An Interview with Former Crystal Maze Contestant and Jungle Run Host Michael Underwood

 Hello, it's Jack here! As well as being an editor for this blog I also run a separate blog and podcast called Jack's Throwback Attack. For the last few years, I have been getting in contact with people I remember watching on TV during my childhood during the '90s and '00s. You may remember back in 2018 that I was lucky enough to interview both David G. Croft and Richard O'Brien about their time on The Crystal Maze.

Well I've now begun my fourth series and my next guest also has a link to the maze, it's Michael Underwood. 

Michael was a contestant on the first children's special of The Crystal Maze aired during Christmas of 1990, at the time Michael was only 15 years old. One of the things we discuss in this mammoth 90-minute interview is his time on the show and reveals a few stories about the filming, including why he found the Aztec "feed the god" game so tricky. 

Of course, a few years later, Michael won the chance to be a CBBC presenter on the Saturday night TV show Whatever You Want which started out as just a 6-week contract. He ended up staying for three years before moving over to CITV. 

It was of course during his time with CITV he became the third and final (and the longest) host of Jungle Run. A show which was very similar to The Crystal Maze in many ways. Also, a favourite of the maze bloggers too and of course that show gets discussed at length. 

Here's the podcast, video and audio-only versions, enjoy!

Jack's Throwback Attack · S4 E1 - A Chat With Michael Underwood

Given the spin and now re-united! Crystal Maze's Rob & The Red Planet!

August 31st, 2021 marks a day in history, as Rob Griffin has been re-united with a particularly memorable prop from the labyrinth known as The Crystal Maze!

Rob became famous following his appearance on The Crystal Maze after his adventure with The Cosplay Team left him a captive in the Futuristic Zone briefly! 

Saying that, it wouldn't be the first time human beings have become stuck on the Red Planet, as it appears to be a popular mechanic of Hollywood Filmmakers!

The planets have become that iconic in the show as a result of Rob, that The Crystal Maze Live experience decided they had to implement the game at one of their venues - which we can confirm Rob did manage to complete on this occasion!

If you were watching the show, you'll know that there was a further mishap in the Aztec Zone, but I'll leave you to watch that and enjoy it for yourselves!

Also, Neil (Blog Team) has uploaded the magical moment to YouTube, so why not tune in and enjoy this moment of mirth?

We'll have some more videos soon, so as MazeMaster Ayoade would say -
"Thank you for watching, if indeed you still are!"

Memorabilia from the show for sale - Screen Used Crystal Maze Props

The Crystal Maze Fan blog has been working hard recently, saving as many pieces from The Crystal Maze TV show as possible, given that the programme was abruptly axed by Channel Four recently.

We made one van trip last month when the set was demolished, and we made one final trip yesterday to collect the remaining pieces. We sold all 14 TV game Crystals in just 24 hours. Three were sold to the USA, one went to Scotland, one went to Ireland and the rest across England. This is a testament to the enduring popularity of the show, and why it must return again in the near future.

We took a rare photo of 14 real game Crystals all together before we sent them out to you all. We are also currently selling Aztec Zone Game Letter Tiles and have two Medieval Mine Cart game jewels left. 

If you are interested, check out our eBay -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144176532397?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338273189&customid=&toolid=10001&pub=5575378759&icep_ff3=1&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg

We will blog about all of the items we have saved from the Maze in due course.

No profits are made from these sales - all monies go towards the Crystal Maze fan blog which is preserving as many items as possible from the show. Only spare props are sold to recover our expenses

What's Kept Me Busy, and Done Wonders For My Mental Health, in a Bizarre Era - @cultaholic @howling_techie @kasuds @flukesnotskill

 Mental health is a funny thing. It can be as predictable as it is unpredictable. It can be your defining trait or it can be two words that nobody ever associates with you. My mental health has never been close to being tip-top but, over the course of the pandemic, it hasn't been as erratic as I'd expected. A lack of things to do meant a lack of stress, which in turn meant I've done relatively well over the last 16 months. However, I know that that hasn't been the case for everybody. Some have struggled under the circumstances and many haven't coped. 

