.
Gladiators Nightshade, Jet, Amazon and Zodiac all quit the show following serious injury, either during training or on the show itself. Panther suffered one of the most shocking injuries during a game of "Tilt" in series 3, She returned to the show the following series and remained with the show for a further two years before retiring permanently.
Contender Nicola Bawden caused controversy following the very first game of the Wall after she slipped away from Scorpio. 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 so Scorpio could not get a firm grip of her. 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 first video release Into the Arena as Scorpio did indeed make a complaint. John Anderson, after reviewing the footage, ruled that while Bawden did indeed 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 ruled that Bawden greasing her legs to escape Scorpio was not keeping in the spirit of the programme and 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 about this as she considered Bawden to have cheated but when she advanced to the semi-finals, Scorpio was given a second chance to chase her up The Wall. This time, she was successful in wrenching Bawden off The Wall.
John Anderson has been the head official for all nine series (including the revival). Before every event he called: "Contender ready! Gladiator ready!," similar to his American counterpart, Larry Thompson, but also he added a countdown, "Three! Two! One!" before starting the match. 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.
Former American League (Major League Baseball) umpire Al Kaplon adopted Anderson's countdown before the whistle in the 2008 US revival.
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 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").
While the show itself was inspired by the USA's American Gladiators, the UK show inspired many other countries to start their own series. The first two countries to get in on the act after the US and UK were Russia 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 broadcast 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 was over for the time being until discussions erupted in the United States in 2007 about a revival.
There have been three "Legends" shows for the new Sky1 series, one for the first series and a further two for the second series. In these specials, former Gladiators from the UK show's original incarnation return as special contenders, taking on the might of the new generation of Gladiators. These specials are filmed in the aid of charity.
For the first show "The Legends Return", Gladiators Wolf, Lightning, Flame, Hunter, Trojan, Ace, Rebel and Rocket made a welcome return in the new revamped 2008 arena. The event was broadcast on 31 August 2008 on Sky1 and resulted in the women "Legends" defeating the current Gladiators and the male "Legends" beaten by the current group of Gladiators.
Former Gladiator Hunter proved he still has what it takes in the arena by instantly defeating Spartan on Duel. Hunter lived up to his crown of being the "Ultimate Gladiator", a status he achieved in "Battle of the Giants" in 1999.
A second show for Series 2 was recently filmed, "The Legends Strike Back". Returning from Legends 1 were Wolf, Lightning, Trojan and Rocket, who were now joined by Scorpio, Cobra, Siren and Bullitt. It was classed as the very first show of Series 2 and was broadcast on 21 December 2008.
Legends 3 has also now completed filming. The returning Female Legends were Vogue, Rebel and the original Panther and Siren. The returning Male Legends were Ace, Cobra, Khan and Trojan (who is now the only Gladiator, male or female, to take part in all three Legends shows) with Wolf on the New Gladiator's Side. It was due to air on Sky2 during August 2009, but was dropped before airing. The Sky website labelled it as a repeat, but it has never aired before. Sky1 finally aired the Legends 3 special entitled "Gladiators: The Legends' Last Stand" on 25 October 2009.
Because of copyright issues with ITV, the Legends were not allowed to wear their trademark Gladiator costumes and instead had brand new costumes made especially for the charity specials.
During 1992 and 1995, Hornby made a selection of Action Figures + Playsets.
ACTION FIGURES
PLAYSETS
B823 (Danger Zone) was due to have a Hawk action figure included but because he left the show it was later scrapped, although a few sets left the factory with Hawk figures still in them.
A second wave, released in 1993, contained:
A later International Gladiators wave contained:
An addition to this wave, a Gauntlet playset with Lightning (United Kingdom) action figure, was cancelled and never went into production.
A final "Australian gladiators" wave contained:
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