Missing Fort Boyard? Putin some effort and there's more to watch (sorry, that was terrible)

Just a quick one before today's main Friday blog. Crystal Maze is on a break, Fort Boyard finished a few weeks ago, and we've no idea when Boyard Land is starting, so we've been struggling for something to watch. But without wanting to sound too much like Professor Farnsworth:

Good News Everyone!

It looks like Russian Fort Boyard is getting the official YouTube upload treatment much like it's French counterpart.

Doesn't run as long as the French version, and again it's not in English, but as with the French version you can still follow along easily, you might even pick up some of the language.

EDIT: just seen they've made it private, spoilsports

The Desert Forges - Deeply Dippy In The Jordanian Dunes

This month (September 2019) sees the filming of 'Boyard Land', a winter offering of Fort Boyard with the format transposed to a theme park rather than the chills of the English Channel. However, it's not the first attempt for FB's host network TF2 to have a second adventure game show filling the winter schedule. In 1999, they commissioned Adventure Line to produce "Les Forges Du Desert" which was set in the Wadi Rum region of Jordan, an area with an average high temperature of 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

The show was not successful and despite a high budget with an experienced producer behind it, low viewing figures led to TF2 cancelling it midway through its series.

Channel 5 weren't put off by its colossal failure in its home broadcast nation and in 2001 broadcast their own version of 'The Desert Forges'.

Did You Know You Can Watch French Fort Boyard For Free Online And Not In A Piratey Way?

Well, you do now.

EDIT: Seems they've made more recent content private, but there's still plenty available on YouTube

In the last few weeks, following on from the post which featured a clip of Richard O'Brien hosting the British pilot episode of Fort Boyard, I've found myself watching the full French episodes of the newest series on YouTube, and it's only just hit me that I was doing so on the official Fort Boyard YouTube page. As such I wasn't watching something that a fan had uploaded to share with the world, I was watching it because the production company was letting me.

Fort Boyard PS4 released in UK tomorrow!

After a slight delay, Fort Boyard for Playstation 4 will be released in the UK tomorrow, Friday 5th July 2019. This is the closest to The Crystal Maze on the Playstation we will get yet. (Here's hoping for that one day). The game is already available to order on Amazon UK right now. My copy is arriving tomorrow. Very excited to see TCMs sister show on the Playstation for the first time ever.

Fort Boyards 30th Anniversary Celebration Reveals Some Interesting Richard O'Brien Footage

 Up until now, we'd only ever seen two seconds of the back of Richard's head, so we knew it existed but it hadn't been seen online in any longer form. However last night, as part of the start of the new series of Fort Boyard in France, footage of the UK pilot appeared.

 The UK was the first country to buy the format after seeing the French pilot episode, then titled 'The Keys to Fort Boyard'. Chatsworth Television decided to devise a British version. A non-televised pilot of the British version was filmed with Richard O'Brien as presenter. However, it soon became clear the fort would not available for filming due to its renovations during 1989.

Fort Boyard on the Nintendo Switch and PS4

The Crystal Maze would not be without its sister show, known as "Fort Boyard".

Fort Boyard had a brief airing in the UK but did not take as well to our culture, as both Channel 5 and Challenge TV commissioned runs.