One thing that's really helped me over the last year and a bit has been volunteering. Keeping myself occupied in a stress-free manner, helping out someone else, giving those in need an extra pair of hands for a bit of heavy lifting and someone to talk to. There's been a local project where I've been helping out, mostly in a production aspect for some broadcasting online, but there's a lot that goes on in that building. Unemployment projects, talking therapies, a food bank, and there'll soon be a diner/cafe type thing on the go. A bit of everything that anyone could find something to do, things that they wouldn't mind giving up a few hours of their time for. You get to know people, you're doing something productive with some hours that'd you'd otherwise spend sat on your arse in front of a screen. 

'Play Your Pods Right' revisits Crystal Maze

 One of my favourite podcasts, Play Your Pods Right, has revisited our favourite game show. In what may be a surprise to some my podcast subscriptions aren't all Radio 4 comedy, or Cheapshow's knob gags. 

Available wherever you get your podcasts, Steve, Hayley and Adam discuss the embedded episode below, and even give a lovely little plug to yours truly.

Series by Series - My Favourite Games, Revival Edition

 I fully intended on doing this a few weeks ago while my 90s favourites were still fresh in my mind, but then life got in the way. However, I was watching one of my preferred Twitch streams (If someone's watching game shows on Twitch I'm either lurking or annoying the streamer and chat room inhabitants with a pile of pointless info) and it just got me back to wanting to get this done. 

This list is going to be distinctly shorter as I'm only choosing one game from each round of filming. All4 might have the revived series down as 8 series, but those have been put together as 8 runs from 3 rounds of filming. One round a year in 2017, '18 and '19. This is why most games were seen in multiple series.

So, my 3 favourite games from the revived incarnation of The Crystal Maze. Here we go.

2017

Josh Widdicombe Has A Book on His Love of 90's TV Coming Soon... I Wouldn't Bet Against A Crystal Maze Mention

 For the unaware, Josh Widdecombe is a stand up comedian, TV personality, podcaster and now writer. He put out a tweet today announcing a book he's written: 'Watching Neighbours Twice A Day: How '90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me For Life'

**HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT**

I have written a book that I am HUGELY proud of and it is now available for pre-order! If you would like to do that click here: https://t.co/aG06NJueIN (some signed copies available!) pic.twitter.com/1lTIxRHlpI

— Josh Widdicombe (@joshwiddicombe) May 7, 2021 

Now, Mr Widdicombe likes The Crystal Maze. He may not mention it in that little clip, nor has he told me personally, but the clues have been around for a while that he's a bit of a fan.

He's slipped a mention in for shows he's taken part in...

...written...

Series by Series - My Favourite Games, '90s Edition

 "My favourite game?" It's a question that could have several different responses. Resident Evil. Kerplunk. That song by The Cardigans where the video had her driving. But there was always games that would pop up on The Crystal Maze where young me, and old me, would pay a little more attention. Games that I would enjoy watching being played a little more than others. Maybe I found them more creative or just more fun. So, here's some games I just felt outranked the rest of each series offerings.

Series One (1990) - Timebomb

The first series, none of the games were all that complex. It was a new production so everything felt a little bit simplistic. Whether it was simply dropping a ball bearing in a hole with utmost precision, or having to identify objects by touch alone, the games weren't yet the most imaginative. So my choice for series one is the game that went a bit further in setting a scene. Timebomb saw the contestant have to connect coloured wires to pictures of objects to create a link. For example, a yellow wire to a picture of some pages. Yellow Pages. But rather than just have a timer counting down the time allotted for the game as with all games, there was also a nuclear bomb in the room counting down too. Fail to complete the game and... the lights got turned up. Last 30 seconds the bomb started smoking, the tension built, there was a bit of imagination here, a milligram of plot, and I still like seeing it even though I know no-one ever beat the game. 

Applying for the 1994 Crystal Maze Christmas Special

 Regular contributor Phil Newton-England emailed me over this yesterday, photos of an application form for the 1994 Crystal Maze Christmas Special, the last kids Christmas special that would be produced.

Gordon Ramsay's Bank Balance: An Opinion

There's a new game show promising big money prizes and Gordon Ramsay swearing at contestants, people haven't been wholly complimentary about it, but I kinda like it.

