The Crystal Maze Revived for a Full 20 Episode Series!

[KashmireHawker]

Channel 4 have this morning made 2017 much better than 2016!

The Maze is returning after the SU2C Special in October and will be filmed around the corner from Parson Street station (had to make it a bit train related... ) - at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol. It will be a 20 Episode series and will be hosted by Richard Adyode from The IT Crowd.

Full announcement here: http://www.channel4.com/info/press/news/the-crystal-maze-returns-to-channel-4-in-2017

Channel 4 has today confirmed the commission of a brand new series of The Crystal Maze from Fizz, RDF Television’s entertainment label. The 20 x 60 series will be hosted by new Maze Master Richard Ayoade, and includes a set of celebrity specials for Stand Up to Cancer.
Producers are already looking for teams of five contestants who have what it takes to navigate the Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Future zones of the maze. They will face a range of skill, mystery, physical and mental challenges to win crystals that equate to time in the final test – the legendary Crystal Dome. Details of how contestants can apply will soon be announced.
The series will be filmed at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol, where a purpose built maze spanning over 30,000 square feet is being created by the original Crystal Maze designer, James Dillon (The Mighty Boosh, The Royle Family).
The Crystal Maze, which originally aired from 1990 to 1995, returned to Channel 4 in October 2016 for a Stand Up To Cancer celebrity special and proved a hit with loyal fans and newcomers alike, winning a consolidated audience of 4.3 million viewers. The new series will air this year...

 

[Kite159]

Excellent news

Richard Adyode should make a good host I reckon.

 

[AlterEgo]

Ayoade as host is inspired. He has a kind of ADHD vibe (in a good way) which was encapsulated by O'Brien.

I hope he makes the role his own.

 

[Lrd]

Cannot wait for this. Hopefully they are able to pull it off well.

 

[AndrewR232]

I loved The Crystal Maze at the time, even with Edward Tudor-Pole at the helm.

This is an interesting development.

 

[507021]

Excellent, I can't wait to see how it goes.

 

[WatcherZero]

Interesting they are making their own maze for the series rather than using either of the visitor attractions.

 

[Greenback]

It will be interesting to see how this pans out. I think Mr Adyode will do a great job.

 

[Strat-tastic]

Although it was billed as a one off, I did wonder at the time whether it was really a pilot.

Yes, I think the time ripe for a reboot

 

[johntea]

The biggest shock is how they're building a dedicated space for it (using the original set designer no less). At the time when the 'pilot' aired a deal was signed for a new Experience in old TV studios in Manchester and many thought they would just fit some cameras and the like as part of the construction process for that

By the way you can watch the originals on Challenge TV at 6pm on weekdays at the moment, although probably not for too much longer as they're now in the Ed Tudor Pole episodes

 

[SS4]

I'll have to see about this, I don't want TV companies to follow Hollywood and denounce all things original.

I'm also concerned about it riding on a wave of nostalgia and subtle changes which severely damaged 15 to 1

 

[Darandio]

By the way you can watch the originals on Challenge TV at 6pm on weekdays at the moment, although probably not for too much longer as they're now in the Ed Tudor Pole episodes

If it continues as normal, they'll just revert back to the start again.

 

[KashmireHawker]

The very long application period finally slammed shut this morning! Including me and I hope some of you guys, there is upwards of 5000 people who have applied. Filming I am led to believe will start at some point between Mid May-Mid June, with the series probably on in the autumn.

At least even if in the most of unlikely of circumstances that I (or anyone else for that fact) gets on; that there the new Manchester "Live Experience" opens in April - created by Little Lion Entertainment who opened the success that has been in London. Me being me has a ticket for the completely Sold Out tester days between March 13th-March 24th!

 

[me123]

At least even if in the most of unlikely of circumstances that I (or anyone else for that fact) gets on...

If no one got onto the show, it'd be a little bit boring Best of luck.

 

[KashmireHawker]

It's back - this Friday at 9pm, with the 1st of 5 Celebrity Specials before 15 normal episodes in the weeks after it.

A trailer can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5F6jkKQyc

Also the guys at DenOfGeek have pulled together 12 main changes which shall be noticeable hopefully when it comes to it screening - shamefully it's adios to the moat around the Dome and only 10 games will be played per episode compared to 15 in Series 1-4 and 12 in Series 5 & 6... See the full article here: http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/the-...rystal-maze-2017-12-changes-from-the-original

I was never going to get on neither - particularly with the fact that more than 30,000 people and thus a few thousand teams popped in applications. The Maze's popularity shall never die it seems!

 

[alexf380]

It's been on a few weeks now and I'm curious to hear the opinions of some of you. Personally, I think they've done a great job on it. Richard Ayoade was a good choice for the host, and after reading the reviews online I think that most people share this view.

