N: James re-used flattage from a few of the cells, but the design was so different as well as the layout and construction method that not much could be. Most props on series 2 were hired. There were/are several large film and TV hire companies around London and between them you can hire a truly amazing range of things from every period in history imaginable. Prop hire is quite expensive but very convenient and time saving – you turn up walk around an enormous Aladdin’s cave of warehouses picking what you want. But it is expensive because prop companies need to have big warehouses and stock so many things – many of which might only get hired for a few days or weeks a year or even over several years. When Channel 4 committed to the show longer term and we were able to keep the set up at North Weald for 5 years - we hired less and less each year and bought or had made what we wanted. This saved money that could be spent on other things. The one thing that was still hired each year was the table in Medieval – a beautiful large antique oak table that would have cost a fortune in a shop and would have cost a lot too to make from scratch.
12. Was the Crystal Dome visible from any of the zones? Where was it the most easiest to access from, as I have always wondered this, because the shot of them running to the dome was not geographically accurate in terms of the map?
N: You couldn’t see the dome, but you could see the black star cloths that encircled it – only by looking up and off the top of the sets though. The set was laid out exactly as the animated show graphic depicts in the programmes. You see it when teams arrive in a new zone and it rotates and camera zooms in on the new zone. The dome was in the middle and you could only practically access it from the ‘path’ that led from the edge of the set between Industrial/Ocean and Medieval and ran under the bridge obstacle that the teams used to get between the two. The shot of the run to the dome was artistic licence – just a visual mechanism for the transition!
13. What I particularly loved were the ‘zone events’ that brought the Crystal Maze to life, such as the meteorite storm in futuristic, the plane wreckage and parachute in Aztec, and the night setting in Aztec. Did your team think of any others, and how were they devised?
N: Everyone contributed ideas and they added humour, variety and something for the presenter to talk about or do during a slightly boring or longer running game. David usually picked the ideas he liked. I came up with the idea of having a ‘What The Butler Saw’ machine which I used to see on Brighton Pier when I was a child. I thought Ed could peer in, turn the handle and make up a lot of nonsense about what he was seeing. David loved the idea and it grew into a production number. On one of our shoot days we dressed our floor assistant Sharon up like a Victorian French maid and Ed as a gentlemen with huge moustache, and filmed him chasing Sharon and waving a loofah! This was then edited to look like vintage Victorian “erotica” and shown in the episode. Another idea I had was a magic show already set up in Ocean when the team arrive and Ed would walk into the cabinet and re-appear at the top of the staircase - or similar such gag – but it never progressed.
14. What could have a Series 7 looked like, had the original show continued beyond 1995?
N: We were talking about replacing a zone – probably Aztec. No-one had come up with a solid idea though as to what the zone would be. I think David and Malcolm had discussed Wild West zone as an idea. But apart from that I think everything else would have stayed pretty much the same with the addition of a new dome and funkier moving lights.
15. How do you feel about the continuing success of the show today, with re-runs, live experiences, the new series, merchandise and a new modern following? Why do you think it is still so enduring and popular?
N: It is a perfect format and at the time completely original (although based on the Fort Boyard format that show had not been seen in the UK), and the new series is introducing a whole new generation of fans in addition that never grew up with the C4 series or wouldn’t watch re-runs of anything from so long ago. It was also very popular abroad. Star Asia (covering the whole of Asia and parts of Africa, Middle East and Oceania) ran all the series and repeated them quite often. Over the years we received quite a few fan letters that had been sent from this region – often not in English and some just addressed “Crystal Maze, England”. I take my hat off to the Post Office because most of these letters found their way eventually to Channel 4 (via BBC or ITV sometimes) but several got delivered directly to North Weald airfield! Merchandising, live experiences and the like are natural spin-offs of popular shows.
I haven’t watched the new series religiously, but have seen a few. I think it’s great. It’s always easy to criticise when things are remade and moan that they aren’t the same as the original. But if you are re-launching something you need to change some things and make it more ‘of the moment’. The set looks as good as ever and I think the lighting is far better, even accounting for newer technology and high definition. The games I’ve seen are particularly good. I have always liked Richard Ayoade and nothing personal against him but I still believe the show should have cast an unknown and not made any “celebrity” episodes, which I find a turn-off.
Unfortunately many TV execs/commissioners and producers are just too risk-averse these days and simply not brave enough to try new things very often. As for the teams knowing each other, I think it works except for the buying out vs not buying out tension that has been lost. It’s a shame too that the Aztec river, dome tank and deeper water games we could do in Ocean have also been lost, but I suspect this has to do with time (I’m told they shoot 2 shows a day, but we had the luxury of 2 days to make 1 show), money and space pressures, which have also scuppered the vignettes (“Zone events” as you called them) that were so popular before. Is the new series any worse? Not at all. Is it any better? No, just a little different. The biggest disappointment for me is the costumes. Our costumes on the original series were pretty terrible – there never seemed to be enough money left over for the wardrobe department once design, lighting and special effects had spent so much. It’s a shame really because they are the one thing that is seen on screen all the time. I don’t think David or Malcolm were really happy until series 5 when we finally tackled it and they looked much more modern, were better fitting on all body types and also appeared more adventurous. The new series seem to have regressed back to what we had on our series 3 and 4 – ill fitting, baggy boiler suits that look like what they wear at your local tyre and exhaust garage!
16. Do you know why the original series was never released onto DVD?
N: No and it’s strange – I guess that as the series are still shown on channels like Challenge, if people want them they can get them for free, and maybe DVDs wouldn’t sell very well?
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