I Have Had My Tiny Little Mind Blown - There Was A Sequel Series to Crystal Maze: Magic Carnival

It's escaped my notice for 25 years, but there was a follow up to The Crystal Maze.

Last night I was watching Channel 4's "Back to the '90s", part of a series celebrating 4 decades of Channel 4. I was doing my usual thing on Twitter, liking and retweeting everything remotely relevant to this humble little blog. Every mention of quality Channel 4 programming (of which GamesMaster was noticeable by its absence). One tweet certainly grabbed my attention:

I Art Directed the last original series of The Crystal Maze, such a buzz to work on #backtothe90s

— Richard Drew (@dickydrew) December 28, 2020

The whole thread is there to find on Twitter, and after some messages, something came up that I've never heard of in 30ish years of being far too obsessed with a quirky Channel 4 gameshow:

I was very fortunate in my AD career to work with some fantastic Production Designers, but James and Dennis ( de Groot) probably had the biggest influence on me. James n I did the follow up show Magic Carnival together, was meant to succeed CM but it only got to pilot stage.

— Richard Drew (@dickydrew) December 29, 2020

Who Are The Final Set of Contestants For This Series (New Years Eve, 8pm)

 Almost as suddenly as it started, this series is almost over. However, we've still got one last episode to enjoy. So for the last time this series, who are they? Where've you seen them before? Which one's been on Strictly or I'm a Celeb? Keep reading after the photo.

Who Are the Next Set (December 24th) of Crystal Maze Contestants

 No sooner has one show finished and the next is nearly upon us. This Thursday, or as it was also known until fairly recently "Christmas Eve" (Hello Boris), at 10:55pm we get episode 5 of the current run. Yes, it's a little late but if you've got kids then they may well be up anyway in anticipation of whatever you've got them to play Fortnite on with a few more pixels to use. Or if you don't want them watching TV that late the whole run is on All4 already.

But who's taking part for the night, and where do you maybe perhaps possibly know them from?

Who Are Next Week's (Monday 21st December) Crystal Maze Contestants?

 Next week is bringing Christmas (sort of) and however we're each spending it, at least we still have some Crystal Maze to enjoy. Don't forget to go looking for the old Christmas specials online, they're all there if you look hard enough, and you don't have to look that hard. But who's taking part? Where do you know them from? And Why? When? How? If?.... Enough rubbish, here's who's who.

A Crystal Maze Christmas Special (for Future Consideration)

 'Tis the season to forget what an utter pile of [insert your own choice of something unpleasant here] this year has been. I'm finding myself laid up for a few days after a doctor stuck a needle in the underside of my foot and as such have spent today ploughing through various specials of various shows. 

My Christmas seasonal viewing tends to include the same shows year after year, I'm a creature of habit. I'll enjoy Richard Richard taking a finger off while preparing Christmas dinner in 'Bottom', I'll watch Blackadder's Christmas Carol and see the most harrowing use of a codpiece as Baldrick presents himself to the future Queen. I'll even revisit episodes of Never Mind the Buzzcocks I've got stashed for a Rick Wakeman/Bill Bailey supergroup the world needs more of.

But there's one set of shows that it should come as no surprise to anyone to know that'll I'll be watching without fail, the TCM Kids Christmas Specials. Yeah, I'll still be watching the more recent offerings that's have made the effort to offer up a more festive mise-en-scene but I do have a slight problem with them. As the show is currently, every show is a celebrity special, so they aren't all that special. I do really enjoy all the extra changes they make but, to me, they are missing one big shift that'd make them a proper Christmas Special.

Who Are Next Week's (December 17th) Crystal Maze Contestants?

Another week down and another episode aired, enjoy it? Good. Well there's another one next week and if you aren't sure who's on, or if you do know but have no idea who they actually are, keep reading.

Who Are Next Week's (December 10th) Crystal Maze Contestants?

 Hope we all enjoyed the return of the celebs. Nice high score too. However just as one episode becomes merely what was on yesterday, let's look forward to next week and have a look at who's who.

For Sale: One Original Crystal Maze "I Cracked The Crystal Maze" Crystal from Series One (1990)

 Thanks to the modern wonder that is social media, one of the contestants for the very first series filmed back in 1989 and broadcast in 1990 has been in touch regarding selling his prize crystal from the show. 

Now, I'll be the first to admit I'd love one for my collection. I'd give vital organs and limbs for one. But right now I've other priorities so I'd love to help another proper Crystal Maze fan (you, the reader) get in contact with the seller and work out a sale yourself.

Who Are Next Week's (December 3rd) Crystal Maze Contestants?

I hope we've all been enjoying the extra few episodes we've been treated to on E4 over the last couple of weeks. They've certainly generated reactions online widely ranging between annoyance and sheer rage.. However it's now that time again where there's going to be celebrity Crystal Maze on the telly, someone inevitably reads that it's a celebrity special, sees a name and asks "Who's that?". Well, allow me to try and fill in some blanks.

A Reminder of New Civilian Crystal Maze, and News of New Celeb Specials

 Just a reminder that this Sunday sees some new episodes of The Crystal Maze starting to air on E4 at 4:55pm followed immediately by the family-friendly PG edit of all new Taskmaster.

Ever heard Roman numerals decoded in a Bristol accent?

