Gladiators (1992 UK TV series)

Gladiators
Genre	Sports
Created by	Dan Carr John Ferraro
Presented by	Ulrika Jonsson John Fashanu (1992–96, 1999–2000) Jeremy Guscott (1997–98)
Starring	John Anderson (Referee) John Sachs (Commentator)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	8 (Series) 2 (International Gladiators) 2 (The Ashes) 2 (The Springbok Challenge)
No. of episodes	112 (Series) 14 (International Gladiators) 6 (The Ashes) 14 (The Springbok Challenge)
Production
Location(s)	National Indoor Arena, Birmingham, England
Running time	60mins (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	LWT in association with The Samuel Goldwyn Company
Distributor	ITV Studios
Broadcast
Original channel	ITV
Picture format	4:3 (1992–98) 16:9 (1999–2000)
Original run	10 October 1992 (1992-10-10) – 1 January 2000 (2000-01-01)
Chronology
Related shows	Gladiators: Train 2 Win (1995–98) Gladiators (2008–09)

Gladiators is a British television entertainment series, produced by LWT for ITV, and broadcast between 10 October 1992 and 1 January 2000. It is an adaptation of the American format American Gladiators. The success of the British series spawned further adaptations in Australia and other countries.

The series was revived in 2008 on Sky1, before again being cancelled in 2009. The series was originally presented by John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson, however, Fashanu was replaced by Jeremy Guscott in 1997. Guscott left the series in 1998, and subsequently, Fashanu returned for the final series in 1999. The series was refereed by John Anderson and the timekeepers over the show's run were Andrew Norgate, Derek Redmond and Eugene Gilkes. John Sachs was the show's commentator, and the series was accompanied by its own group of cheerleaders, known as G-Force.

Despite being made by London Weekend Television, all episodes of Gladiators, International Gladiators, the second series of The Ashes and the first series of The Springbok Challenge were recorded at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham. The first series of The Ashes and the second series of the The Springbok Challenge, however, were filmed on the sets of the Australian and South African versions of the shows respectively.

The series also spawned a version for children, entitled Gladiators: Train 2 Win, which was broadcast on CITV between 1995 and 1998.

Format

The format of the series involves contestants from all walks of life battling against a 'Gladiator' in a number of events in order to secure points for the final event, The Eliminator. Typically, four contenders would appear in each episode, two male and two female, with the exception of charity or celebrity specials, and each contender would compete in five or six events, depending on the series or time restraints.

In each event, the contenders will score a number of points, usually ten for a win, or none for a defeat, or any number if games such as Swingshot or Atlaspheres are played. Typically, both male and female contenders would compete in the same events; however, during series six, this format was removed, and as such female contenders would play easier games such as Swingshot, whilst the male contenders would play more difficult games, such as Sumo Ball or Dogfight. 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, worked out by how many more points he has compared to the other contender. Every one point lead is worth half a second head start (e.g. 10 points lead = 5 second head start). The winner of The Eliminator then goes on to compete in the next round.

Every domestic season (with the exception of Season 1 and season 8) started with 32 contestants, who are typically whittled down to 16, 8 and then 4 for the grand final. 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. Season one was slightly different: there were 6 heats, 2 semi finals and a grand final. Once a contender had won the eliminator, his or her score would go onto a leader board. The top 4 scoring males and females from across the six heats went onto the semis. From there it was a straight knock out competition. With the final season (season 8), it consisted of just 3 episodes: 2 heats and a grand final. Again this was a straight knockout competition.

Events

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 very popular and not causing any injuries (Pursuit).

The equipment was manufactured by Kimpton Walker Ltd. The equipment was manufactured within a tolerance of 1 millionth of an inch, one thousand time better than standard precise engineering accuracy.^[1]

Cast and crew

Presenters

Over the course of the 8 domestic Series, Gladiators had 3 main presenters. Former TVAM weather girl 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 Seasons 6 and 7 he was replaced by Rugby star Jeremy Guscott. Fashanu did however return for the final mini series in 1999.

