A King's Seal of Approval - Exclusive interview with Maze actor (Part 2)

(Continued from part one). My enjoyment of series 6 was greatly enhanced by the time I was lucky enough to spend with these two fine gentleman, as well as with the crew and the few people I’d got to know at all well, like Nick Badham. There was a wrap party at the end of filming with a staggering amount of booze on offer, while we were all treated to a highly amusing film made on the set featuring the crew, cast and some contestants. I remember that my majestic tones were overdubbed by one of the guys in wardrobe to make me sound like some colossal lisping pervert, so a great time was had by all.

I was woken at home the next day with a hangover that felt as if underground nuclear testing was taking place in my skull, to learn the sorrowful news that my father had died just a few hours before, but I know that dad was proud of me for being a part of such a famous and successful production, and perhaps even more pleased and proud had he known of the eye-watering amount of alcohol I’d somehow managed to surround the night before. I have nothing but the very happiest memories of my time on The Crystal Maze. I was elated to audition for this programme and delirious with joy when I was accepted. I’m not usually one to tempt Fate, but I told anyone and everyone who would listen at the time that I was going to appear on this iconic programme, broadcasting the good news to the Four Winds, not in the least bit worried that my part might be edited out at the last moment.

I was excited to depart for the distant set each morning and I was awestruck to arrive at the airfield, with its haunted hangar and the enthralling production homed within its walls. All the contestants I encountered were ecstatic to be part of the programme, while I got the impression that all the crew equally felt that they were part of something special as well. I was in awe of the vast, intricate and imposing sets, while the act of getting ‘robed up’ as Lance was a heady sensation, knowing that I was about to become a real, living part of a programme that had captured the imagination of the world. It was just as exciting the following year to appear as the Aztec High Priest, to meet and work with Marino and Sam, then to renew my acquaintance with David, Ed and the rest of the crew.

I have a large extended family, with many younger cousins, nephews, nieces and the like, who were all thunderstruck to learn that I was going to appear on The Crystal Maze. My neighbours were excited, as were my other friends and family, while I don’t mind admitting that I was delirious with joy to see my gauntleted hand cradling a crystal in the opening sequences. I’m the only person, as far as I’m aware, to have had two separate speaking parts as two different characters on this fantastic show, but even if this hadn’t been the case and I’d just had one, fleeting appearance, I’m sure I’d be just as contented to have once been a part of something truly lasting and extraordinary.

With the recent revival of The Crystal Maze, I am often asked if I’m going to reprise my part as Lance or else as the Aztec High Priest. Well, to paraphrase Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard, I’m always ready for a close up, but failing that happy eventuality, I continue to bask contentedly in the warm glow of my former thespian triumphs. It would be very poor form to hog the limelight, as I also had a small part as The Barker in the pilot episode of The Magic Carnival, which was planned as the successor to The Crystal Maze, but my photographs of my time on that particular set were lost in the fire that destroyed my home last year. A small part of me sometimes thinks that it would be great to appear once again in The Crystal Maze, but what will be, will be, and I wish nothing but happiness and great good fortune to all those involved in the programme’s latest incarnation.

In conclusion, I’m not sure that I can add a lot more to this account of my part in the story of The Crystal Maze. When I was invited to compose this piece a few days ago, I glanced at the Wikipedia page for The Crystal Maze, something I’d not done in years, and I was mildly surprised to see no mention of either Lance or else the Aztec High Priest. I’m not remotely bothered by this, not least because so many other people played more lasting and important parts than mine in this production, but I know from long personal experience how many people the world over are fascinated with the historical details of every aspect of this wonderful show. I hope that in writing this brief essay and in supplying some photos, that I’ll have satisfied the curiosity of anyone who’d ever wondered about these minor characters, and if you’ve derived any enjoyment from reading this account, then I’ll be very pleased.

- Dennis Price, Actor - The Crystal Maze (Series 5 and 6, 1994/1995).

A King's Seal of Approval - Exclusive interview with Maze actor (Part 1)

WITHIN the mysterious world of The Crystal Maze, lived a few characters who brought the Zones to life. Dennis Price (Actor, Stage name: Dennis Llewellyn) - 1990's Crystal Maze actor who played Lance, Guard of the King's Seal and the Aztec High Priest, talks exclusively to The Crystal Maze Fan Blog. Here is the first instalment of his memories from working on the show.

