I Have Had My Tiny Little Mind Blown - There Was A Sequel Series to Crystal Maze: Magic Carnival

It's escaped my notice for 25 years, but there was a follow up to The Crystal Maze.

Last night I was watching Channel 4's "Back to the '90s", part of a series celebrating 4 decades of Channel 4. I was doing my usual thing on Twitter, liking and retweeting everything remotely relevant to this humble little blog. Every mention of quality Channel 4 programming (of which GamesMaster was noticeable by its absence). One tweet certainly grabbed my attention:

I Art Directed the last original series of The Crystal Maze, such a buzz to work on #backtothe90s

— Richard Drew (@dickydrew) December 28, 2020

The whole thread is there to find on Twitter, and after some messages, something came up that I've never heard of in 30ish years of being far too obsessed with a quirky Channel 4 gameshow:

I was very fortunate in my AD career to work with some fantastic Production Designers, but James and Dennis ( de Groot) probably had the biggest influence on me. James n I did the follow up show Magic Carnival together, was meant to succeed CM but it only got to pilot stage.

— Richard Drew (@dickydrew) December 29, 2020

For Sale: One Original Crystal Maze "I Cracked The Crystal Maze" Crystal from Series One (1990)

 Thanks to the modern wonder that is social media, one of the contestants for the very first series filmed back in 1989 and broadcast in 1990 has been in touch regarding selling his prize crystal from the show. 

Now, I'll be the first to admit I'd love one for my collection. I'd give vital organs and limbs for one. But right now I've other priorities so I'd love to help another proper Crystal Maze fan (you, the reader) get in contact with the seller and work out a sale yourself.

'It's Only A Game Show' Talks The Crystal Maze This Saturday

 Following on from last week and @jordha talking about TCM on 'Game Shows I Suppose', this Saturday sees the UK perspective. Brit based podcast 'It's Only A Game Show' (no points for knowing which show that references, I've mentioned my Jim Davidson story enough as it is) takes to your podcast feeds at the end of the week to have a fun little chat about our favourite big-budget adventure game show.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout - Fortnite meets Takeshi's Castle

I'm going to put it out there straight away. I hate Fortnite. From the moment Epic saw PUBG and said "This Fortnite game we've got going on, let's just ignore our initial idea we've put out there already and copy theirs" I've stayed well clear of the streaming favourite. I might just be old fashioned but I like my games to have a story, to draw me into a well-realized fictional world, and occasionally just have me turning zombies and Nazis into jam. When it comes to battle royale games, the concept of a load of 10-year-olds hurling abuse at me, killing my character with zero effort, and claiming intimate knowledge of my mother has simply never appealed to me.