 

[SpacePhoenix]

It's back - this Friday at 9pm, with the 1st of 5 Celebrity Specials before 15 normal episodes in the weeks after it.

A trailer can be seen here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZA5F6jkKQyc

Also the guys at DenOfGeek have pulled together 12 main changes which shall be noticeable hopefully when it comes to it screening - shamefully it's adios to the moat around the Dome and only 10 games will be played per episode compared to 15 in Series 1-4 and 12 in Series 5 & 6... See the full article here: http://www.denofgeek.com/uk/tv/the-...rystal-maze-2017-12-changes-from-the-original

I was never going to get on neither - particularly with the fact that more than 30,000 people and thus a few thousand teams popped in applications. The Maze's popularity shall never die it seems!

Reading that article "Mumsie" reminds me of the heads in jars in Futurama

 

[AndrewR232]

So far, I am not overly impressed - there is too much "faffing about" for my liking. Maybe that's because episodes aired thus far are "celebrity specials" so I'll wait to see what happens when the "normal" episodes are broadcast.

 

[cf111]

It's been godawful so far and Ayoade is a much better actor than he is a presenter, he's very tiresome in this.

 

[Barn]

I think Ayoade is doing brilliantly.

 

[Polarbear]

Having wondered whether I'd have been seeing the re-boot through rose tinted specs, I'm pleased to say I'm rather impressed by the new shows.

It will be more interesting to see the episodes with non-celebrity contestants, as I find that anything "celeb" orientated tends to impart a different "vibe".

So far, so good.

 

[507021]

So far, I have enjoyed each of the three episodes and I think Richard Ayoade is a good host.

In fact, the only thing I don't like is the host now selects what games are played, not the contestants. I personally think it would be better if the team captain could select what game is played, but that's only a minor complaint. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

 

[Kite159]

So far, I have enjoyed each of the three episodes and I think Richard Ayoade is a good host.

In fact, the only thing I don't like is the host now selects what games are played, not the contestants. I personally think it would be better if the team captain could select what game is played, but that's only a minor complaint. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

Most likely it is the producers which decide which games are played rather than Mr Ayoade

 

[DarloRich]

going to put this out there: I never liked the Crystal Maze.

 

[northwichcat]

The biggest shock is how they're building a dedicated space for it (using the original set designer no less). At the time when the 'pilot' aired a deal was signed for a new Experience in old TV studios in Manchester and many thought they would just fit some cameras and the like as part of the construction process for that

Who owns the new experience set? If they aren't directly connected with the production company then it may have proven more viable to create a separate set. It might also be the experience replicates the old set too much and the production company wanted an updated set.

 

[northwichcat]

Most likely it is the producers which decide which games are played rather than Mr Ayoade

Indeed. Alan Sugar once said in an interview he doesn't like saying "You're Fired", partly because it doesn't make any sense to say someone has been fired when they haven't been offered a job, yet the producers insist that has to be part of the show.

A few years ago I was at the recording of a show John Bishop was doing for the BBC. He said "Facebook or Twitter" but the producers made him redo that section because they felt Bebo was just as big as Twitter and because it was going on the BBC it shouldn't promote one social network over another so it ended up being "Facebook, Twitter or Bebo." Yet if it's repeated now it would sound more out-of-date because of the producer's change!

 

[IanD]

going to put this out there: I never liked the Crystal Maze.

I'll call your "I never liked the Crystal Maze" and raise with "I can't stand Richard Ayoade either".

 

[DarloRich]

I'll call your "I never liked the Crystal Maze" and raise with "I can't stand Richard Ayoade either".

Touche - I don't get him.

 

[D6975]

I'll call your "I never liked the Crystal Maze" and raise with "I can't stand Richard Ayoade either".

For me the Crystal Maze was entertaining for a couple of times, but the interest waned rapidly and the challenges soon became boring, only o'Brien's quirky performance carried it.

ps I don't like Ayoade either.

 

[Crossover]

On the whole, I am enjoying the new series and I like the new presenter (especially his comments towards Joey Essex!)

The one thing that is grating is the sheer number of "ALIS" (Automatic Lock In Situation) as I am sure originally there may have been one or two per episode whereas now there are probably at least half a dozen.

The Futuristic zone isn't all that inspiring either (it looks pretty minute compared to the apparent sprawl of the original zone) and all the timers have gone (in all zones).

I'm also not over keen on the whole "you'll look a bit different when you get in there - it's called editing" - what was wrong with the "you'll need these *hands hard hat*" before pushing them in!

So far, I have enjoyed each of the three episodes and I think Richard Ayoade is a good host.

In fact, the only thing I don't like is the host now selects what games are played, not the contestants. I personally think it would be better if the team captain could select what game is played, but that's only a minor complaint. I'm looking forward to the rest of the series.

I may be wrong but I believe the producers may have set the challenge type previously but that it was made to look like the team captain had chosen it