No?

You haven't lived people!

Let's right that wrong on Sunday

4:55pm on @E4Tweets #CrystalMaze pic.twitter.com/ouA5w11UnO

— The Crystal Maze (@TheCrystalMaze) November 11, 2020

However that's just 3 new episodes, whatever will we do with ourselves when the third is shown in just over a fortnight?

Gameshows and Streaming: Twitch Communities Making Viewing a Social Night In

 We're in a weird time, aren't we? We can't really have the level of socialization that we used to have (I've never been social but I know people like interacting) and yet thanks to modern technology we can still communicate in ways that the human race could never have imagined even 50 years ago. If you've ever used Twitch, you'll know that whatever people can do for a live-stream, they'll do happily and build up an audience. It's certainly been a way for people to fill their time under present circumstances.

Performers have turned to Twitch to generate some additional income in these times where they can't be booking gigs and getting on stage for audiences. Comedian and podcaster Richard Herring can't do his podcasts or shows from Leicester Square Theatre anymore so he's doing them live-streamed on Twitch. Likewise for Limmy, instead of being able to tell jokes on stage, he's taken to playing truck driving simulators for hundreds of viewers. Even as I'm typing this, Love Island narrator and Taskmaster alumnus Iain Stirling is playing FIFA 21 for 800 viewers.

TV presenters, wrestlers, singers, writers, people from all areas of entertainment have been creating content on Twitch including many who've already built up a following on YouTube.

At Long Last, 3 Forgotten Crystal Maze Episodes Get To Broadcast

 In 2017, 20 episodes were commissioned for a revived series of 'The Crystal Maze' hot on the heels of a successful one-off hosted by Stephen Merchant. Richard Ayoade took the helm for the series and everyone was enjoying themselves. However, as time wore on everyone was commenting that the games were becoming a bit samey, and viewing figures dropped as we'd all seen the Totem Mastermind Dragon game just a little too often. After 17 episodes, Channel 4 seemingly gave up with the run leaving three unaired.

These episodes still aired in other markets the show was sold to so they weren't forgotten completely, but last night @UndeniablyAlex alerted me to an ad airing on Channel 4 after they aired 'The Bridge' showing they were going to be airing these 3 shows on E4. "Coming Soon" says the ad so expect them within the month. 

@maze_blog @BothersBar here is that trailer confirming indeed S1 will finally be completed in the UK pic.twitter.com/qORcKK8PkO

— Danny Lee Kerner (@Danny_L_Kerner) November 1, 2020

About time too, with Lockdown 2 steaming into view on the horizon, I'm going to need something to watch. You'll be able to see The Ali family, The Midwives, and the Sasani Family and Friends at some point soon on E4.

The Midwives

Also, don't forget that The Crystal Maze USA will be back on Nickelodeon UK this week after a two-week hiatus. Friday, at 7pm.

You Bet! - When Talent Shows Were 100% Dancing Dog Free

It's been over a month since the last post. Life has been busy, things have been hectic, and everything's been a bit bleh. But while I've got some free time in the office, I thought I'd look at the other show I liked maybe a little too much.

Everyone's got one unusual, maybe even weird skill that it could safely be assumed isn't all that common. No show took advantage of that quite like You Bet!. 

Based on the German language format "Wetten Dass?", You Bet! invited celebrity guests to bet on the outcome of a very wide range of weird and wonderful challenges taken on by members of the public and some of these challenges were the kind of feats you wouldn't really see anywhere else.

First hosted by Bruce Forsyth in 1988, followed by Matthew Kelly then Darren Day, You Bet! was a talent show that featured the bare minimum of singing, dancing and illusion. Instead, you could see feats such as a dutchman driving a flatbed truck up and over an arch without disturbing the dinner service set up on the back of the truck. Or if that doesn't take your interest, how about a teenager identifying makes and models of car just by looking at the shape of the rear lights. Or a driver cracking eggs using the teeth on the bucket of his digger, whilst blindfolded.

The Crystal Maze Live IN YOUR LIVING ROOM!/BATHROOM!/CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS!

 Well, the world's not getting any less weird. We seem to be going backward in terms of progress and supermarkets are apparently rationing stuff again.

So before you get roped back into another endless routine of Zoom quizzes, how about something different? Those delightful people behind the Crystal Maze (Hi Charlie!) have come up with a fun alternative to the same stuff you've been doing since March - A play at home Crystal Maze team challenge. 

For £15 a head, your team of at least 8 will be guided through 16 all-new puzzles and tasks. Sign up here and you'll be led by an experienced Maze Master where you can still shout at one another through smaller digital windows. Meaning you get to question your friend's choice of putting Argos catalogues on their bookshelves. 

Been working on this for an age and it's finally available! You can now play a Virtual @CrystalMazeHQ from home, 16 new games and the new Crystal Dome round - hosted by your own personal Maze Master! It's £15 a head and you can book here!https://t.co/a8pTuxwo6G

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/hjBbcTwFTK

— Charlie (@Wheeler____) September 25, 2020

There's also a free offering for 4 players to download without a mazemaster that includes 8 games to play along with. Sign up free and download the necessary PDF files HERE

To play, you'll need some form of video conferencing software (eg Zoom), pen and paper to make notes with, and access to Youtube.

