Crystal Maze at Home

Currently in the process of making my courtyard at home in a subtle theme of the Aztec Zone! I've already bought some Aztec Mayan Totem Statues from the local garden centre... yes can you tell how obsessed I am with The Crystal Maze? The maze puzzle books have lots of great Aztec Symbols to draw inspiration from. Still got a lot to do yet, it is work in progress. Phil, group member has his living room as the Aztec Zone haha. Last week I was at the real Aztec Zone Set and it was a dream come true, I will live with those memories forever. One day I hope our team finally make it on TV.

 

We entered The CRYSTAL MAZE!!!

The 16th April 2018 will be a day we will never forget, we finally got our chance to enter the real Crystal Maze Studios - A lifelong, childhood dream for all of us, myself included. I don't want to reveal much detail as to the circumstances which led to that, but we had a blast as Official Games Testers for Series 2. The Studios were fantastic. I am not allowed to disclose any detail about the sets, or the new games, or any other information as I have signed a non-disclosure Channel 4 legal agreement - so will just leave you with some photographs of us at the Hotel before we set off for Bottleyard Studios that day. The night before we were all so excited, it was the same night that The Crystal Maze was back on Television (Second half of Series 1). Me and Phil laid out all our maze memorabelia, props and books, etc in the hotel room. We could of opened a Crystal Maze Museum! 

We had such a fantastic day down at the Studios, the highlight for me was meeting all the crew, and in particular, James Dillon, the Production Designer and Mastermind behind the Original 1990s and 21st Century Crystal Mazes. I was slightly gutted I couldn't meet Neale Simpson, Exec Producer, he was out that day. We got pix of us in all of the Zones, including with James Dillon himself - but we will not be allowed copies of these photographs until the next series airs - understandable, of course. I will write more about our day later this year, once I confirm I am legally able to do so. All I can say is, we were impressed with our experience. 

Zero Crystals! New Crystal Maze Records

Last week (15th April 2018), saw the return of the second half of Series 1 of the Maze. We saw the Hauxwell's take on TCM, and unfortunately for them they set two rather embarrassing record Crystal Maze firsts in the history of the show. Record #1  One Contestant actually managed to get locked in twice on the same episode. Record #2 The team failed miserably and collected ZERO CRYSTALS! This is a scenario that never played out before in the original series - the least amount of Crystals being 5 seconds at the Dome. In the Original, they would simply collect tokens for 5 seconds; the underscore and fans ending rather abruptly. Interestingly with the Zero Crystal Scenario, Ayoade presented a secondary Start/Stop Whistle and blew both simultaneously! The fans whimpered and stopped immediately. How embarrassing, but such a funny episode. I am glad that conventions are being broken down, and we are finally getting answers to new maze scenarios we always wondered about in the original series. This episode was spoken about on Radio 1 the next day, and the incident trended on Twitter that evening!

Still on Cloud 9 today. Had the best day of our lives yesterday. Sadly can't reveal why or post any details. You'll have to wait until the end of the year before I can write anything. I was so tired today. Thank you to those that made it happen and brought our dreams come true, and I hope our work and input helped.

Crystal Maze is back this Sunday 8pm Channel 4! And I am so excited for Monday, I just wish I could say why! It's going to be the best day of our lives, put it that way.

Rare unseen Crystal Maze Photos from a 90's Publication! Exclusive to the Maze Fan Blog - With the coolest Photograph of Richard O'Brien in the Ocean Zone! Wow.

The Crystal Maze - Second Half of Series 1 and Series 2

A Social Media post by the official Crystal Maze TV group posted the exciting news today that The Crystal Maze returns back on our screens on 15th April on Channel 4. These portion of episodes were filmed in 2017 and held back for 2018, so some viewers may feel a bit confused when they see similar games from before. This is due to the broadcast lag time. However, filming for Series 2 is shortly to begin - this comprises of 12 episodes, 6 Civilian and 6 Celebrity episodes. We are unsure when Series 2 will air yet, but an easy guess would be later towards the end of 2018.

