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!
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