A 32 Year Old Crystal Maze Mystery Solved - The Golfball from an IBM Selectric Typewriter (Thank you @Chrissie_c)

It's 1989, and series one is in production ready to broadcast in February 1990. The Crystal Maze is still finding its feet. They're producing a big elaborate game show and they still aren't 100% on the best way to do and present everything. When you watch it through now, there are little varied elements that stand out as slightly off. Maybe there's a music cue out of place, or there are bits of games that are slightly changed in later plays to account for something that just doesn't quite work.  The games aren't quite as big yet either. When looked at against games from later series, they're a little basic. Not that there's anything wrong with that, the creativity will come in time. 

One game that can be seen as a little basic was in Industrial and involved the contestant identifying small items by touch, needing to get 4 out of 5 correct to win the game. It was all fairly simple, small items. Wood shavings, tools, toys, things that should be easy to guess. However, for the last 32 years, I've had no clue what the hell these things were meant to be.

Never had a clue. Always thought they were a cap or stopper for some kind of equipment. Then @ElongatedCrab on Twitter was asking the same.

I was watching the crystal maze and there was a puzzle where you identify items by only touching them

What the hell is this thing? I can see it and I have absolutely no clue pic.twitter.com/Gp1fpaA725

— 🦀The Long Crab🦀 (@ElongatedCrab) April 12, 2022

Well, a quick retweet later and mystery solved. And I could never have figured this out with a lifetime of guesses.

It's the 'golf ball' head off a golfball typewriter.

Instead of keys that had the letters on them IBM Selectrics had a golfball-type thing that was electronically controlled to select the right letter when a key was pressed. https://t.co/EGLMWRLqrd

— Chrissie Caulfield (@Chrissie_c) April 12, 2022

That's been itching at the back of my head for decades, so thank you @Chrissie_c 

It's such a random item though, anyone else reckon they'd have eventually figured this out by touch alone?

Ed Tudor Pole Appearing at Stoke Con Trent 2022

Conventions are one of those things a lot have us have missed over the last two years. Getting together with hundreds of other fans of various franchises and properties. We've missed the cosplay, the stalls, and most importantly the opportunities at meeting a host of familiar faces.

At Collectormania in Milton Keynes once, I met Colin Baker as I was hiding behind him, avoiding being seen by someone from work who was wearing a less than flattering Power Ranger costume. It may have been the same day my mate and I literally bumped into Sir Geoff Hurst and I, very annoyed, had to explain to my non-football fan mate who SGH was.

Anyhow, conventions are back. And on April 10th, Stoke Con Trent shall have Ed Tudor Pole in attendance. 

As far as I'm aware, this is a rare convention appearance for Ed. But, given the opportunities performers have had in the last two years, I can imagine many may turn to conventions as they're a great earner for people. If someone's popular/busy, they can be earning thousands just signing autographs. 

In the past, I've managed brief chats with guests at conventions during their quieter moments. Never bought an autograph, always just went for the day out and to see who I can see. Just going to them as a day out, I've met Geoff Hurst, Colin Baker, D-Von Dudley, had a guy who played a blue Power Ranger ask me where I got my beer from as he needed a drink, seen a teenage crush in Alyson Hannigan in person, seen Mads Mikkelsen who I think is now just in everything, cons are just a fun day out seeing familiar faces.

Mentioning crushes, just checked the Stoke Con Trent guests and I can imagine this one was a crush for many. (I preferred Jet)

Tickets to attend Stoke Con Trent can be bought HERE

Happy 80th Birthday Richard O'Brien!

The legendary original Maze Master from The Crystal Maze, Richard O'Brien turned 80 today. (Yes, 80!). Happy Birthday Richard, we hope you have a lovely day and Mumsie has bought you a nice present. You are probably reading this. If you are, say hello.

Richard randomly sent a signed note to me during lockdown, which was amazing. Which leads me to believe that he does indeed read this blog.

Richard should be called a "Sir" - but he once said he would turn down a knighthood as it goes against everything he believes in.

Thank you for your amazing talent - Rocky Horror and The Crystal Maze still endure all these years later. It is a testament to your hard work and zany personality.

Richard is probably throwing a party in the Medieval Zone today - but in reality he lives in New Zealand. Have a great day Richard!

Best Wishes

Crystal Maze Fan Blog and Fans Worldwide. 