We look forward to watching the rest of the episodes from Series 1, and in particular, look forward to watching Series 2. I can't reveal why yet until probably later on in the year once Series 2 has aired. I won't be revealing any specifics, but we've been given an awesome and incredible opportunity here at the Maze Fan Blog - it's not quite what we initially expected or planned, but we aren't complaining at all and very much look forward to what lies and waits for us. With our deep love and obsession for the Maze, we're not going the full whole hog yet (tragic because we love to fly the flag for our favourite show). We won't be giving up - but we've been gifted the next best thing to achieving our dream. That's all I can say, and we are really honoured.

The long journey to bring back The Crystal Maze

Visit This webpage article for a fantastic article of how stressful and tough it was to bring back The Crystal Maze to our screens. I came across this insightful article this evening. It began way back in April 2011. Interestingly, I created a lot of bring back TCM YouTube videos and Petitions around 2009/2010.

It was just very good luck that the Production Company had links to a French Broadcaster who owned the rights to TCM. It was also very lucky that the Live Experience provided a platform for C4 to test the waters with a pilot episode before C4 splashed serious money on a massive set - something they couldn't do before. We have Neale Simpson to thank for his pitching to C4 to bring the show back. His hard work has paid off. I still can't believe it's finally properly back at last. I love how it is back and I really like the sets and games.

My only minor niggles, I'd say, would be that the fantasy element isn't used as much as the original - e.g. too many references to the set, rather than the zone themes they move between. Richard O'Brien and Edward Tudor-Pole used to make up fantastic stories about each of the themed worlds which made the viewer believe they were really there, and Richard Ayoade spends a lot of time telling us its a set when we know it is a set. I wish they would cut this mockery out as there is a real risk the maze could become a parody of its own self.

I also wish they include Easter Eggs - i.e. regular references to the original series, as what happened in the SU2C Special with O'Brien, and photo of Pole on the wall. Finally, even if it's for one episode, use the classic theme and map / Get O'Brien back and into a cell in person to offer a contestant a riddle. Sorry, I don''t want much. :) Celebrity editions I would stay clear of. Sorry, demanding fan here, lol. I know they need to make it modern and appealling to new audiences but they need to let it stick to its roots as well. Long live the Maze! Watched Team 'Love it' this evening, they played well in the Futuristic and Medieval Zones. I laughed when Ayoade joked that the Industrial Tool game was like an IKEA CSI!

Happy 76th Birthday Richard O'Brien from the Crystal Maze Fan Blog! We hope Mumsey gave you a fantastic present!

Crystal Maze Crystal Collection

As a Maze Superfan I have amassed a rather impressive collection of Crystals, past and present. Firstly on the left, the Crystal Maze Crowd Funding Crystal - "I Build The Crystal Maze" is engraved on it. These were given to us for crowd funding the live experience on Indie Go Go in 2015/2016. The second crystal from left in the picture below, is a "live experience" crystal. These are smaller than the TV ones because the Maze Master actors have to carry them around with them. The third crystal from left is an actual crystal from the new series, I don't think it is a prize crystal from the end, but more like a crystal used in one of the game cells. I acquired this from the Production Company. Lastly, the one on the far right, is the original 90s' Prize Crystal from The Crystal Maze. I won this superb crystal on eBay (I almost had a heart attack when I nearly got outbidded!). It was a lot of money, but well worth it. It completes my collection. I just need to go on the new maze now and get the prize crystal from the new series! Will make a fantastic display in my cabinet at home. ;) 

The Evolution of The Crystal Maze - In Crystal Form!

The original 90'S series crystal I believe is a Swarovski one, and sits in a sturdy blue display box, as presented at the Crystal Dome by the presenters.The one I own was sold to be my the Production Secretary, Anita Stubbs. I believe some members of crew were given crystals as a keep sake for their work on the programme, hence why my one is not engraved. But as you can imagine, I am over the moon to now own this. It is in such excellent condition, it still looks new. Hard to believe it is a quarter of a century old. The original crystal gives off this lovely refractive light, which changes dependent on the angle you hold it. Love it!  Now I am just praying I am lucky enough to go on the new series, to get a 21st Century "prize" crystal to complete my awesome collection of Crystal Maze Memorabelia. I think it is just simply great how the maze has such an impressive history from its conception through to its modern day evolution. It is very rare that television programmes can do this, let alone survive a revival.

