This is the reason neither appear on the cover of the music CD that was released to accompany the series. Dates: 26â28 March[5]. Norgate was replaced by athlete Derek Redmond for series 3 (1994) and Eugene Gilkes for series 6 (1997) and also for the 1998 Springbok Challenge series; his arch-nemesis is male gladiator Wolf. Gladiators is a British television series which aired on Sky1 from 11 May 2008 to 25 October 2009. Gladiator ready!. " For four years a series of 'live' shows were played in the Spring ahead of the recording of the televised series. Male Gladiators: Ace, Cobra, Hunter, Rhino, Saracen, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Meet Ulrika, Fash, John Anderson, Ian Wright, Caroline Flack and the rest of the cast. Notable competitors on the show include future British 400-metre hurdler Chris Rawlinson, Wales International Rugby Union winger Glen Webbe, female wrestler Non Evans (who appeared only once during the sixth series) and cage fighter Alex Reid during the seventh series. Compere. Laser made her debut in the fifth episode. One!" A final wave of figures were released for the first International Gladiators series. Former TV-am weather presenter Ulrika Jonsson was with the show from the first episode and in many ways was the main anchor due to her TV background. The £2,000 runner up cheque was equally split between the two as both were deemed to have competed in three games. Michael Van Wijk (born 30 September 1952) is an Indian-born English bodybuilder, professional sportsperson, actor and TV presenter. Referee: John Anderson Pyramid itself would be axed following both these injuries and a leg injury to Rhino during filming of the event on International Gladiators 2 the year before. Here is a list of everyone who appeared as a Gladiator in at least one episode of the 1989-96 series, broken down by season. Sam Codjoe reached the series 3 final. Alan Parry. Financial analysis of Gladiator (2000) including budget, domestic and international box office gross, DVD and Blu-ray sales reports, total earnings and profitability. Despite having no hosting experience, footballer John Fashanu was given the role of male host of the series. Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson Male Gladiators: Bullit, Cobra, Hawk, Saracen, Shadow, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Series show runner, During the third season in 1994, Panther (Helen O'Reilly) suffered one of the worst injuries seen the show when she fell from her platform during. Series 5 winner Mark Mottram went on to become a professional stuntman and was Pierce Brosnan's stunt double in the James Bond films. The third new Gladiator, Blaze, was the 1994 female champion and International Gladiators 1 champion Eunice Huthart. GLADIATORS fans were left staggered last year when the stars of the hit 90s series appeared on Good Morning Britain looking almost unrecognisable. King later confirmed the rumours were true and was sacked shortly afterwards. Starring: Ulrika Jonsson, James Crossley, Warren Furman, John Fashanu, Jennifer Stoute, Jane Omorogbe, Alison Paton, Suzanne Cox, Kim Betts, Tammy Baker, Bernadette Hunt, Michael Willson, Darren Crawford, Mark Smith, Mike Lewis, John Seru, Michael Van Wijk, John Sachs, John Anderson (VI) TV's original Mr Nasty was often cited as the most popular Gladiator because … Gladiators was a competition television program that matched a cast of amateur athletes against each other, as well as against the show's own "gladiators", in contests of strength and agility. Sumo Ball was roadtested in these shows and would feature as the only new event of the 1996 televised series. Series cast summary: Alistair Gibb ... Self - Gladiator 16 episodes, 1995-1996 Linda Byrnes ... Self - Gladiator 16 episodes, 1995-1996 Mark McGaw ... Self - Gladiator 16 episodes, 1995-1996 Karen Alley ... Self - Gladiator … Mini series, such as the final season (series 8), would consist of 3 episodes: 2 heats and a grand final. The returning Male Legends were Ace, Cobra, Khan and Trojan (who is now the only Gladiator, male or female, to take part in all three Legends shows) with Wolf on the New Gladiator's Side. Get the lowdown on the 3 UK Gladiators, Shark, Eclipse and Destroyer, that almost made it onto our TV screens. Most competitors achieved brief local fame, but series three women's champion Eunice Huthart earned great recognition, and briefly presented late night television before becoming a stunt double. During the first season in 1992, on the first game of, After the Wembley live shows in 1993, Phoenix (Sandy Young), Flame (Kimbra LeAnne Standish) and Hawk (Aleks Georgijev) were sacked from the show, having received the lowest number of votes from fans in a magazine poll. He is most well known for his role as Wolf on British TV endurance sports game show Gladiators, a role he held for eight series (1992-1999). Despite the changes, viewing figures continued to drop and the series