Maze games of a birthday nature....

It's Been A While - I Took Some Time Off - Saw @Ashens, @NostalNerd, @TristaBytes, @mrbiffo and co. have been to Crystal Maze Live

 It's been a while since I did one of these. I've been doing 14 hour days, 9 days a week and I inevitably burned out. The last few weeks haven't been great for me so I've had a mental health week to myself. Honestly, barely moved from the bed. According to my phone, I've gone from 55k steps a week to 400. But if you aren't coping, you aren't coping, simple as that. 

So it's left me some time to catch up on a lot of things. Fixed my laptop for example. For several months the concept of sound has been beyond this thing, input or output, nothing. May as well have tried getting it to accept eclairs as a form of audio, just nothing. And nothing says I've been binge eating quite like shoehorning eclairs in there for no sensical reason whatsoever.

Washing piles are done, the sun's been out so I've been able to plough through the numerous mounds of washing that have accumulated around the house without relying on an electroholic tumbler.

Now, when I dragged my carcass out of bed eventually this morning (been really struggling on mornings so when I saw today would be hot, hung my washing out last night. Woke up to dry clothes.) I sat down at my laptop and saw that several of my favourite Youtube and Twitch types were at Crystal Maze Live.

Last night, These excellent folks and I cracked the Crystal Maze (Team Cygnet Moon ~don't ask).

I did two physical games, got two crystals, almost died of exhaustion. WOULD RECOMMEND.@TristaBytes @myunie @ashens @mrbiffo @SlopesGameRoom @quangdx @TheCrystalMaze @CrystalMazeHQ pic.twitter.com/ZVoV1mRtSu

— Nostalgia Nerd (@nostalnerd) March 24, 2022

 Content creators whose work has really helped over the last couple of years, so it put a smile on my face seeing them there. 

Just putting it on record some of these were in my fantasy celeb episode casting, and I did put forward the idea of a YouTuber team to producers, to be told Youtube types want too much money.

Ah well. This is the next best thing isn't it? 

The Story of The Crystal Maze Documentary

We are excited to bring you a documentary on The Crystal Maze. First of it's kind, made by a YouTuber called "Back in the Day". 

Enjoy - we would be keen to hear your thoughts.

The axing of The Crystal Maze

A video I did a few months ago on Youtube. 2021 was a sad year for the Maze - however it has come back before, so let's not get too upset. The legacy continues with the live experiences, so hopefully another revival may come back when the pandemic fades away. The show is too iconic to just disappear forever.

Saving props is a logistical challenge

 

It has been incredibly hard work saving as many pieces of the scrapped Crystal Maze TV set as possible these past few months. We've sweated profusely, lifted heavy stuff, got dirty, stood on a nail on the set and made our bank accounts lighter. On top of that, three van shuttles between Swindon and Bristol - with another van for Maze blog member Phil to transfer his Eastern Zone props up to Leeds. Look at him poking his head through the Jarhead prop!

The problem with props, is they look small on screen - but when you take them home, they take up half your living room. Luckily I am fortunate and have two houses, so the props I saved have been distributed between them. (A cellar and a garage). If only we had a large free open space, we could easily reconstruct some iconic games from the maze. All props saved will be used to keep the show's legacy alive and help to push for another revival. We all love The Crystal Maze - rebuild and bring it back.

If any Maze fan in the Wiltshire area has a free garage or small building space for long term free use, let me know.

Clarification on Maze prop sales

We would like to make a clarification. We have all been personally spending a fortune saving as many bits of the Maze to keep for the fan club. This hasn't been cheap (in the thousands), plus three van hires. Again, not cheap.

Any props we sell are spares and aren't for profit, but cover expenses. We have now made the TV production team aware of our intentions. 

An Interview with Former Crystal Maze Contestant and Jungle Run Host Michael Underwood

 Hello, it's Jack here! As well as being an editor for this blog I also run a separate blog and podcast called Jack's Throwback Attack. For the last few years, I have been getting in contact with people I remember watching on TV during my childhood during the '90s and '00s. You may remember back in 2018 that I was lucky enough to interview both David G. Croft and Richard O'Brien about their time on The Crystal Maze.

Well I've now begun my fourth series and my next guest also has a link to the maze, it's Michael Underwood. 