Crystal Maze, Mental Health, and Me

Before I really get into this, I'll say there are a few things in here that I've never really talked about for a long time. But if you're going to read it, stick with it.

I've already covered how much the show meant to me as a kid but I really glossed over why. Which has always been a problem of mine, glossing over the bad to make it less of a problem for myself and others. However something happened recently and for the longest of times, confidence has been a very scarce commodity in my life but that has somewhat changed.

As a kid, throughout most of my school years I was bullied, bad. The kind of level of bullying that a headteacher denies because they don't want to admit that there is a bullying problem in their school. They look for loopholes so they don't have to have paperwork linking their school and any particularly bloody incidents. So it continues because those doing it have got away with it. When you grow up in a small place with just two primary schools and one secondary school, which brings in pupils from a lot of other small places, every possibility and grouping is concentrated. You don't just get a mild mix of good, bad and other spread through a few schools in an area. You get the brightest and nicest of the best, as well as the most unpleasant and most violent of the worst.

I hated school, utterly hated it. I was good, I behaved, I kept quiet and left at the end of each day as soon as I could to ensure I didn't have to spend longer than necessary in those walls. I made sure I didn't get one detention after school because I wanted out every day. I was THAT kid and made myself that kid for a logical reason.

Gameshows were what made me smile, all I had to really cheer me up when console games weren't distracting me, We're talking about the days of basic satellite tv, dial-up internet in the pre-Youtube days, Playstation 2 (without online gaming) and for me: VHS recordings of The Crystal Maze and repeats on Challenge TV of shows such as Interceptor, You Bet!, Bullseye, Takeshi's Castle, Krypton Factor and many others. I could watch those recorded CM episodes over and over till the tape wore out. Most of which were preceded by a couple of seconds of Denise Van Outen and Richard Orford introducing them as part of 'The Bigger Breakfast' during school holiday mornings. Time went on and the repeated views on tape turned into repeated viewings on Youtube. Any reference to TCM on any other show and the small reminder would instantly cheer me up, seeing that it wasn't just me remembering it.

All through my adult life, the bad stuff stuck with me. Day in day out, I've struggled with people because for a big portion of that life, most people I've known contributed to a lot of unpleasantness. Even those who never physically contributed joined in verbally, at a guess they'd just rather be on the side of the bad than in its path, and with what I got I don't really blame them. Some stuff just doesn't get forgotten no matter how hard you try, so you bottle it up, you bury it and hide it. Now years later I know that's the worst thing to do but the damage was done, and for the last few years I've been getting various treatments to get myself sorted. I've never had any real confidence, but as I said at the start something happened.

 For a long time, I've been talking to people online with a shared love of The Crystal Maze. For certain reasons I ended up doing a lot of traveling a couple of weekends ago and meeting these like-minded, great people. A 570 mile round trip.  It's because of that day out, that opportunity that I finally have a bit of self-confidence. I have the confidence to be able to say that crap happened but I finally have a chance of something kind of big. Anything else I wouldn't have done all that traveling, I wouldn't have been able to mentally cope doing that kind of thing alone, that far, all those hours hundreds of miles from home in a city I'd never been even close to before. Sounds daft saying it aloud or in type, but having been somewhat hardwired to be withdrawn, it feels amazing to have done something like that which to many might seem a bit normal.

I guess when there's something wrong, look for anything good. Whatever it is if it makes you smile it'd absolutely worth it. If an opportunity of a lifetime comes up, say yes to it and work out how to incorporate it into your life later. 

Here is my Crystal Maze memorabelia mega fan collection - I have tonnes of stuff from the programme, past and present. I have shown the new Assistant Producer it and she was amazed - for reasons I can't disclose. I have fan t-shirts from the crowd funding experience, real 90s jacket, Crew Shirt from the new series, SU2C contestant shirt, electronic timer from the 90s futuristic zone, books, bags and more.

Smiling like a Cheshire cat today, but won't be allowed to say why until probably the end of the year!