The Gladiators

Female

Gladiator name	Portrayed by	Domestic series	International series	Live shows
Amazon	Sharron Davies	Series 4	N/A	Wembley 1996
Blaze	Eunice Huthart	N/A	N/A	Sheffield 1995
Falcon	Bernadette Hunt	Series 2–8	International Gladiators 1–2	Wembley 1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Flame	Kimbra Standish	Series 1	N/A	Wembley 1993
Fox	Tammy Baker	Series 6–8	The Springbok Challenge 2, MTN Gladiators 2001	The Royal Tournament 1998
Gold	Lize Van Der Walt	Series 6	The Springbok Challenge 2	N/A
Jet	Diane Youdale	Series 1–4	International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Laser	Tina Andrew	Series 5	The Ashes 2, The Springbok Challenge 1	N/A
Lightning	Kim Betts	Series 1–8	International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1–2, The Springbok Challenge 1	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Nightshade	Judy Simpson	Series 2–5	International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1	Wembley 1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Panther	Helen O'Reilly	Series 1–5	International Gladiators 2	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Phoenix	Sandy Young	Series 1	N/A	Wembley 1993
Rebel	Jennifer Stoute	Series 5–8	The Springbok Challenge 1	Wembley 1996, The Royal Tournament 1997
Rio	Jane Omorogbe	Series 5–8	The Springbok Challenge 1–2	Wembley 1996
Rocket	Pauline Richards	Series 6	The Springbok Challenge 1	The Royal Tournament 1998
Scorpio	Nikki Diamond	Series 1–3	International Gladiators 1	Wembley 1993–1994
Siren	Alison Paton	Series 6–8	The Springbok Challenge 2	N/A
Vogue	Suzanne Cox	Series 4–8	International Gladiators 2; The Ashes 1–2, The Springbok Challenge 1–2	Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Zodiac	Kate Staples	Series 2–5	International Gladiators 1-2	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996

Male

Gladiator name	Portrayed by	Domestic series	International series	Live shows
Ace	Warren Furman	Series 5–8	The Ashes 2, The Springbok Challenge 1–2	Wembley 1996
Bullit	Mike Harvey	N/A	The Legends Series 2010	Wembley 1993
Cobra	Michael Willson	Series 1–8	International Gladiators 1–2, The Springbok Challenge 2	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Diesel	Darren Crawford	Series 7–8	N/A	N/A
Hawk	Aleks Georgijev	Series 1	N/A	Wembley 1993
Hunter	James Crossley	Series 2–8	International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1–2, The Springbok Challenge 1–2	Wembley 1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996; The Royal Tournament 1997-1998
Khan	Radosev Nekic	Series 6	N/A	The Royal Tournament 1998
Raider	Carlton Headley	Series 4	International Gladiators 2	Sheffield 1995
Rhino	Mark Smith	Series 4–8	International Gladiators 2, The Ashes 1–2, The Springbok Challenge 1–2	Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, The Royal Tournament 1997
Saracen	Mike Lewis	Series 1–8	International Gladiators 1, The Ashes 2, The Springbok Challenge 1–2	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Shadow	Jefferson King	Series 1–3	International Gladiators 1	Wembley 1993–1994
Trojan	Mark Griffin	Series 2–5	International Gladiators 1–2	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996
Vulcan	John Seru	Series 7–8	International Gladiators 2, The Ashes 1–2, Australian Gladiators 1–3	N/A
Warrior	Michael Ahearne	Series 1–6	International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1	Wembley 1993–1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, The Royal Tournament 1997
Wolf	Michael Van Wijk	Series 1–8	International Gladiators 1–2, The Ashes 1–2, The Springbok Challenge 1	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, and was no longer able to compete. 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 contestant, but was later made into a reserve Gladiator. However, she ended up becoming a full-time participant after Nightshade injured herself during an event, and was no longer able to compete. When she appeared in the first Springbok Challenge, she appeared as a Gladiator for her native South Africa and her Gladiator name was changed to Sheena.

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.

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. Celebrity personality 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 Margo Hudson. Series 5 winner Mark Mottram went onto become a professional stuntman and was Piers Brosnan's stunt double in the James Bond films. Other notable appearances were in Gangs of New York and Batman (as Heath Ledger's double). He is married to Debbie Mottram, who was a cheerleader he met on Gladiators. They have two children.