Michael was a contestant on the first children's special of The Crystal Maze aired during Christmas of 1990, at the time Michael was only 15 years old. One of the things we discuss in this mammoth 90-minute interview is his time on the show and reveals a few stories about the filming, including why he found the Aztec "feed the god" game so tricky. 

Of course, a few years later, Michael won the chance to be a CBBC presenter on the Saturday night TV show Whatever You Want which started out as just a 6-week contract. He ended up staying for three years before moving over to CITV. 

It was of course during his time with CITV he became the third and final (and the longest) host of Jungle Run. A show which was very similar to The Crystal Maze in many ways. Also, a favourite of the maze bloggers too and of course that show gets discussed at length. 

Here's the podcast, video and audio-only versions, enjoy!

Jack's Throwback Attack · S4 E1 - A Chat With Michael Underwood

Given the spin and now re-united! Crystal Maze's Rob & The Red Planet!

August 31st, 2021 marks a day in history, as Rob Griffin has been re-united with a particularly memorable prop from the labyrinth known as The Crystal Maze!

Rob became famous following his appearance on The Crystal Maze after his adventure with The Cosplay Team left him a captive in the Futuristic Zone briefly! 

Saying that, it wouldn't be the first time human beings have become stuck on the Red Planet, as it appears to be a popular mechanic of Hollywood Filmmakers!

The planets have become that iconic in the show as a result of Rob, that The Crystal Maze Live experience decided they had to implement the game at one of their venues - which we can confirm Rob did manage to complete on this occasion!

If you were watching the show, you'll know that there was a further mishap in the Aztec Zone, but I'll leave you to watch that and enjoy it for yourselves!

Also, Neil (Blog Team) has uploaded the magical moment to YouTube, so why not tune in and enjoy this moment of mirth?

We'll have some more videos soon, so as MazeMaster Ayoade would say -
"Thank you for watching, if indeed you still are!"

Memorabilia from the show for sale - Screen Used Crystal Maze Props

The Crystal Maze Fan blog has been working hard recently, saving as many pieces from The Crystal Maze TV show as possible, given that the programme was abruptly axed by Channel Four recently.

We made one van trip last month when the set was demolished, and we made one final trip yesterday to collect the remaining pieces. We sold all 14 TV game Crystals in just 24 hours. Three were sold to the USA, one went to Scotland, one went to Ireland and the rest across England. This is a testament to the enduring popularity of the show, and why it must return again in the near future.

We took a rare photo of 14 real game Crystals all together before we sent them out to you all. We are also currently selling Aztec Zone Game Letter Tiles and have two Medieval Mine Cart game jewels left. 

If you are interested, check out our eBay -

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/144176532397?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338273189&customid=&toolid=10001&pub=5575378759&icep_ff3=1&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229508&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg

We will blog about all of the items we have saved from the Maze in due course.

No profits are made from these sales - all monies go towards the Crystal Maze fan blog which is preserving as many items as possible from the show. Only spare props are sold to recover our expenses

The Crystal Maze has been axed by Channel 4

You may have seen a news article today circulating in the Sun newspaper and social media, suggesting that The Crystal Maze revival has been axed by Channel 4.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/crystal-maze-axed-channel-4-24782992.amp

We have known this for about six weeks, but have remained quiet until it was made public by the media. 

The revival was a success. The new set, designed once again by James Dillion who designed the original set was fantastic. The games were good. Towards the end, we even had a Crystal Maze series commissioned by Nickelodeon for America.

The beauty of The Crystal Maze format, is it has the ability to remain fresh. They brought in Eastern Zone - but they still could have tried another Presenter and perhaps brought back Ocean Zone.  Derren Brown would make a fantastic presenter. The Crystal Maze remains very popular, especially with the rise of online escape rooms during lockdown. It's a shame the Maze is gone already when it still had lots of mileage. I feel that C4 deciding to make too many Celebrity editions turned viewers off 

The only consolidation, is that Channel 4 have the option to maybe bring it back again in the future. Hopefully when the COVID-19 pandemic calms down. 

Sadly, the new set has already been dismantled and skipped. We personally witnessed it. However we have done our best to save as many relics as possible incase it never returns. We went on a bit of a Maze blog mission.