I submitted our team entry "Superfans" earlier this month, and amazingly have already received a phone call from the Production team and are through the first stage. Fingers crossed. I won't say anymore, I will stay tight lipped. But it's another step closer to the ultimate dream we have all held since the 90s! A tiny fraction closer to entering The Crystal Maze for real. I was so excited to speak on the phone to one of the Producers. But I won't get too excited just yet. 

Ed Tudor-Pole: [to the computer in the Futuristic Zone] Barbara, will you go out with me?

Barbara: Not until you get a haircut.

Richard O'Brien: That's the idea!

Ed Tudor-Pole: Let the four winds blow!

Richard O'Brien: Tooo the Crystal Dome!

Richard O'Brien: Will you start the fans, please!

Computer Wallpapers

By Neil Robinson

Crystal Maze Live

By Jonathan Harris

In 2016, I backed a crowdfunding campaign on IndieGoGo to support a team called Little Lion Entertainment rebuild a popular 90’s TV Game Show as a live Interactive attraction in the heart of London, so that you could relive the experience that the show’s contestant’s would’ve experienced, but in real-time.

I went to the Maze to enjoy my opening night perk and was greeted by 7 other team mates, who were all Crystal Maze fans in themselves, and we were the first ever team to enter via the Industrial Zone, which corresponded to our coloured bomber jackets. Three other teams were also to enter the maze at the same time as us, all via their own allocated zone – Future being Blue, Medieval being Green and the Aztec Zone assigned Orange.

Taken to our entry point into the Maze, we watched a 90’s flashback video which highlighted popular things at the time – Tamagotchi, Supersoakers, before eventually focusing on “The Crystal Maze” and showing some highlights from the TV show, including Richard ‘O Briens introduction to an episode…

“Put out the fire and throw another log on the cat!”

“Get the slack out of the pants. Ooh! That’s not a nice thing to say!”

We then get to the scene recorded for the introduction of series 5, where Richard was writing a letter to Ed Tudor Pole…. however, instead of handing to Ed, the video goes and cuts out – and then our maze master bursts into the room in full character, channeling their 90’s vibes and the ecsentric vibes of Richard ‘O Brien – So, on my first run, I’m greeted by Tilly, who reminds me of some kind of Absoloutely Fabulous character!

So, Tilly’s role at this point is to ensure a fair balance of loss and win, and entertainment – but winning the games is very much down to us, the players! Tilly makes sure we know how to play the Crystal Maze, what our objectives are (being the Time Crystals which grant time in the end goal seen above, The Crystal Dome) and the game categories.

Tilly is also here to act as a bit of an Icebreaker, as are all the Maze Masters, and before long, we’re all laughing – I think it helped in that we were all fans of the Maze and were keen as mustard to get into the maze. One last thing before we enter the Maze and start playing games – we have to nominate a team captain, and a Vice Captain – Pedro, seen to the right of me in the photo above, was Captained, and myself brought as Vice Captain. So, with that done, and a loud cheer, we’re off into the Maze! I don’t wish to spoil the games, so i won’t be saying what we played, but what I can tell you is that the new “Lock in” handling method is well done. 

Obviously, health and safety wouldn't let folks be trapped in cells and unable to escape – (There’s this thing called “Fire” apparently) – So, what would happen is that when we move to the next zone, the prisoner would be taken off to complete a “Prison Puzzle” – They then had until the time we left the zone to complete the puzzle and leave the prison without costing the team a Crystal – However, if they failed to complete the puzzle, the team would AUTOMATICALLY forfeit a Crystal. This also handles the issue of members from other teams being left in the zone whilst other teams were about.

So, with each zone complete, the music kicks in, and we’re off the the next time zone to play more games throughout! Transitions are still made possible in the Maze, and leaving Industrial to enter Future Zone, Tilly opened a massive steam pipe cover, revealing a small crawl space – so down on our knees, we start crawling along and find we have to each choose a channel to “drop into” – once everyone is in place, we’re told to drop into the Cryogenic Pods and wait for our Maze Master to open the pod door – we’re then around the corner to climb down a ladder one at a time, and enter the main deck of Future Zone! Future to Medieval is presently is just walking through a doorway, so I can only imagine something is in the works.