Point one: it's been done. Sort of.

Different style, same principle, balance everything on the wobbly prop

Now I'm definitely in a minority, when I say I like it, judging by the torrent of unpleasantness I've seen on social media about the format being maybe too complicated, or that Ramsay has clearly just stolen a TARDIS to set up shop in, but I think the game itself is a fun watch.

Admittedly the rules are maybe a little complex to start but I found it pretty easy to follow after a watch:

The Time A Saudi TV Channel Borrowed From My Crystal Maze Intro Editing

 Since the revived series started, I've taken the episodes, done a bit of chopping, stuck the original theme underneath and created a montage style opening more akin to the 90s series. They were on YouTube for posterity but YouTube said no and I no longer have a YouTube. Annoying? Yes but nothing to get angry at. It's not lost me anything.

After the first run, I put together the following:

Crystal Maze - and a possible way to explore... in D&D?

Whilst the UK is feeling the struggles of being locked in at home, people like myself who need to escape somehow to help manage their mental health, have taken to playing Dungeons and Dragon's as a means of escaping to fantastical worlds and leaving modern comforts behind in the form of role-playing gaming.

With the crews of Critical Role, High Rollers, Acquisitions Inc. & Force Grey all enjoying playing their games whilst broadcasting them to Twitch & YouTube platforms, interest in the game has grown massively, especially with the growth of the digital toolset "D&D Beyond" providing a quick, easy way to manage your character, uptake has never been higher!

Traversing the Crystal Maze is much alike to D&D, as you and your band are lead by the Dungeon Master across strange lands, handling the people of the land and helping them out, and solving devious and dangerous puzzles.

Of course, Dungeons and Dragon's has a connection to the Crystal Maze in the form of
Reckless Rick, yes, Mr O Brien!

 

1994 Crystal Maze "I Cracked The Crystal Maze" Crystal For Sale

 Much like we did for Alan Holloway from series 1, we've seen a commemorative crystal for sale and want to make sure that Crystal Maze fans are as informed as we can make them about possibly owning one of those little items that we'd all clamber over one another for (in the 'before times' obviously, clamberings a bit trickier keeping a 2meter gap)

In the course of my regular checking on eBay for any TCM merch that I haven't got, I found this.

I've been in contact with the seller, on the item page they say they're selling due to Covid, and I think we can all attest to what a kick that's been. So we just want to help someone selling their bit of TV history while at the same time helping a fan of the show (you) have the opportunity at owning one of these highly desirable baubles, which would be surely the centrepiece of any TCM collection. I'd be going in for it myself but I too have been taking a kicking so at least I can do some good here.

I don't want to give away their identity, but it's from an episode in the second half of series 5. Let's see what we can do and get this in the hands of a fan just in time for the show's 31st Birthday.

Click here to go to the sale.

The Crystal Maze Comes to BritBox

 It's been available on NOW TV for a while but, just in time for its 31st birthday, The Crystal Maze is coming to worldwide subscription service users via BritBox.

Available in the UK, Canada, the U.S. and Australia, BritBox provides subscribers with a wide range of boxsets of British shows and currently boasts 1.5 million subscribers in North America alone. They also create original content, a notable example being the recent revival of Spitting Image.

💥 Arriving in March 💥

Which shows are you most excited to stream? #BritBox pic.twitter.com/2XCMj61anG

— BritBox_UK (@BritBox_UK) February 10, 2021

^^ Look, top billing!^^

March sees a selection of 90's favourites being added, including 'Jungle Run', select episodes of 'Knightmare', and the first 3 series of 'The Crystal Maze'. So that's 1.5 million more I need to pester to watch TCM. It's going to be a busy March.

The Richard O'Brien Industrial years will be added to BritBox on March 4th 

BritBox is available for £6 a month or £60 for a year

The Crystal Maze Turns 31: A Look at the US Version Against The UK Original

 From the desktop of Phillip Newton-England:

The year 2020 was, as someone once said, an Annus Horribilis for....well, all of us really. One of the only decent things to come out of last year was the avalanche of ‘new’ Crystal Maze episodes. Not only did we get the remaining celebrity episodes of what was technically series 3, but we also got to see the ‘missing’ civilian episodes from the very first series over on E4.