Series champions

Series	Women	Men
1	Vanda Fairchild	Weininger Irwin
2	Jean Klenk	Phil Norman
3	Eunice Huthart	Paul Field
4	Janet Allen	Mark Everitt
5	Andreya Wharry	Mark Mottram
6	Audrey Garland	Piers Bryant
7	Jane Smith	Dave Walter
8	Jane Smith	Dave Walter

John Anderson

John Anderson has been the head official for all nine series, including the show's 2008 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 American Gladiators revival. John had an assistant on the show, known as the "Official Timekeeper". The role was predominately filled by Andrew Norgate who was also a producer on the show. Norgate was replaced by athlete Derek Redmond for series 3 but returned for Series 4. Eugene Gilkes replaced Norgate in Series 6 due to his commitment and launch of new show Ice Warriors but the show flopped and Norgate returned for the final 2 seasons. Even appearing on screen during season 7 doing the coin toss for contenders to choose which Gladiator to face on a certain game.

Spin-offs

International Gladiators

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 country to get in on the act after the USA and UK was Finland. All three appeared on the first International Gladiators series. They were joined by Russia who participated in several international shows but never had a domestic series. Shortly after this series other countries such as Australia and South Africa followed the trend. They participated in IG2 along with Russia, UK and USA. Finland bowed out and Germany was brought in. Like Russia they never had a domestic season and this was their only venture into Gladiators. Japan had a brief forray into Gladiators with their own series entitled Bang,Bang,Bang,Bang. Little is known about this version but some American Gladiators did appear. Other countries that launched their own version included Nigeria, Denmark and Sweden. Nigeria and Denmark both began in 2002 and were launched after the success of the South African and Swedish versions. Both lasted only one season. Sweden started in 2001 and ended in 2004 after 5 seasons making it one of the longest running versions. 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.

Gladiators: Train 2 Win

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").

Controversies

• During the show's first series in 1992, Contender Nicola Bawden caused controversy following the very first game of The Wall, after she 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 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 show's first home 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. However, 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.
• After the Wembley live shows in 1993, Phoenix (Sandy Young), Flame (Kimbra LeAnne Standish) and Hawk (Aleks Georgijev) were sensationally sacked from the show, having received the lowest number of votes from fans in a magazine poll. Series showrunner 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 shows, was never transferred over 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 show's third series in 1994, Panther (Helen O'Reilly) suffered one of the most shocking injuries ever seen on the show during a game of "Tilt" When she fell from the platform 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 show's third series in 1994, Shadow (Jefferson King) 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.
• During the show's fourth series in 1995, Raider (Carlton Headley) became the only Gladiator to face an immediate exclusion from the show, for having pushed a contender who beat him in the Gauntlet. The red card meant disqualification from the following show and a fine. The contender, while on the floor, had clearly kicked Raider out of the Gauntlet so as to win, and was not punished, which was why Raider retaliated.
• Season five became known as the "season of injury". Before filming even commenced Jet (Diane Youdale) retired after being injured during a live show in Sheffield on Pyramid, Amazon (Sharron Davies) was severely injured during training and had to pull out and did not appear although she was on all publicity for this season including photographs and annuals. Laser was brought in as a replacement. Zodiac's (Kate Staples) appearances were limited to only 2, both being on Danger Zone due to an injury on Pole Axe during training, she retired the following year. Nightshade (Judy Simpson) made only sparse outings due to a worsening virus picked up the previous year in Australia. She had to be helped off after a game of Skytrak by the training team. Her final curtain call came when beaten on her speciality event Duel, her only defeat during domestic competition. She would never appear again.
• Also During the show's fifth series in 1996, it was widely reported by the media that Hunter (James Crossley) and show presenter Ulrika Jonsson were in a relationship with each other. Although heavily denied at the time, Jonsson later admitted it in her 2003 biography.^[2]
• After the show's sixth series in 1997, Warrior (Michael Ahearne) was sacked from the show, after being arrested for a fire arms offence. Despite many questions as to his departure, it was only revealed six months in a newspaper article why he had departed.

Format changes

Season seven (1998) saw the show have a major overhaul. 2 new male Gladiators joined the team. One of which was Vulcan, the "bad boy" of the Australian version of the show. He was brought in to be an arch enemy of Wolf and give him a run for his money in the Villain stakes. Behind the scenes aspects were added including clips of the contenders selections and training along with contenders choosing, via coin toss, which Gladiator to face on a particular game. 3 new games were introduced, the most since 1994 although all 3 flopped with viewers. As well as the new new games, 3 of the most established and popular events had rule changes:

• Powerball, where contenders would now go one on one instead to the customary 3 on 2
• Pendulum now had lit "sectors" that the contenders had to activate and make flash to earn points
• Gauntlet gave away 10 points if a contender got through in 30 seconds or a point for each section completed.