If my memory serves me well, over a quarter of a century after the fact, I first set foot on the path that led to my time on The Crystal Maze a year or so before I started filming on series 5. I’d been lazing around at home in north-west London one afternoon when I was surprised to get a series of urgent phone calls from a few friends and an agent, asking me if it were true that I could speak Latin? At some point, during the course of a previous shoot I’ve forgotten, I must have mentioned that I’d studied Latin and ancient Greek to A level at school in the 1970s to some of my new friends and colleagues, and someone, somewhere must have remembered this.

I returned the calls, but without going into the minutiae of what I later presented, I composed a short excerpt from a Black Mass in Latin and performed it for an episode of Channel X’s The Unpleasant World of Penn & Teller. I was a Satanic High Priest, whose role it was to perform a Black Mass at some luridly decorated church in Richmond in south London for the benefit of the late, lamented Christopher Reeve, the star guest on the show. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time, but I’m as certain as I can be that Nick Badham worked on this production, then later recommended me for the part of Lance, Guard of the King’s Seal on series 5 of The Crystal Maze, for which kindness I remain eternally grateful to him.

For some reason connected to the passing of the years, I don’t remember my audition for the part, but I clearly recall that I was enormously excited to be appearing on The Crystal Maze, as it was a huge, huge show at the time. I made my way early in the morning in my old Ford Capri from Hendon where I lived, around an insanely busy M25 and then eventually up to the Aces High Studios at North Weald Airfield. I was overjoyed to be able to surround a huge, hot breakfast after I’d turned up, then I was taken to the wardrobe department, where I was gradually transformed into the baleful, taciturn character that Ed Tudor-Pole described as “Lance, Guard of the King’s Seal”.

All the original photos I had of my time on The Crystal Maze were lost in a blaze that destroyed my home on March 8^th last year, which is a great shame, but I have a few photos of photos. I don’t remember having any say in what I eventually wore on set, but looking back, I’m delighted with the massive sword, huge cloak and furry collar, as I’ve long thought it was like a forerunner of Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch on Game of Thrones. Not that I come close to this man amongst men, but it’s yet another pleasing memory and aspect of my time on the show.

While I remember, aficionados of The Crystal Maze will be aware that Ed Tudor Pole went on to have a small part as a preacher in one episode of Game of Thrones. I never appeared in this particular series myself, to my regret, but two of my friends from my time on what was then the world’s only touring mediaeval jousting tournament worked extensively in the murderous world of Westeros; one was Rowley Irlam, the triple Emmy winning stunt co-ordinator and the other was Dominic Preece, who in turn spent most of his working time as the stunt co-ordinator on Outlander. But I digress.

On set, I was taken to meet David Croft, the director and another man amongst men, and I’m delighted to say that I’m still in regular touch with him all these years later. I also met Ed Tudor Pole and we got along well, but my contact with him was strictly limited due to the nature and schedule of the filming. I got to meet pretty much all the crew during my time there, but it was a bit bewildering for me as there were so many of them and they were all so tied up with their different jobs in and around the vast hangar.

I was given two lines to say; which one I articulated depended on whether or not the eager contestant had successfully completed their allotted task, which was correctly putting together the elements of the “King’s Seal”. I was told the result through a concealed earpiece and every one of them got it right, as far as I can remember, so “That is the King’s Seal” was all I said on camera during series 5. I had a great time while I was there; I was paid very well and I think I spent 6 mornings filming in total, while I was intrigued by the stories of the cavernous Hangar 6 being haunted, as I’d been seriously interested in ghosts and such like since I was a kid back in the 1960s.

I was invited back the next year to audition for the part of the Aztec High Priest in series 6, so I think I met up with David once again at some offices in Oxford Street before being given the part. This time around, instead of looking like Jon Snow and his brothers would do over a decade later in Game of Thrones, I wore some spangled outfit that might not be completely out of place on a particularly lurid edition of Rue Paul’s Drag Race. And now, I had some company, as there were two other guys with me in the Aztec Zone and we spent a fair bit of time chatting together in some secluded room before we were required on set.

One of them was a male model by the name of Sam, a lovely, kind and warm gentleman, while the other was Marino Franchi, who was working as a stripper at the time – well, not at exactly the same time, but after he’d finished filming for the day. Marino was a great guy as well, but I’ve not seen either him or Sam since then, although I naturally hope that they’re both happy and healthy, and that life has treated them well.

PART 2