Medieval to Aztec, however, we have to climb up a wall, through another small crawl space and down the steps the other side of an Aztec temple, into the Aztec zone, which is also rather hot and the floor is covered in sand! So, we’ve done 4 zones – we’ve got 12 Crystals, and 60 seconds in the Dome itself! So, we’re off to the final objective!

“TOOO THE CRYSTALLL DOOOMMMEEE!!!!!”

We then run up some hidden stairs leaving the Aztec Zone sand trailing up the said stairs, and just before we get to the exit doors, our maze master tells us to yell and cheer like we wanna scare the other teams – we burst out of the doors, to meet the Blue Team, who had obviously ended their run in the Industrial Zone. We wait on the other 2 teams to make their way back through the maze, and arrive at the dome.

It’s time for the face off. First, the maze masters commence their Crystal Counts, mainly to see which team got the most crystals (just a bit of fun) – Once that’s done, we’re briefed on the crystal dome gameplay. There are no silver tokens, and we are not to

1) Take tokens from the floor
2) Take tokens from below the knee

We’ve to start collecting on the maze masters signal OR a Green Light is shown. Blue team commence their run for tokens first, and the magic call is made. “WILL YOU START THE FANS PLEASE!” True enough, the magic of the Crystal Dome, just like in the TV show came alive – the fans whirred into action and the golden tickets started flying into the air – The dome itself had turned it’s lighting to a golden amber…… just wait… just wait and ….. GO! The dome lit up Green for just a second and the time the team had accrued from the maze itself started running down to 0, whilst white lights pulsed and flashed, the legendary “Forcefield” played over the loudspeakers in the Bar Area, and we cheered them on from outside the dome. The tokens were all gathering in the receptacle and quite surprisingly, at a good rate! So, of course, the team are busy shoving tokens into the box as the last seconds drip out, the music stops and the dome is bathed in Red Light. Their time was up. The red light faded back to the calm, dormant white of the dome and the fans had powered down. The doors opened and we applauded the team to come out.

Once the tokens had been taken over to a weighing device which allowed them to make a very quick and accurate count, the box was replaced into the holdster and our turn in the dome was next. I couldn’t beleive this. I was about to actually enter the crystal dome! I walked up the steps, through the doorway and held onto the rail – and once we were all in, the door was shut. I’m looking at my team mates with the excitedness of a 10 year old… It was time…..

“WILL YOU START THE FANS PLEASE!”

So, being on the inside this time, the fans kicked in and the amber lighting took effect – we just waited for the green light to show and get going…. the fans kick in with a lot of noise, and whilst you’re aware of the air stream, it’s not enough to make you want to keep your mouth closed. We had 60 seconds in the dome, Forcefield is playing, I’m catching tokens, and trying to reach desperately for the deposit box – part of the trick to the dome is letting the tokens find you, rather than trying to the catch the tokens. Another couple, one flies into my face – I’ll have that! We can see our Maze Master pleading with us outside the dome, more tokens! more tokens! In the end, our time comes to a halt and the dome bathes us in Red Light as the fans come to a halt.

It was done. I had completed a childhood dream. I had run the Crystal Maze. I’d had the same experience as one of the contestants on the TV Show – whilst I had missed out on the Cyberdrome Crystal Maze, I think what I’ve experienced is far more worth the wait than to be guided around by a computer and play some poorly maintained arcade games and computer games. We had been running from Cell to Cell, picking up physical, tangible Crystals, and a completely 90’s eccentric bonkers Maze Master character. The Maze Masters are as much fans of the show as we, the players were. This was worth every penny of the £100 perk I had pledged for, and I would be one of the first few to experience The Crystal Maze – LIVE, in the time it would be running.

So, whilst those thoughts ran through my head, we cheered on the remaining two teams who went through the same sequence and completed their runs. Sadly, we had rolled home in 3rd position so we had not won this particular face off, but with a score around 200 points, who the hell cared? We had all been there for some fun – The Maze Masters completed their final bits of acting and thanked us for playing… THE CRYSTAL MAZE!