Get your team together, tell them you're sick of quizzes, and do something different together: booking a mazemaster and yelling at each other's ineptitude online.

Don't forget, The Crystal Maze is on TV over on Nickelodeon every Friday at 7pm. Adam Conover is mazemastering with all new (to the UK) episodes of the US version of the show.

Stay safe people.

'Under Consoletation' Cover The Crystal Maze in a Patreon-only Podcast

 In the same way that they've been dissecting every episode of 'Gamesmaster' for their podcast 'Under Consoletation', Luke Owen and Ash Versus have picked apart an episode of The Crystal Maze for a special one-off podcast for their Patreons.

Noel's House Party - Saturday Night Marmite

 When I was small and weirder, I was highly entertained by shows that would merge fiction and reality, TCM being the obvious example but there were plenty of others. Shows that would take real people and have them experiencing life in, to some degree, a fantasy world. Knightmare took its contestants and made them have an adventure through a swords-and-sorcery style greenscreen-scape. Scavengers took contestants to a derelict space cruiser and made them work in the recycling sector for the viewing public's "entertainment". Gamesmaster - Oil rig, hell, heaven, island... they were determined to inject a little fiction into the art of having children play Mortal Kombat II. This mixture of fiction in reality would spill into BBC1 Saturday nights with the help of a short beardy bloke off of the radio.

An Unexpected Item of Mail from Richard O'Brien

I came home from work this afternoon and saw an envelope with a New Zealand stamp, an Air Mail sticker, and my address in strangely familiar handwriting. I had suspicions that the letter was from Richard O'Brien, after all, he is the only person I know of who resides there. I said to myself "Nah, surely it can't be". I excitedly logged onto the maze fan group to tell everyone and then opened the envelope carefully. Inside was a lovely autographed white card reading "Stay Safe Neil and never give up".  This was a beautiful message from the Maze legend himself. I was overwhelmed by it really. He even hand wrote my full postal address on the envelope. What a guy!

The Crystal Maze USA Starts Tonight at 7pm on Nickelodeon UK

 Morning, just a quick one. Wanted to stick a reminder out into the ether that the American incarnation of The Crystal Maze is starting tonight (September 4th) on Nickelodeon US. We reviewed the first episode after it aired stateside but for most of us, that is the only episode we've seen so we'll get to enjoy it show by show just like we would any new series. 

The show's hosted by TV personality and comedian Adam Conover, if you've never seen him before go and watch some 'Adam Ruins Everything' clips over on YouTube and prepare to lose several hours of your day. 

Nickelodeon is available in the UK on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, and on NOW TV's £4 a month kids package

A Puzzle Book Kickstarter We Want You To Support

 If you've read our stuff, you probably know the name Charlie Wheeler. We've interviewed him, we've gushed about his CG rendering (below), and we've plugged his puzzle books which it just so happens are still available on Amazon.

The Crystal Maze USA with Adam Conover Comes to Nickelodeon UK

 As first reported by NickALive!, The US version of The Crystal Maze is making its way to British TV. 

Starting Friday September 4th at 7pm on Nickelodeon, (repeated at 10pm) Adam Conover will be taking teams of American families around the familiar maze with a grand prize of $25,000 at stake in the Crystal Dome.

Nickelodeon is available on Sky, Virgin, Talk Talk, and if you now feel an urge to add Nickelodeon to your viewing habits, NOW TV's kids pack is £4 a month, which gets you Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito and Boomerang.

I vanished down an Adam Conover YouTube rabbit hole just before posting this. If you've never seen Adam Ruins Everything, go watch one, it'll soon turn into several.

QI, you've had Corey Taylor and Teri Hatcher, about time to give Adam a seat.

A Message From Mumsey

Thanks to Charlie Wheeler, there's a video that's just gone up on Twitter with a message from Mumsey (Sandra Caron) 

A special message from a very special someone... ❤️ #CrystalMaze pic.twitter.com/cRYRy9qLl9

— Charlie (@Wheeler____) August 15, 2020

So, as a thank you to Charlie for sorting that out, everyone go buy a puzzle book. Go on, you know you want to.

'It's Only A Game Show' Talks The Crystal Maze This Saturday

 Following on from last week and @jordha talking about TCM on 'Game Shows I Suppose', this Saturday sees the UK perspective. Brit based podcast 'It's Only A Game Show' (no points for knowing which show that references, I've mentioned my Jim Davidson story enough as it is) takes to your podcast feeds at the end of the week to have a fun little chat about our favourite big-budget adventure game show.

'Game Shows I Suppose' Covers The Crystal Maze, with @jordha

Podcaster, comedian and 'lonely nerd' (his words, not mine) Jordan Hass has been talking about game shows on his weekly podcast 'Game Shows I Suppose' since 2018. He's clearly got a love of the genre and has covered shows from both sides of the Atlantic alongside a range of guests. A great example to me is talking 'Big Break' with Ben Paddon, whom I once randomly had a game of 'You Don't Know Jack' with, which really caught my attention because I met Ben in the same town where I once annoyed Jim Davidson, it's a small world after all.

Jordan has long mentioned his love of everybody's favourite Channel 4 adventure game show on GSIS and today sees the drop of his TCM episode. It's just over 100 minutes of a guy talking about his favourite British game show so if you like/love/have heard of TCM: subscribe, put the kettle on, put your feet up, play Fall Guys, and have a listen.

