Neale Simpson, Executive Producer of the new series of The Crystal Maze, has invested a lot of thought and knowledge into making the revival series such a success. It has now been issued a commission for a further 12 episodes, 6 of which will be Celebrity. Many Congratulations to him. He has been very kind to interact regularly with our fan group via email and letters. We thank you massively for engaging with us so enthusiastically. He has gone into a lot of detail for us. We appreciate everything you have done so far for this show.
The awesome new Crystal Dome
The process of bringing back The Crystal Maze for good, was a long drawn out process that has taken a fair few years, assuming this could be in terms of purchasing the rights to the format, and ensuring that the revival would live up to high expectations. With the UK public sharing continued fond memories of the show, Channel 4 would of exercised caution in ensuring that the revival wouldn't fail, like Gladiators for example. I am relieved to say that this has not happened and it has been a roaring success. What was exciting for me is that they invited some of the key original brains back to create the new series. For example, James Dillion, who designed the original set to recreate and re-envisage the maze for a modern audience.
The new Futuristic Zone
The new series has reinvented a Zone. We are now greeted with a brand new clinically white, modern looking Futuristic Zone with Space Age style corridors (above). However, the modern future has also seen commercial constraints. Unfortunately now we don't see as many games in each zone unfortunately. We also don't see zones running to order as per the map, which at first bewildered fans. Normally contestants would traverse the maze in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction through connected zones, rather than diagonally and in random orders. But there are strong valid reasons for this.
"An important consideration is now to ensure the maze is accessible for people with a disability, which previous series weren't required to do so." - Neale Simpson, Executive Producer of The Crystal Maze.
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| Host Richard Ayoade |
Neale told us: "We had to contend with a different commercial hour structure to the original, most notably three ad breaks as opposed to two. In the original, zone transitions would sometimes take place in the middle of a part, thereby justifying making more of a feature of them; they had the time and the structure to revel in these moments in a way we simply can't. We realised that to maximise the content and make the most of the four zones the best place to put the transitions were at the end and start of each part. If you are seeing people exit a zone at the end of a part you don't want to see them arrive in the new one and then go to the ads; as soon as they arrive in a new zone you want to get cracking so we knew it made most sense to split the transitions over the break."
Zone Transitions
Discussing Zone transitions, Neale explained: "We have a Zone entrance for each time a Zone opens the show, and we have three ways in and out of Industrial and Aztec, two in Medieval and two in Futuristic. This means we can change how we come in and out each time and it doesn't matter which option we take because it isn't constrained by the idea that they must all then arrive in a specific zone next.
Neale added: "The result isn't just more variety of transitions, it also means we are able to deliver more variety in zones and games. We were able to mix up running orders of shows and games in a way that meant we could ensure that there was minimal repetition across episodes, and shows that featured the most games alike would play out in completely different orders."
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| New Aztec Zone |
In summary. As a fan, I believe that this is only a minor point, the quality of the new series is superb and the games ring true to the old spirit and charm of The Crystal Maze. We've got the maze back, we have a new legion of fans (or millennials!), that are being captivated by the thrills and spills of the show. We have living characters in the maze, such as "Jarhead", and the Knight. The infamous Aztec Water log is back, along with high tech games and an LED Crystal Dome. Plus the maze is now in High Definition. What more could we possibly want? I even read that they dug out candle candelabras from the original set to use in the new Medieval Zone. Talk about excellent attention to detail! Richard Ayoade is funny and works well as host. The Aztec Zone looks so much like the original one as well.The old plans were dug out of James Dillion's loft.
The fact that the maze is back in a Social Media age is also fantastic. TCM was born many years ago, only because Fort Boyard wasn't available for UK filming. Since then we have seen it morph into various exciting forms. We can even enjoy it again and again on YouTube, on 4oD.... or even at a live experience. These are truly exciting times to be a Crystal Maze Fan. It is back for a Series 2, and who knows it will continue to evolve again. It is a show that doesn't get old, it was way ahead of its time and still is. Long live TCM.
CREDIT: Thank you Neale for these stunning High Resolution Images of the Maze set. Wow!