Another major change was the Gladiators' uniforms. The "logos" (Crossbow for Hunter, Cards for Ace etc.) were removed and a standardised outfit was brought in, albeit in different designs for each gladiator. The actual "cut" of the costume remained the same for all gladiators from the previous year and design-wise no two were the same. The main design was part of the word "Gladiators" written in black on each outfit. The outfits were white with flashes of black and red for females and white with flashes of black and blue for males.

Despite the changes, viewers saw it as too little too late and Viewing figures continued to drop and the series was axed in early 1999. However ITV agreed to film another 3 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 1 January 2000.

Transmissions

Original series Series Start date End date Episodes 1 10 October 1992 5 December 1992 9 2 18 September 1993 1 January 1994 15 3 10 September 1994 17 December 1994 15 4 16 September 1995 23 December 1995 15 5 28 September 1996 4 January 1997 15 6 13 September 1997 20 December 1997 15 7 5 September 1998 12 December 1998 15 8 11 December 1999 1 January 2000 3 Specials Date Entitle 9 January 1993 The Challenge Of The Gladiators 28 August 1993 Return Of The Gladiators 25 December 1993 The Battle Of The Gladiators 3 September 1994 The Return 24 December 1994 The Celebrity Challenge 31 December 1994 The Fighting Forces Challenge 20 January 1996 Battle Of The Champions 11 January 1997 Celebrity Challenge 27 December 1997 Celebrities Vs Jockies Special 25 December 1999 Battle Of The Giants

International Gladiators Series Start date End date Episodes 1 7 January 1995 18 February 1995 7 2 20 April 1996 8 June 1996 7 The Ashes Series Start date End date Episodes 1 30 December 1995 13 January 1996 3 2 18 January 1997 1 February 1997 3 Springbok Challenge Series Start date End date Episodes 1 3 January 1998 17 January 1998 3 2 20 March 2000 3 July 2000 11

Merchandise

During the show's first three seasons, popular model makers Hornby made a selection of action figures and playsets based on the show, many of which were made available to purchase via Toymaster. 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 releases of the series were issued. These regularly contained episodes, specials or other material exclusive for home release. Many quickly sold out and have subsequently become rare. The following VHS releases are available:

• GL001 - Into the Arena - Contains Heats 1 and 2 from Series 1 (1992)^[3]
• GL002 - Powerplay - Contains Heats 3 and 4 from Series 1 (1992)^[4]
• GL003 - The Conflict - Contains Heats 5 and 6 from Series 1 (1992)^[5]
• GL004 - Countdown - Contains Semi Finals 1 and 2 from Series 1 (1992)^[6]
• GL005 - The Ultimate Challenge - Contains the Grand Final from Series 1 (1992)^[7]
• GL006 - The Very Best of Gladiators - Contains the special episode "The Challenge of the Gladiators" (1993)^[8]
• GL007 - Gladiators Return - Contains the special episode "Return of the Gladiators" (1993)^[9]
• GL008 - Contenders Ready, Gladiators Ready - Contains Heats 1 and 2 from Series 2 (1993)^[10]
• GL009 - Arena Attack - Contains Heats 3, 4 and 5 from Series 2 (1993)^[11]
• GL010 - Battleground - Contains Heats 6, 7 and 8 from Series 2 (1993)^[12]
• GL011 - Combat - Contains Quarter Finals 1-4 from Series 2 (1993)^[13]
• 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)^[14]
• 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)^[15]
• GL014 - The Gladiators Challenge '94-'95 - Contains the special episodes "The Return", "The Celebrity Challenge" and "The Fighting Forces Challenge" (1994)^[16]
• GL015 - International Gladiators: The Showdown - Contains Semi Finals 1 and 2 plus the Grand Final from International Gladiators I (1994)^[17]
• GL016 - The Power To Win - Contains the special episode "The Power To Win" (1995)^[18]
• SV001 - Jet: A Video Profile - Contains the special episode "Jet: A Video Profile" (1995)^[19]

References

External links