Jordan can be found at -

• jordanhass.com
• twitter.com/jordha
• twitch.tv/JordanGames
• patreon.com/jordanhass

Newest Addition to the Collective Crystal Collection

Good day fellow Maze fans,

It's a very exciting day at Superfan HQ today, as we take delivery of another authentic TV crystal, one that was formerly a gap in our collective collection of crystals. The crystal is from the revived series and is one of the crystals from the podium in front of the dome. These are different from the crystals played for in the games only due to the lack of logo from the base, as this would have affected the light shining through it from the podium.

Fantasy Casting a Future Crystal Maze Team - @Ashens @paulgannonshow @elisnoid @MrBiffo @larrybundyjr @octav1usking @mrbarrylewis

Yesterday in the course of tweeting, something came up that had me rueing a missed opportunity to have something on TV I think people would love to see. Or at least I would anyhow.

I did enter us all in @barshens a few years ago, but never heard back

— Mr. Gannon (@PaulGannonShow) July 26, 2020

I apologize in advance as this bit of fantasy casting may go on a bit, but for the last few years there's been a group of collaborators whose work on YouTube, and on a podcast I've mentioned more than occasionally, has got me through some more trying times. I know it's a bit cliche but laughter is the best medicine and this lot never fails to elicit a chuckle or at least a smile out of me every time I go looking for their content. These are simply a bunch of fun entertaining people I'd love to see taking on the games of The Crystal Maze. Bickering, shouting at each other, and just being as entertaining and fun as I've always seen them. I'll be listing more than 5 names here but it's fantasy casting, my writing, my rules.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout - Fortnite meets Takeshi's Castle

I'm going to put it out there straight away. I hate Fortnite. From the moment Epic saw PUBG and said "This Fortnite game we've got going on, let's just ignore our initial idea we've put out there already and copy theirs" I've stayed well clear of the streaming favourite. I might just be old fashioned but I like my games to have a story, to draw me into a well-realized fictional world, and occasionally just have me turning zombies and Nazis into jam. When it comes to battle royale games, the concept of a load of 10-year-olds hurling abuse at me, killing my character with zero effort, and claiming intimate knowledge of my mother has simply never appealed to me.

Final List of Celebrity Names for The Crystal Maze's Next Specials

Now that the episodes which haven't aired yet on Channel 4 have broadcast in Australasia, thanks to our commenters we have a complete list of names for what Channel 4 will be calling the next series. A clip with almost all the following names can be seen at the bottom 

(Thanks Danker1990 and Phillip)

The Crystal Maze PC Game - I don't want to be harsh, but there's no other option really

In general, I will praise and adore all Crystal Maze memorabilia. Whether it's the board games, the jigsaw puzzles, the thermal reactive mug I had made, the press photos that I've been getting extorted for on eBay, I love it all. I'll big up The Crystal Maze Challenge by Neale Simpson any day (still available digitally for £3.99)

However, The Crystal Maze PC game is the most infuriating bucket of arse-gravy I have ever played. And I played, and completed, 'Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness'. Twice.

Good News! More Crystal Maze Incoming! Bad News! Not in the UK!

In 2017, three episodes never made broadcast. We'd been oversaturated with the same games over 20 episodes and so only 17 got to TV. It's happened again. 

Last year's episodes we haven't seen yet are to be aired on Australian children's channel ABC ME. They've been airing all of last year's episodes and will get the shows we haven't seen yet before we get them.

So, whos coming to Australia with me?

What do you mean 'pandemic'?

@BothersBar Remember how there were those three civilian Crystal Maze episodes that got shown in Australia but not the UK?

Looking like the OTHER unaired Crystal Maze episodes with the celebrities are going to start airing in Australia next week, on a different channel. pic.twitter.com/LBBzcSvFSO

— Captain ACAB, BA* (@TheGrimRecapper) July 3, 2020

My Trip Last Year to Test Out Games For The Crystal Maze

I've been sat around pretty bored of late. I keep ending up on eBay buying Crystal Maze related paraphernalia (more on that lot in another post for another day) so I thought I'd distract myself by recounting my travel last year from the North East to the South West to test games for The Crystal Maze.

I'll start by saying I don't drive, but thankfully we've got pretty good public transport covering the length and breadth of Great Britain. 

So...

Step 1 - Home to Middlesbrough: ~15 Miles. 

This stage is the easy bit. It's a trip I make not uncommonly. I went to Uni over there so it's somewhere I'm familiar with. At this time, McDonalds was doing Grand Big Macs so naturally, I had to go gorge myself on one in my usual combo - large meal, Big Mac, Fries, Strawberry milkshake. They should do GBMs more often because that meal kept me fed for the rest of what would be a long day. The meal in bag in hand, I head back to the bus station to wait for my first coach. I didn't take it on the coach, food in my possession rarely stays uneaten for long.

Step 2 - Middlesbrough to Leeds: ~65 miles

Getting Into Game Show Streaming inc. The Crystal Maze PC game

I'm a life long gamer. Since I first tore open a present of a Sega Master System 2 with built-in Sonic the Hedgehog (8-Bit version, bit different to the version everyone's familiar with), I haven't stopped. 