We will bring you another blog on this soon. In the meantime, we aim to keep the iconic show's legacy alive and campaign for another return. We all need to keep the popularity of the show alive to help it come back again in the future. Make sure you all email Channel 4 Viewer Services to express how unhappy you are that the Maze has been axed, and that you want another series.

The Crystal Maze - Enter and play the Maze at home (Full game here)

 

I know, you've missed the Maze as much as I have. Well why not give this Virtual Crystal Maze Team Challenge a go with friends and family? You must download all of the PDF files first, and then open them - otherwise the game will not work. You cannot just open the PDF files. 

Download the free virtual online game here: The Crystal Maze - Virtual Team Challenge

It works using zoom with other friends/family members. A preview of the game is below:

Don't forget, you can watch the first three original series of The Crystal Maze on Britbox as well. 

The exponentially growing popularity of The Crystal Maze

It has been quite amazing to see the enduring popularity of The Crystal Maze through the pandemic. There was a surge of online zoom escape room challenges, one of which appeared on Dragons Den: https://trappedintheweb.com/escape-rooms 

There was even an online virtual Crystal Maze activity set up by the live experience, along with another Maze themed online game that raised funds for the NHS.

We read some good news today. The live experience will be welcoming back full teams of eight again from 19th July. Slowly, the world is getting back to normal. 

I must say, we do miss the TV series right now. For now, repeats will have to suffice. (Original and new series).

Meanwhile, we have started working on building a YouTube Channel for our blog. We will let you know when it becomes live.

We hope all our readers have been keeping well.  Random fact - did you know the last episode of Series 3 of the original Crystal Maze aired 30 years ago yesterday? You can watch it here: https://youtu.be/2bXZuaxKfSE 

What's got me through lockdown, is Richard O'Brien randomly writing to me last September and wishing me well from New Zealand. I'm still over the moon about that.

Anyway stay safe, and keep winning Crystals. Neil.

What's Kept Me Busy, and Done Wonders For My Mental Health, in a Bizarre Era - @cultaholic @howling_techie @kasuds @flukesnotskill

 Mental health is a funny thing. It can be as predictable as it is unpredictable. It can be your defining trait or it can be two words that nobody ever associates with you. My mental health has never been close to being tip-top but, over the course of the pandemic, it hasn't been as erratic as I'd expected. A lack of things to do meant a lack of stress, which in turn meant I've done relatively well over the last 16 months. However, I know that that hasn't been the case for everybody. Some have struggled under the circumstances and many haven't coped. 

One thing that's really helped me over the last year and a bit has been volunteering. Keeping myself occupied in a stress-free manner, helping out someone else, giving those in need an extra pair of hands for a bit of heavy lifting and someone to talk to. There's been a local project where I've been helping out, mostly in a production aspect for some broadcasting online, but there's a lot that goes on in that building. Unemployment projects, talking therapies, a food bank, and there'll soon be a diner/cafe type thing on the go. A bit of everything that anyone could find something to do, things that they wouldn't mind giving up a few hours of their time for. You get to know people, you're doing something productive with some hours that'd you'd otherwise spend sat on your arse in front of a screen. 

'Play Your Pods Right' revisits Crystal Maze

 One of my favourite podcasts, Play Your Pods Right, has revisited our favourite game show. In what may be a surprise to some my podcast subscriptions aren't all Radio 4 comedy, or Cheapshow's knob gags. 

Available wherever you get your podcasts, Steve, Hayley and Adam discuss the embedded episode below, and even give a lovely little plug to yours truly.

Strike It Lucky or Strike It Rich - Whichever Name it Went By, It Was Great Fun

Strike It Lucky or Strike It Rich - Whichever name it went by, it was great fun and now there's probably the nearest there'll ever be to some official uploads.

Yesterday whilst scrolling Twitter, as I'm one to do, I happened across something that caught my eye:

The best way to start the weekend is with a dose of Eric and a good belly laugh! A good cure. The FULL episode is over on my YouTube channel (link below) X pic.twitter.com/0Msakyx1HQ

— Michael Barrymore (@MrBarrymore) June 11, 2021

The key bit that I noticed, "The full episode is over on my YouTube channel". Michael Barrymore is uploading episodes of Strike It Rich himself and I'm all for it. There's a lot of shows I've been watching on YouTube over the last year and a bit, and I'm very well aware they probably aren't from 100% legitimate sources. I don't imagine all those episodes of Indoor League I've enjoyed came from someone at Yorkshire Television. And if you like Indoor League, I highly recommend twitch.tv/nikkiandbunty on a Sunday evening, their watch-along streams usually include some Indoor League and Fred Trueman being the most Yorkshire Yorkshireman that ever did Yorkshire.

