Gladiators Australian Series 1

Gladiators
Genre Sports entertainment
Created by Dan Carr
John Ferraro
Developed by MGM Television
Directed by Timothy Kupsch
Presented by Kimberley Joseph Aaron Pedersen
Narrated by Tony Schibeci
Theme music composer Cameron Tait
Marty Irwin
Noel MacDonald
Country of origin  Australia
Original language(s) English
No. of episodes 15
Production
Executive producer(s) Patrick Condon
Des Monaghan
Producer(s) Bill Edmonds
Roger Kirk
Location(s) Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Queensland
Camera setup Multiple-camera setup
Running time 60 minutes
(including commercials)
Broadcast
Original channel Seven Network
Picture format 576i (PAL)
Audio format Stereo
First shown in  Australia
Original airing 29 April 1995
Chronology
Followed by Gladiators Australian Series 2

The first series of Australian Gladiators began airing on Channel 7 on 29 April 1995 following successful versions of the Gladiators format in America, the UK and Finland. The series closely resembled the UK series albeit with just four events and the Eliminator.

Fifteen episodes were filmed in a progressive competition at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre between 24 March and 2 April. Kimberley Joseph and Aaron Pedersen presented the show whilst play by play commentary was by Tony Schibeci. John Alexander acted as referee and John Forsyth as assistant referee. The Kix cheerleaders performed in the background of the events.

Winners of the heats received a Sony music system and a selection of CD's valued to $2,000. The runners up received a set of gym apparatus. The winners of the final won a car.

Gladiators

Male

Force suffered an injury in Atlasphere in the third quarter final and had to retire from the show.

Female

Events

Atlasphere, Duel, Gauntlet, Hang Tough, Hit & Run, Powerball, Pyramid, Suspension Bridge, Tilt and Wall were played over Series 1. The Eliminator featured as the final event in every show.

Shows

Fifteen shows along with an unaired pilot[1] were filmed with the televised shows taking the form of a progressive competition. Each show featured four events along with the Eliminator. The winner of the Eliminator would progress to the next round.

Winning challengers are in bold.[2]

Episode Contest Original airdate Challengers (Female) Challengers (Male) Events
0 Unaired Pilot1 N/A Lisa Vs Jane Brian Vs James Powerball, Wall, Hang Tough, Duel
01 Heat 1 29 April 1995 Gina Goode Vs Heather Marychurch Clinton Barter Vs Howard Abuthnct Gauntlet, Pyramid, Powerball, Hit & Run
02 Heat 2 6 May 1995 Sabrina Hoyman Vs Carol-Anne Horrath David Wallis Vs Paul Vella Hit & Run, Wall, Duel, Powerball
03 Heat 3 13 May 1995 Bernie Withers Vs Tracy Andrew Vs Adam Suspension Bridge, Hang Tough, Atlasphere, Tilt
04 Heat 4 20 May 1995 Karen Swansborough Vs Hillary Tony Vs Corey Pyramid, Tilt, Gauntlet, Suspension Bridge
05 Heat 5 27 May 1995 Kerry Warman Vs Annie Ian Jacobs Vs Mark Wall, Duel, Powerball, Hit & Run
06 Heat 6 3 June 1995 Nellie Baker Vs Fernanda Lacey Ashley Martin Vs Alex Sanz Atlasphere, Wall, Duel, Hang Tough
07 Heat 7 10 June 1995 Theresa Brett Vs Alison Jackson Rod McQueen and John Powell Gauntlet, Atlasphere, Hang Tough, Suspension Bridge
08 Heat 8 17 June 1995 Tania Vs Donna/ Kathy Katzourakis2 Rhett Foreman Vs Andrew Strickland Pyramid, Gauntlet, Duel, Powerball
09 Quarter Final 1 24 June 1995 Sabrina Hooyman Vs Nellie Baker Ashley Martin Vs David Wallis Pyramid, Tilt, Wall, Suspension Bridge
10 Quarter Final 2 30 June 1995 Kerry Warman Vs Bernie Withers Andrew Halliday Vs Ian Jacobs Powerball, Duel, Hit & Run, Pyramid
11 Quarter Final 3 1 July 1995 Teresa Brett Vs Karen Swansborough Rod McQueen Vs Tony Wall, Atlasphere, Hang Tough, Gauntlet
12 Quarter Final 4 8 July 1995 Fernanda Lacey3 Vs Tania Howard Vs Rhett Foreman Duel, Pyramid, Hit & Run, Powerball
13 Semi Final 1 15 July 1995 Teresa Brett Vs Nellie Baker Dave Wallis Vs Rod McQueen Suspension Bridge, Pyramid, Powerball, Hang Tough
14 Semi Final 2 22 July 1995 Fernanda Lacey Vs Bernie Withers Andrew Halliday Vs Rhett Foreman Duel, Wall, Tilt, Gauntlet
15 Final 29 July 1995 Teresa Brett Vs Bernie Withers Dave Wallis Vs Andrew Halliday Gauntlet, Duel, Pyramid, Hang Tough

1 The challengers in this episode were actually members of the production crew and changed throughout the episode. The names given were just for filming purposes. The headstarts given in the Eliminator were not based on points scored in the events.
2Replaced Donna after she fell on her pugil stick and injured her leg.
3Replaced Gina Goode who having won her heat was unable to continue in the Quarter finals due to an ankle injury.

Production

Production began in January 1995 when the producers began their search for Gladiators and challengers. The long list was cut to 100 people who attended tryouts in Brisbane (where it was decided the show would be filmed), Melbourne and Sydney. Fourteen Gladiators and a number of challengers were selected.[3]

The apparatus was delivered to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in March requiring 35 trucks and 100 riggers whilst the Gladiators filmed the opening credits at Dee Why. Challengers arrived at the BEC on 16 March to begin training.

An unaired pilot episode was filmed using the Gladiators and production crew as chaallengers. There was no audience and Force, Rebel and Cheeta did not compete in any events.

Filming commenced on 24 March and wraps on 2 April. Initially audiences numbered 2,000 but grew to 5,000 as filming progressed. St John's Ambulance personnel were on site during filming.

The first episode aired on Channel 7 on 29 April and immediately entered the top 10 most watch shows in Australia. A second series entered production in May.

References

  1. Original Austraian Series Episode Write Ups http://forum.gladiatorszone.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1973
  2. Original Australian Series Episode Guide http://archive.gladiatorszone.co.uk/YaBB.pl?num=1087254252;start=all
  3. "A year in the life of Gladiators" Official Gladiators Magazine issue 3 Nov-Dec 1995

External links