If you've got a PSN account, I'm 'Spudgun20', come say hello.

I recently got a new laptop which, unlike my past computers, doesn't soil itself trying to do anything more complex than minesweeper so I've been playing my old PS1 games via some emulators and I figured it could be fun to stream said games. 

As such, at twitch.tv/spudgun20 I'm going to be playing games such as 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire', 'The Weakest Link', 'Jeopardy', and a whole host of other older games on Twitch. It'll be mostly game shows but not exclusively, e.g. I've been rediscovering the game for The Italian Job. Chat'll be open, I'll get the old Crystal Maze PC game going, you can enjoy a relentless torrent of bad-control based failure.

If you know of any other game shows turned into games then let me know below. For now I've got TCM, Blockbusters, Weakest Link, Jeopardy, and Millionaire but I'd love to grow that list.

Follow me at twitch.tv/spudgun20 and say hi!

P.S. was setting my streaming up, looking for sound effects, and I found the ultimate clip of Chris Tarrant doing an alternate take for a voiceclip for a PC WWTBAM game (Some swearing within):

Crystal Maze Repeats on TV, No-One Told Me It Had Been Going A While

Before I get to Crystal Maze getting repeat airings, could you give these lads a 'like' each, please: 

 

 

Now that little bit of admin is out of the way...

Two Key Members of the Maze Blog, And as Such Crystal Maze Superfans, Shortlisted for The Crystal Maze Live Experience Superfan Competition

"These old doomsday devices are dangerously unstable. I'll rest easier not knowing where they are."

- Professor Farnsworth

Great words by a great man, and words we can all live by I'm sure you'll all agree. But another great quote of his, far more relevant to anything going on today - 

As you may have guessed from the overlong title, two of our number have been shortlisted for The Crystal Maze Live Experience's Superfan competition. 

The '90s Was The Golden Age Of Television, And Has Filled My 2020 So Far

The '90s was the golden age of television. Nothing will sway me from this opinion. Could I be slightly biased in that the '90s were my formative years? Absolutely. Were my years from the age of 1 to 11 based solely around that box in the corner and whatever was projected on the screen? Definitely. Did I learn to read age 3-ish by using the TV guide so I knew when my shows were on? Odd but true. It worked and I could read to a level where my nursery school ran out of books for me, all because I needed to know when The Crystal Maze and Fun House were on. However, it doesn't alter the fact that all the best TV was around during the '90s.

One of the perks of living in the here and now is that everything is online somewhere. Whether officially available through services like iPlayer and All4, or if it's a forgotten series that's just been uploaded by a YouTube user who enjoyed a show, had it recorded on VHS and wanted to share. 

With the recent situation seeing a lot of increased TV time, I've found myself trawling a lot of older TV shows. Sitcoms like 'Drop the Dead Donkey', 'Red Dwarf', 'Bottom' and 'Absolutely Fabulous' have kept me amused and dramas such as 'Crime Traveller' and 'Jonathan Creek' have filled a few hours. I found a show I'd forgotten existed called 'Harry' which was a BBC One drama set in and around Darlington, a town I'm very familiar with. I spent most of it infuriated by moments where I found myself saying "...and that street doesn't lead into there" far more often than I'd have liked to.

Trailer for 'Jedi Temple Challenge' Released - Inspired by TCM, Jungle Run and Raven

A game show based in the world of Star Wars had it's preview drop today. Jedi Temple Challenge, hosted by Ahmed Best a.k.a the voice of Jar Jar Binks, sees teams of Jedi Padawan take on challenges in a series of Star Wars themed areas.

Why mention it on here? Well the creator, Scott Bromley, openly names Crystal Maze, Jungle Run and Raven as inspiration behind the show on his podcast The Comedy Button (listen from 17:45)

We did. A lot. In fact we referenced Raven numerous times during the development of the series. Keep in mind this is 1 minute of hyper-paced action and not a full episode.

— Scott Bromley (@Scott_Bromley) May 27, 2020

Have to say, the Jedi temple looks very Jungle Run - Temple of the Jungle King.

Watch the trailer below and you'll certainly get very strong TCM and Raven vibes from the action on screen. At least they've taken inspiration from the best, but what I'd give for some of that sweet, sweet Disney budget.

Jedi Temple Challenge starts on June 3rd on Star Wars Kids.

Crystal Maze's Mumsey in America Alongside Fred Willard

Comedy great Fred Willard passed away at the weekend. You may remember him from roles in This is Spinal Tap, Anchorman, Modern Family, Everybody Loves Raymond and much, much more. Our thoughts go out to his family.

This got me on the hunt for footage of him from a comedy show: "An Evening at the Improv". I'd seen it a while back and the clips I was after are, I think, now set to private. So after a bit of hunting around through Reddit, this clip came to my attention this morning that I had to share.

Fred Willard hosting, and doing a skit with Sandra Caron. Her name may not be familiar but you know the face. This ought to clear up who she is for anyone unsure -

Mumsey/Auntie Sabrina worked on stage with the late Fred Willard. This clip is from 1981 so it was 9 years before she was seen sat behind her crystal ball with a smoke machine under the table. Should I find another clip of them, I'll be sure to share.

Crystal Maze Games That Were Too Hard 2: 2 Hard 2 Crystal

Ok, I admit it, that title is terrible. I apologize and I promise I'll never do anything that atrocious again until the next time I do it.