Strike It Lucky/Rich was a great show, it's quite hard to find anything not to like. An easy to follow format that doesn't suffer from one of my biggest bugbears of modern TV, overproduction. Nowadays everything seems like it's timed to the second, positions and timing are adhered to very strictly and there's no room for spontaneity. In stark contrast, Michael Barrymore found time to completely derail a show from the running order, start dancing with contestants, rant at production about giving an elderly couple trapeze lessons as a prize. One great example, the show starts with an introduction to the contestants which just never ends because MB just gets such great entertainment out of a couple. It goes so long, the episode goes on to skip the first half of the game just to make sure the show still fits its half-hour slot.

If you've never seen it, give it a half hour of your day, it's simply enjoyable throughout:

And I can't mention Strike It Lucky without mentioning the parody from Dick 'n Dom, Strike It Mucky. You know what they say about imitation. Mark Lamarr was less than complimentary about a similar parody of himself on "Never Muck the Buzzcocks" but I hope MB doesn't mind Dave Chapman's impersonation.

 

Fun fact: Dave Chapman, with his other talents as a puppeteer, would later be behind BB8 in Star Wars

Series by Series - My Favourite Games, Revival Edition

 I fully intended on doing this a few weeks ago while my 90s favourites were still fresh in my mind, but then life got in the way. However, I was watching one of my preferred Twitch streams (If someone's watching game shows on Twitch I'm either lurking or annoying the streamer and chat room inhabitants with a pile of pointless info) and it just got me back to wanting to get this done. 

This list is going to be distinctly shorter as I'm only choosing one game from each round of filming. All4 might have the revived series down as 8 series, but those have been put together as 8 runs from 3 rounds of filming. One round a year in 2017, '18 and '19. This is why most games were seen in multiple series.

So, my 3 favourite games from the revived incarnation of The Crystal Maze. Here we go.

2017

Josh Widdicombe Has A Book on His Love of 90's TV Coming Soon... I Wouldn't Bet Against A Crystal Maze Mention

 For the unaware, Josh Widdecombe is a stand up comedian, TV personality, podcaster and now writer. He put out a tweet today announcing a book he's written: 'Watching Neighbours Twice A Day: How '90s TV (Almost) Prepared Me For Life'

**HUGE ANNOUNCEMENT**

I have written a book that I am HUGELY proud of and it is now available for pre-order! If you would like to do that click here: https://t.co/aG06NJueIN (some signed copies available!) pic.twitter.com/1lTIxRHlpI

— Josh Widdicombe (@joshwiddicombe) May 7, 2021 

Now, Mr Widdicombe likes The Crystal Maze. He may not mention it in that little clip, nor has he told me personally, but the clues have been around for a while that he's a bit of a fan.

He's slipped a mention in for shows he's taken part in...

...written...

Series by Series - My Favourite Games, '90s Edition

 "My favourite game?" It's a question that could have several different responses. Resident Evil. Kerplunk. That song by The Cardigans where the video had her driving. But there was always games that would pop up on The Crystal Maze where young me, and old me, would pay a little more attention. Games that I would enjoy watching being played a little more than others. Maybe I found them more creative or just more fun. So, here's some games I just felt outranked the rest of each series offerings.

Series One (1990) - Timebomb

The first series, none of the games were all that complex. It was a new production so everything felt a little bit simplistic. Whether it was simply dropping a ball bearing in a hole with utmost precision, or having to identify objects by touch alone, the games weren't yet the most imaginative. So my choice for series one is the game that went a bit further in setting a scene. Timebomb saw the contestant have to connect coloured wires to pictures of objects to create a link. For example, a yellow wire to a picture of some pages. Yellow Pages. But rather than just have a timer counting down the time allotted for the game as with all games, there was also a nuclear bomb in the room counting down too. Fail to complete the game and... the lights got turned up. Last 30 seconds the bomb started smoking, the tension built, there was a bit of imagination here, a milligram of plot, and I still like seeing it even though I know no-one ever beat the game.