Since it was opening night, I milled around for a little bit with Pedro and fellow team mates, and we were greeted by a champagne reception and a Free Bar! I had to settle for Coca Cola as I’m not able to consume alcohol, but we all cheered on the following 8 teams, and I had the opportunity to chat with Little Lion Entertainment – Sadly, my hopes of Richard O’Brien, Ed Tudor Pole or the lady who played Mumsie / Aunty Sabrina were not to come to fruition, but that didn’t even occur to me at the time. We were all still on hype mode from our runs, and the high carried on through the night as the drinks flowed and the fans shared their passion about the Maze.

As of Feb 2018, there are Live Experience Crystal Maze Venue's in both London and Manchester. Visit https://the-crystal-maze.com/ and run round the maze, and live the dream yourself. 

Here are a selection of funny outtakes and interesting behind the scenes clips of the 90's Crystal Maze.

                              

Behind the Scenes - 90's Crystal Maze Set

Original Series Crystal Maze Games Designer and Fan

"I Designed Games for the Original Crystal Maze"

One of our Blog Contributor's is Phil Newton-England. Our very own Phil designed a variety of games for the Original Series starring both Edward Tudor-Pole and Richard O'Brien. He is also a big super fan like the rest of us on this blog. He was voted as Challenge TV's No 1 Crystal Maze Fan. (I'd argue that with him, but he designed the games so he has one up on me!). Phil in the 90's had a dream job, that was to generate ideas and draw plans up for games to be built for the cells. The games themselves were built by Artem.

A highly imaginative and rewarding job, Phil put forward his plans and four of them were accepted and built. He designed the Hazard Symbols game in Futuristic (Above). This is the game in which a Meteor Storm happened to strike the Futuristic Zone, which featured pretty cool Special Effects of sparks flying around the abandoned Space Station. The game involved placing no two like symbols in adjacent spaces in a metal frame. 

Phil said: "I was 19 years old & remember getting home after work and switching on the TV. I saw this strangely dressed, bald-headed guy showing these people around a medieval castle...and locking the odd one or two inside. I thought ‘What is this weird show?' It was like NOTHING I’d ever seen before. Checking the TV guides it was called The Crystal Maze - from that moment I was hooked. ‘When’s it on next?’ I asked. Next Thursday 8pm my VCR was set to record this wacky, way out show (& yes...I still have the original airings recorded on VHS tapes in my wardrobe.

Phil-Newton England, Original Games Designer

Well, after watching & loving the show for 4 years my mind decided in a dream to place me, as a contestant, in the maze itself. I played one game unsuccessfully. The following morning I sketched the game I played on a piece of A4 & for some strange reason decided to mail it to the producers at Chatsworth TV. (I didn’t have emails & interweb back then).

They wrote back saying it was a great game but a bit too similar to one that had already appeared on the show. (Which to be fair, it was). They also said if I had any more game ideas they would like to see them. I got pen to paper & came up with eight new game designs.

Inspiration For The Games Inside The Crystal Maze

I drew inspiration from things I saw around work and out on the streets - people trying move certain objects from one room to another, parts of machinery that looked like they could be some part of a puzzle. I eventually sent my 8 designs to them & after various ‘phone conversations it was decided they would use 4 of the games I’d created for Series 6.

Build the Clock Face - Ocean Zone

These were the ‘no matching hexagons’ (Future), Ship & Cubes, Build the Clock Face & match the Octopus Tentacles (All in Ocean Zone, my favourite zone) the latter game appearing only in the kids special.

I was paid a one-off fee of £500 as I was told they alternated each year between payment or on-screen credit. They later asked me for some more ideas for series 7, which I started working on-but, unfortunately, the show was then de-commissioned.

I still have some of the unused game designs from back then & have since created another 60+ all locked away in a water-tight container & buried in the Aztec sands for Future archaeologists to find.

Built a Boat - Ocean Zone

Phil added: "As a little thank you, I was given one of the ROB era original jumpsuits (red) & 2 game crystals which now form part of my private collection, alongside my Crystal Maze fruit machine, all the puzzle books, board, LCD & PC game, jigsaws, original medic jacket (from series 6). I also decorated my old bedroom as the maze & Dome."