Following on from my last post covering all the '90s games that nobody won, I just wanted to have a quick look at all the games that have been used since Richard Ayoade took over which saw nobody walking out one crystal heavier than how they walked in.

Before I start, for reference and photos I'm using David Newton's website www.crystalmazedatabase.com. Much like if you want '90s show details you use Marc Gerrish, David Newton is who you can rely on for revival stats. Marc and David are to adventure game show fans as Stanley Gibbons is to stamp collectors. I only know that thanks to The New Statesman, I've been really ploughing through the boxsets lately.

Crystal Maze - Further Lock in Material

We've seen the PC game in the 90's, the Crystal Maze Phone and iPad game a decade ago... and now, during the lockdown it appears the Maze is still going strong. Someone has created an unofficial Crystal Maze Powerpoint game for £1.99, with proceeds going towards the NHS. Find it on eBay. It seems that you can play it over Zoom with friends and family. One of our Blog Members purchased it today to see if it's any good.

Meanwhile, during lockdown somebody certainly has been busy constructing a Crystal Maze for their Hamster! The video they have produced is absolutely brilliant and very funny, check it out here:

Crystal Maze Games That Were Too Hard To Win

One problem I've got with TCM since it came back, too many people going home with a prize. It's partly down to 50+ gold getting a middling prize but, and there's a mild spoiler for the US version rapidly approaching here so keep on reading at your own peril, out of 10 shows there was at least 3 and maybe 4 top prize winners.

A 100+ gold winner should be a treat, a rarity, there shouldn't be nearly half a series of winners. People are clearly winning too many games and earning too much time. A little conversation I had the other night started at frogs and ended up at games that were never won and as such, here's the '90s games that were never won, and should be looked at so as to stop people winning quite so often. I'm not including any of those one-off games made for a kid's Christmas Special as it's a lot easier to be an unbeaten game if only one small person has a go.

Series 1 - 1990

Nuke Defusing - A nice simple two minute game sharing a room with a nuclear bomb. It needed defusing by connecting the correct coloured wire to the associated image on the wall. For example connecting the YELLOW wire to a picture of some PAGES, or a GREEN wire to some FINGERS. The trouble comes in knowing what word was meant to be shown by the image, while it was meant to represent fingers, it's clearly a picture of a hand. With a two minute time limit, there was an explosion every time. Or the lights were turned up. Same thing.

Another 30th Anniversary - An Excuse To Mention Denis Norden

In February we covered the 30th anniversary of the start of The Crystal Maze so today I just wanted to mention it's 30 years since that first series ended. The last episode of series one went out on the 10th May 1990. It was the last show broadcast to be filmed at Shepperton Studios and it started with an outtake that they left in the final cut, a moment that wouldn't have been out of place on Denis Norden's 'It'll Be Alright On The Night'.

Today is 30 years since the last episode of series one, and it opened with this little outtake which they kept in the final cut pic.twitter.com/mXq8Wmcm8y

— Crystal Maze Fan Blog (@maze_blog) May 10, 2020

 

Series 4 Episode 4 - Laughter in the face of failure (w/ Behind The Scenes Clips)

There were 83 episodes of TCM in the 90's, including kids specials at Christmas, and of all of them there's one that stands out to me. People have suggested reviewing every episode and, whilst a good idea, that means 83 reviewing covering roughly 80 hours of material. However this one in particular is a show I want to give a bit of attention to.

First shown on 15th April 1993, S4E4 contained a record that remained until Richard Ayoade took over. And whilst that record was achieved in now standard 10 games, 27 years ago they didn't have a fixed amount of games to play, it was just however many they could squeeze in. Series 4 each episode had either 14 or 15 games and I'm talking here about a 14 episode show. I'm talking about the fewest crystals achieved by a team, in this case, one.

Wendy, Andrew, Dave, Hilary, Spencer and Jane

Game/Quiz Show Fantasy Casting

I was on Twitter last night (@maze_blog) and game show podcaster Jordan Hass was replying to someone in regards to a Weakest Link revival. Personally I felt there's only one choice for host and I woke up to a quick response from the gent in question:

😉 https://t.co/2E2nCpl0Nu

— Robert Rinder (@RobbieRinder) May 2, 2020

So I've been thinking, who else could be hosting what revival? And whilst I quite like Rylan on TV he's got enough shows under his belt, so he's not getting any more.

Some More Themed Wordsearches To Try Your Hand At

We've hit on a theme at the moment, moving on from YouTube playlists, crosswords and wordsearches. So here's a few we've put together for you to have a go at.


Click the image for an interactive version to play, check your volume levels, they can be a bit loud.

90's Futuristic Timer Clock Prop still working in 2020, 30 years on

Just thought i'd do another post. My Futuristic Timer Prop from the 90's Crystal Maze Set is still working, after 30 years. I just wanted to give it a new test, as I hadn't turned it on in more than a year. My heart skips a beat when I plug it in, I am always scared it won't start anymore. The circuitry inside is very fragile, given it's age. Absolutely incredible - that is four decades now, that have passed since the Original Series began and since this used to adorn the Original set at North Weald. It's still working. I acquired this piece about two years ago. The heart beat of the Original Crystal Maze is still alive, I am pleased to report. It's a testament to the Prop Makers. The other stuff is safe and sound too in storage.