 But the extra icing on the cake for me was the airing of The Crystal Maze U.S. on NickelodeonUK. Now I know not everyone has seen it yet so I won’t give too much away, but here at the blog we’re going to give you a moderately detailed description of the differences and similarities to our own U.K. version.

James Corden and Carey Mulligan Talk Crystal Maze on The Late Late Show

One thing I've just never quite understood: the scheduling of late-night US talk shows. Having them nightly, I get that because there's a lot of people out there with a lot of material to promote. It's the time that these shows go out at that goes right over my head. An ideal example of this is The Late Late Show on CBS. It's listed as going out at 12:37am. Now is it just me, or does anyone else use that kind of time for sleeping. Do Americans not go to bed until nearing 2am? Also, 12:37 is more than a little specific isn't it?

 James Corden, known on this side of the Atlantic for 'Gavin and Stacey', 'Doctor Who' and that single he did with Dizzee Rascal, was chatting with Carey Mulligan on The Late Late Show last night/this morning/whenever it goes out. You may be familiar with the show from its Carpool Karaoke segment, a segment that probably broadcasts at 1am. The topic of surprise parties came up and Carey brought up surprising her husband with a trip to The Crystal Maze Live Experience with 35 of his mates and taking over the venue for a session.

Coming Soon from Neale Simpson, the Producer of The Crystal Maze, 'Lightning'

 I will never be able to thank Neale Simpson enough for letting the other blog members and myself on set to test games. Not just once but twice. Those two days are days I will never forget and he let me live out a childhood dream that, for a very long time, I never saw happening because the show wasn't on. I'd give limbs for another day on that set, two if it was for a TV recording*, but a certain pandemic seems to be putting a gigantic spanner in those works. 

By the way, Neale's book The Crystal Maze Challenge is still available online, £4 on Google Play. Go on, he's one of the nicest TV producers I've ever had a pot of tea with. It's a short list of those that have, but I don't particularly care. Chris Lore and Neale didn't have to come down and have a chat with us lot, yet they did.

However, the situation is what it is and it's a situation that certainly won't be fixed by sulking about it. As such Neale, in his role as Creative Director at Fizz, has got a new show starting next week on BBC Two and it looks rather fun.

The Crystal Maze - FAQ (More will be added over time)

 In the course of my Twitter browsing, I often happen upon the same things coming up. "What was that show kinda like Crystal Maze but with tigers?", "So Crystal Maze is just Jungle Run for adults?" and "What's Crystal Maze?". That last one really gets to me, its been 31 years.

Anyhow, and it may get added to over time, here is just some answers to questions that may or may not have been asked frequently:

1. The Crystal Maze - Fort Boyard Link

• In the late '80s, Channel 4 wanted their own version of a forthcoming French format "The Keys to Fort Boyard"

Ayoade, Vaccination, Catchphrase and Jurassic Park - How Was Your Weekend?

Things aren't looking great at the moment. To paraphrase the joke EVERY U.S. talk show made on Friday: The last week has been a hell of a year. But what really topped off the weekend came via Stephen Mulhern's Catchphrase on ITV. Mr Ayoade was a contestant, but I wasn't watching at the time, I was fully engrossed in Jurassic World Evolution. PlayStation have a sale on and I packed out my hard drive again.

Anyhow, a couple of tweets caught my eye and knocked my confidence in seeing any future series of Crystal Maze.

Lockdown 3: Lockdown with a Vengeance. Let the Binge Watching Continue

Happy 2021. Well it was inevitable, wasn't it? Once again Britain is locked in.

I won't say anything you haven't read or thought yourself, we know it's a pain in the arse, but what I can do is suggest something to fill in the hours you may be about to spend stuck inside again. 

Here's some playlists, if something takes your fantasy there'll be plenty more on YouTube to find.

If you've got any suggestions to add, stick them in the comments below and I'll add a playlist and this page will always be there keeping options available. And I'll get to the obvious one I've missed in due course. I found some more recent uploads of the episodes with much better picture quality than we've been used to on what's been uploaded to the youtubes in the past.