Tentacles, as used only in the 1994 Christmas Special

Top games from the first series of the revival

1. Spinning Planets in Futuristic

My former School friend Robert Griffin gets into a tizz stuck spinning on a planet, absolutely hilarious. This got a lot of YouTube views and featured on Gogglebox. Classic Crystal Maze moment this is. 

2. The Crystal Twist in the Medieval Zone

 One of my favourite concepts of The Crystal Maze, past and present is use of the "automatic lock in" - escape with the Crystal or get locked in scenarios. This is used a few times in the new series, to great effect. 

3. ALIS Dodge the Knight - Medieval Zone

Fantastic nostalgia with this game, elements of "Knightmare" blended into The Crystal Maze with a roving Knight you need to avoid and outsmart around a fortress. 

4. The unforgiving Wet Log - Aztec Zone

A true classic game returns here, twenty years later and contestants are still meeting their match into the drink!

5. ALIS - Riddle game - Medieval Zone

Fantastically simple, yet genius concept. Another of these brilliant "get the Crystal straight away, but solve the problem in order to escape" scenario. A contestant enters a cell to grab the Crystal, but there's a catch - they get locked in a prison cell by a hooded assailant. They have to correctly answer a few riddles in order to escape!  I also like the "Access Codes" game in Industrial, as well as the "build a circuit" game, and many more. They are all fantastic, fresh and fun. The hardest game of this series has been the game in Industrial where they have to stop several moving platforms and get them all aligned to create a pathway for the Crystal.  

The Christmas Special was fantastic, they turned the entire maze into a Winter Wonderland and they even turned Aztec into a Tundra Zone. This was the last time that the maze set was used for Series 1.

What 'The Crystal Maze' is to me

What The Crystal Maze means to me... by Liam Tate

In 1990, a couple living in their first house in Darlington found solace in an unusual little Channel 4 show. Relieved they finally found something to keep their 1 year old quiet, they could put this annoying little pile of atoms and noise in front of a portable Mitsubishi TV and he'd be quiet for an hour a week. This kept on for about a third of a year, every year until 1995. Then that unusual little Channel 4 show finished and he had to make do lesser offerings, but for the next 22 years he wouldn't shut up about that show. As that annoying, and now much bigger, pile of atoms and noise, there's still no other TV show that's grabbed me by the back of the head and pressed my face to the screen anytime it's on quite like CM manages.

Some people can quote every line from 54 years of Doctor Who, others question continuity in the maintenance of the engines of the starship Enterprise. I've repeatedly watched the same episodes from 6 series of a 90s gameshow for the vast majority of my time and to quote Comic Book Guy from the Simpsons when faced with imminent death: "Life Well Spent". Everyone has early Argos catalogue memories, something they always saw in those back pages of toys that they either never got or it seemed like they waited for years to get. Mine is the Crystal Maze board game. Still got it safe in the spare room somewhere. I remember seeing a review of the early PC game on ITV's 'Movies, Games, and Videos' on a Saturday morning/lunchtime. Didn't look great but still wanted it just because it was CM. Every single time it's mentioned on another show, referenced in some way, shape or form, there I am paying attention. The main reason I'm a Josh Widdecombe fan, every show he's been involved in, he's shoehorned in a reference to it somehow.

Even this morning, I was listening to Radio X and up comes a joke about Chris Moyles' producer settling down for a night with her boyfriend (Toby Tarrant, the son of Chris) a mucky book and the Crystal Maze theme, which she described as "Oooooh it's a tune". What with the long overdue revival, references have picked back up compared to most of the last 23 years. Although for me it was never really off the air, it was just very very repeated. At the start I made do with repeats being shown on The Bigger Breakfast, Channel 4's programming block during school holidays after The Big Breakfast which was just more Big Breakfast sandwiching other shows such as 'Eerie Indiana', 'The Monkees' and the 60's Batman series. I also had plenty recorded on VHS thanks to my gran cottoning on that having some taped would keep me quiet.

There's just something so fun and imaginative about TCM that grabs me and makes it impossible for me to not be borderline obsessed with it. Since my first mobile phone, the theme has been my ringtone. We've all got something unusual that we know far too many details about and CM is easily mine.