One-Time Crystal Maze Guest Star Pearl Mackie Has New Role

One time guest star Pearl Mackie, also known for her role on Doctor Who alongside Peter Capaldi, can be seen this Friday in the last episode in the current series of hit Channel 4 sitcom 'Friday Night Dinner'.

Lockdown Puzzle #2 - The Crossword Maze

Another one of our Lockdown Puzzles for you all to keep further entertained during this difficult time. Can you complete the puzzle and Crack the Maze? 

This one was designed by our own Charlie Wheeler, in the style of the original floor plan - excellent work Charlie. 

Good luck!

Printable Version below:

Crystal Maze Lockdown Wordsearch

Maze adventurers, here is a lovely little wordsearch to feast your eyes over and play whilst we remain in an Automatic Lock in. Phil Newton-England, a member of our team, came up with this wordsearch for you all to have a go at and keep yourselves occupied. There are 33 Maze related words to find!

Coronavirus Update from admin at The Crystal Maze Fan Blog

Hello everyone,

I hope you are all 'Staying at Home', 'Protecting the NHS', and 'Saving Lives' by sticking to the advice. This is a strange time for everybody in this country at the moment. Whilst the whole country has been locked in, Crystal Maze style - remember - we still have The Crystal Maze on YouTube to enjoy (both old and new series). 

We still have the Original and Brand New Board games - along with the Eastern Zone Expansion Pack to keep ourselves entertained. There is also the book to buy on Amazon, that's been out a few years now, if you haven't already got it - it's packed with homemade games you can make and play at home to pass this lockdown time.

We have yet to see when Boris will buy us out with a Crystal, so we can all leave our homes. 

But, as Edward Tudor-Pole would say, 'keep on rocking' - stay safe. It's a shame that Channel 4 haven't used this opportunity to air the many unseen episodes of the Maze, which haven't yet been broadcast. Most were recorded in March last year, and there were a few civilian episodes as well. It is strange why Channel 4 aren't showing these episodes. One can only assume that they have kept them 'in reserve', so that when things get back to normal - they can plan a new series. There's also Crystal Maze USA - but we've only seen the first episode. We haven't found a way to download/watch them from the UK yet. 

It is a slight concern that the Live Experiences will be closed for an unknown period of time - I hope they survive the fallout of this Pandemic. Let's also hope that UK Production picks up again as soon as this lockdown ends. But with Social Distancing likely to be part of our lives for many more months to come, that is unlikely. What concerns me is The Crystal Maze set is sat there in Bottleyard. Obviously, it costs money to store a huge dormant set like that there.

Charlie Wheeler has been making good use of the lockdown period and has been making a full 3D representation of The Crystal Maze Zones. It is absolutely spectacular.  Futuristic is below. Another reason why The Crystal Maze would make a fantastic PS4 or PC game.

Fingers crossed our lives all return to normal soon, to some kind of normal. In true Richard Ayoade fashion, keep the hand social distance! In the mean time, why not have fun playing your own Crystal Maze Challenges at home, and watching endless repeats of the Maze? There's plenty of time to do so. Speak to you soon and take care.

Neil - (Admin, Crystal Maze Fan Blog).

Twitter, Reddit and a Lockdown Lack of Barbers Turns 'The Crystal Maze' Into a Worldwide Hairstyle

Stuck at home with not a barber in sight, many of us have resorted to cutting our own hair with varying degrees of success. In my case that would be zero success whatsoever, yes it's all short but it looks like I did it mid-earthquake.

This chart turned up online and has spread like things on the internet normally do:

I'm currently between 2 and 6, until I get some decent clippers

  

Since that popped up a few days ago, people around the world have been comparing their makeshift hairstyles, often but not always unaware of the very early 90's UK-centric reference to Richard O'Brien. And to a lesser extent Stephen Merchant (it was merely a coincidence as he was filming Logan at the time)

Hows Everyone Managing? Keeping Yourselves Busy? There's Not A Lot of Crystal Maze Stuff To Mention, So Have Some More Playlists Instead

Hope everyone's coping well. It's been 3 weeks of this weirdness and hopefully we're at least past the halfway point, maybe.

There's not been much TCM-related stuff to mention lately, given the circumstances, but our best goes out to Phoebe Scholfield on the passing of her husband, actor Jay Benedict, in relation to the present situation.

Phoebe had a role as a one-time sleeping princess from the first series of TCM. Other times this game was used, the role was played by Karen Heyworth. Phoebe's husband Jay may be best recognised as Newt's father from 'Aliens'

All of us at the blog send our best, our thoughts are with her and the rest of his family.

The Marvellous Work of Charlie Wheeler

We've all been finding ways of passing time whilst in lockdown, I myself have been perfecting my juggling, standing on my head and polishing off some PS4 games (My PSN ID is Spudgun20 if you want to add it, let me know you came from here). However that pales in comparison to what Charlie Wheeler has been doing with his time.

Couldn't sleep, so I finished off the #crystalmaze Industrial Zone! Fairly happy with this, could just do with being a bit dirtier. Modelled entirely in Cinema 4D :) pic.twitter.com/C3tNiuD9ox

— Charlie (@Wheeler____) March 31, 2020

Week One Of The UK Lockdown Done, How's Everyone Doing?

