A new addition to the Maze Collection: Medieval Egg Timer Prop!

Left, the egg timer today in 2019, and right, O'Brien holding it in Medieval

Ok, so today was an awesome day, I travelled to London and met up with Nick Badham in person, the Production Manager for Series 2-6 of The Crystal Maze. We met in a pub in Victoria this afternoon. I nipped to the bar to buy him a pint, came back and out came an actual Medieval Egg Timer Prop from the 90s set, which was used by both Edward Tudor-Pole and Richard O'Brien. Wow! He had started the timer with the sand running through and joked I had to get back with the drinks quickly.

There we were talking in a London Pub, with a prop from a massively popular TV show sitting there, as if it were a table decoration. He very generously gave me the original Medieval timer for me to keep! This lovely gesture was a token of being a true fan of the show. (Thank you so much Nick you've made my 2019 already, and we are only two weeks in!). I've supported and loved the original series through this blog. We spoke for an hour in depth about his previous and current shows, as well as Crystal Maze. What struck me is he is very talented and skillful in TV Entertainment. Some of his earlier shows did not enjoy the technology we have today, so Nick always sought to overcome production challenges. I enjoyed listening to all his stories about working on Crystal Maze. Some amazing things I learned today from him, were that there were actually three different types of Crystals used on the original series. One type for gameplay (clear), one type presented to contestants (colourful), and a colourful Crystal with mirrored bottom for the Crystal Table. Wow!

I learned that there was only ever one injury on the set of The Crystal Maze, however that was not a contestant. Unfortunately a Video Editor broke their nose on the Rat Run game. (Industrial, Series 3). There were several first aid trained team members and a Local A&E department very near by.

They had to keep rats at bay on set. I learned that they had to bring in a local swimming pool company to weekly treat the water tanks in Ocean and Aztec, and they had to construct a large element to keep the Ocean tank warm, as well as a filtration system. This was because trodden Aztec sand from the contestants would cloud the water.

I also learned that Ed Tudor Pole and Richard O'Brien only ever actually met for the first time ever back in 2012 at a Maze Crew reunion! I never knew this. Nick went on to say that C4 once received complaints about the 'House Burglar' Industrial game from Series 3, as some viewers believed it encouraged people to break into peoples houses! Sound effects such as thunderclaps and sounds of creaking, etc were dubbed in post production to mask airfield sirens/aircraft noise as they were filming in a hangar. All ticking clocks in the Zones had sounds added on afterwards.

As well as managing Production of TCM, Nick Badham designed four games on the show. He also played the dead scientist in the Futuristic Mystery game, as well as the Robot in Futuristic. Nick worked on Treasure Hunt as well, and loads of other notable shows. He is currently working on CBBC show Last Commanders, which is like Crystal Maze but using Skype and Avatars. I have seen a clip and it is really good. I showed him some of my Maze memorabilia, and he was kind enough to also sign some autographs for me to give to members of this blog. He told me so many amazing stories about working on the original Maze. What an iconic show indeed. And thank you, Nick, for awarding me with such a great piece of iconic memorabilia from my favourite all time show. The timer was used in Medieval Zone for every series, both Richard O'Brien and Edward Tudor Pole would have used it. I'm feeling like a Crystal Maze Historian now.

Any more pieces and I will have enough to reconstruct the original 90's Maze! There were only eight Medieval Egg Timers produced for the show, and I am lucky to have one of them, perhaps one of the only remaining ones left after 24 years.