Obviously, with TV production at a bare minimum and presenters hosting shows from their homes, there's not going to be any TCM in the near future. So, putting game shows to the side for now, how's everyone coping? Think I can sum up my monotonous days quite adequately in a song...

On the plus side, I finally got hold of another book I needed for my TCM collection. The Crystal Maze Puzzle Book 2 has been listed online for months at extortionate prices. Only a week or so ago it was on eBay for £77. I know that the main book seller on there has an automated pricing system so its an algorithm deciding to try and fleece bank accounts but still, £77. Thankfully that automated system dropped it to £6 at the back end of last week so I snapped it up while I could before it shot up again.

 Let us know how you're managing in the comments below. Found anything good worth watching to share? Just need a chat? I might have to sort out a little get together on Twitch or something

More Free Time? Here's Some Game Show/Panel Shows To Enjoy

Well this is fun isn't it? All this free time and panicky shoppers raiding Sainsbury's is proving.... well it's something isn't it. I got a little mini lecture off a woman this morning in regards to me buying one of the last three bottles of semi-skimmed. Anyhow, in between trying the Resident Evil 3 demo and relearning to bake bread since everyone's had it all, I've been cobbling together some YouTube playlists of gameshows and panel shows to have a flick through. No more than one episode of each show, if you like something I'm sure you can go look for more in your own time, we've all got plenty of that for now. I'll be constantly adding to them over time as I remember and find more.

Game Shows

Panel Shows

It's a Friday the 13th Coronavirus special! Boxset Suggestions: If You Find Yourself With Free Time

For one reason or another, you might find yourself short of things to do at the moment. So here's some suggested playlists to make use of whatever free time you might have.


https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-crystal-maze

If I have to explain this one to you, I won't be mad but I will be extremely disappointed. And mad.

Your Favourite Crystal Maze Bloggers (because how many of those do you know) On Set

Our favourite TV producer Mr Neale Simpson, whose book The Crystal Maze Challenge is still available from all good book retailers, recently sent us some behind the scenes photos and look, its us!

 

 As we've mentioned we had our visit last year on a camera blocking day, so the crew were lining up shots and rehearsing filming with us as dummy contestants while game testing. As such here we are with Jon in the drink as we offer un-useful advice from the windows as seen through the TV cameras. Here's hoping we get another go this year, it's the best day out I get all year. That Aztec visit is my annual holiday.

We've got more pictures at our archive at http://maze.sky-hook.net/gallery/index.php

Challenge TV - Keeping Game Shows Repeats on Rotation Since '97

In 1995, the original run of The Crystal Maze came to an end and, this being before video streaming online or on-demand services, it meant there was no real way to watch the show anymore. One option was occasional repeated showings as part of Channel 4's 'The Bigger Breakfast'. This was an extension to the regular Big Breakfast which would be scheduled during school holidays when kids had less to do and needed more TV aimed at them to keep them busy. In amongst showings of 'Saved By The Bell', 'Batman' (the '60s version) and 'Eerie, Indiana' would often be a repeat of TCM. In 2000 The Bigger Breakfast' was replaced by T4 and the programming changed to mostly just be Popworld and repeats of Hollyoaks. However there was a more long term option than waiting for school holidays and hoping TCM was included in the week's programming. 

In 1993, "The Family Channel" was launched in the UK. Born from the remnants of ITVs closed South East franchise TVS, The Family Channel promised no sex, violence or bad language and instead focused on programming the family can watch together. Shows on the channel included Remington Steele, The Wonder Years and The Bob Newhart Show. However most importantly what would be a precursor to the the channels future, self produced content in Trivial Pursuit and a family version of the Roy Walker classic Catchphrase.

In 1997 the channel was rebranded as Challenge TV and all focused moved to game and quiz shows. Now while Challenge in its current incarnation has a somewhat limited selection (as I'm writing they've scheduled 2 hour blocks of Bruce's Price is Right, Pointless, The Chase and All Star Family Fortunes for the day), when it first launched there was a much wider range of programming filling the hours.

As Bradley Walsh Departs Doctor Who, Here's A Reminder of "Midas Touch"

As in the case of Bradley Walsh, every so often there's a personality whom you can't remember not knowing who they were. Jonathan Ross has been on TV since at least the 1950's for example. Before him Bruce Forsyth was entertaining Queen Liz I. But do you remember a time BB? Before Bradley?

He's done it all, quizzes, gameshows, sitcoms, soaps, serious drama, a film, viral corpsing videos from 'The Chase' and has just announced his departure from the role of Graham in 'Doctor Who'. Seriously, go look at his Wikipedia and gawp at just how much the man has done. So as he files another project away alongside "Wheel of Fortune" and "Mike Bassett England Manager", I wanted to quickly talk about the first show I remember seeing him on in 1995, "Midas Touch".

New Additions For My Personal Collection - Publicity Photos

I recently had a stumble through eBay and happened across some more TCM paraphernalia I couldn't turn down to add to my collection. I got a set of three Channel 4 publicity stills from the 90s series, one from S3, one from S4 and one from S5 or 6. I've got my eye on some more stuff but for now I need some frames for these.

Series 3

Series 4

Series 5 or 6