was axed on 11 February 1999. Take a look back over the 10 seasons of Gladiators and which Contenders proved to be victorious. It proved to be a big success for Sky 1 and a second series was aired in early 2009. Typically, four contenders would appear in each episode, two male (Red and Blue) and two female (Pink and Yellow), and each contender would compete in five or six events, depending on the series or time constraints. Atlaspheres, The Wall and the Eliminator were also played. Marcus Aurelius Derek Jacobi. He is married to Debbie Carpeter Mottram, who was a cheerleader he met on Gladiators. After series one, which had 6 events always in the same order; Atlaspheres, The Wall, Danger Zone, Swingshot, Hang Tough and Duel, the line-up changed from series to series, with new events being added every year and randomised. For Series 6 and 7 he was replaced by rugby player Jeremy Guscott. During the show's first four series, a number of VHSes were released by Video Collection International (The last VHS release was instead released by Silver Vision.). Season five became known as the "season of injury". were removed and a standardised outfit was brought in. He was brought in to be a rival for Wolf. The winner of The Eliminator then goes on to compete in the next round. Several competitors from the show's history later went on to appear on Total Wipeout, the most notable being series seven contestants Colm Curran and Margo Hudson. … Fox originally appeared as a contestant during the Wembley live shows of 1993. Commentator. Referee: John Anderson Meet Ulrika, Fash, John Anderson, Ian Wright, Caroline Flack and the rest of the cast. One of the events, Tilt, would be used in the televised series with little modification. Referee: John Anderson The first wave of figures consisted of Jet (B800), Shadow (B801), Wolf (B802), Saracen (B803), Cobra (B804), Warrior (B805) and generic figures of a Male Contender (B806) and Female Contender (B807). Series 1 winner Weininger Irwin appeared in the BBC Two series Back in Time for Brixton in November 2016, in which a family experience 50 years of black British history;[2] in one episode, he and his family watched his victory in the first series final. Female Gladiators: Falcon, Jet, Lightning, Nightshade, Panther, Scorpio, Zodiac The role was predominately filled by Andrew Norgate, who was also an associate producer, from the second series on 18 September 1993 to the eighth series on 1 January 2000. Fox, Rocket, Khan and Hunter took part in the shows despite Rocket and Khan not appearing in the 1998 series and the Gladiators (except Hunter) not having had chance to play Pursuit in the televised series. The final set of live shows saw the introduction of Ace, Rebel and Rio as Gladiators â all of whom would go on to appear in that years televised series. Jet would suffer an injury during Pyramid in which she fell awkwardly trapping nerves in her neck[11] and she retired from competition after this event. Maximus Joaquin Phoenix. In the late 1990s, when the popularity of the programme began to wane, a spin-off entitled Gladiators: Train 2 Win was produced and was broadcast on CITV in 1996, based on Gladiators 2000, the children's version of American Gladiators. Over the course of the 8 domestic series, Gladiators had 3 main presenters. Six to eight events were played per show, varying from season to season. These contained episodes, specials or other material exclusive for home release. One of the contenders, Tammy Baker, would later become a Gladiator, Fox, from 1997 onwards. For its Royal Tournament appearance, Pursuit saw a ten-second headstart (rather than three) for the contenders with the course being a sprint round a cone, web trap (over), low wall, web trap (under), hand ladder, high wall, sprint round a cone, spaghetti junction (used in the Eliminator in 1996) and sprint finish. Despite many questions at the time about his departure, the real reason was only revealed six months later in a newspaper article. heptathlete who competed at three Olympic Games.It’s been 25 years since gladiators started filling our Saturday nights with lycra wrapped muscles. She later ended up becoming a full-time Gladiator, even appearing in the Second Ashes series. The show is a remake of the 1990's show with the same name. It was a revival of the earlier series of the same name and based on the American version of the show. Lightning was one of the toughest of the Gladiators, reigning supreme as the … Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson Two! Main article: Events In each episode, the contenders competed in a series of events. When the British series ended, Fox became a member of the South African Gladiators team, appearing in their final domestic season. Vulcan was the "bad boy" of the Australian version of the show. Hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, the show matches amateur athletes against each other and the show's own "gladiators" in contests of strength, agility, and endurance.It is a remake of the original series of the same name which ran from 1989–1996, with elements of the UK version of the 1990s. Some of the contenders from these shows went on to be in the televised shows. The programme's format sees four contestants, two male and two female, compete in a series of physical events against the show's "Gladiators", eventually competing in one final event, with contestants aiming to secure a place in the grand final and be crowned champion for their respective series. American Gladiators is an American competition TV show that aired on NBC and Citytv in Canada. Commodus Connie Nielsen. Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England An 'updated version' of Duel on a rocking suspension bridge using pugil sticks was also played[6] and this format would be modified and played as a new game called Suspension Bridge in the 1993 televised series. B823 was due to include a Hawk Action figure, but due to his departure from the show, a figure was never released. Dates: 11â14 April[10] [9], Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England There were no prizes awarded to the winner in any episode, until the final. Juba David Schofield. A second wave of playsets included The Wall (B827). During celebrity specials Anderson took a more light-hearted attitude to the show such as adapting his call to "Little contender ready!" The show featured two teams of children, each captained by a gladiator (varying each week) which sought to gain the most points. While the Male Contender remained the same, Taipan has an identical head to Wolf, and Vulcan shares an identical head to Saracen. [7], Unlike the other live shows, these shows took place in Sheffield Arena which was smaller than Wembley Arena. Consisting of a 3-part mini-series which saw previous winners compete to be crowned "Champion of Champions" and a one off special entitled "Battle of the Giants" where male gladiators competed against each other for the title of "Ultimate Gladiator". Gracchus Djimon Hounsou. The original series of Gladiators hit our television screens in 1992 and was broadcast on ITV. Amazon, who herself had picked up an injury on Pyramid to her knee, would quit between these shows and the 1996 televised series. These episodes were filmed in summer 1999 at the National Indoor Arena, Birmingham. Wolf - Mike Van Wijk. Gaius Tomas Arana. Saracen originally auditioned to be a contestant. During the show's first three seasons, popular model makers Hornby made a selection of action figures and playsets based on the show. While the show lasted for eight years, (and had a small reboot in 2008) Many of the original gladiators seemed to vanish after the show ended. Season seven (1998) saw the show have an overhaul; two new male Gladiators joined the team, Diesel and Vulcan. 1. This led to the event being dropped for the upcoming season five. The first set of live shows was used to roadtest three new potential events ahead of the televised series. [1995] [VHS]: Amazon.co.uk: Video", "Gladiators-The Power to Win [VHS]: Amazon.co.uk: Video", "Gladiators â Jet â A Video Profile [1992] [VHS]: Jet: Amazon.co.uk: Video", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Gladiators_(1992_British_TV_series)&oldid=1011002543, British television series based on American television series, Articles needing additional references from February 2014, All articles needing additional references, Wikipedia articles that are excessively detailed from October 2013, All articles that are excessively detailed, Wikipedia articles with style issues from October 2013, Articles with multiple maintenance issues, Articles needing POV-check from April 2014, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, International Gladiators 1â2, The Ashes 2 (Reserve), Wembley 1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, International Gladiators 1â2, The Ashes 1, Wembley 1993â1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, International Gladiators 1â2, The Ashes 1â2, Springbok Challenge, International Gladiators 2; The Ashes 1â2, Springbok Challenge, International Gladiators 1â2, Springbok Challenge, Wembley 1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996; The Royal Tournament 1997â1998, International Gladiators 2, The Ashes 1â2, Springbok Challenge, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, The Royal Tournament 1997, International Gladiators 1, The Ashes 2, Springbok Challenge, International Gladiators 2, The Ashes 1â2, Australian Gladiators 1â3, Wembley 1993â1994, Sheffield 1995, Wembley 1996, The Royal Tournament 1997. It's the first episode of the new series and hosts Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu introduce the female and male contenders. The first series of The Ashes and The Springbok Challenge II were filmed at the locations of the Australian and South African series respectively. 3 new games were introduced. Instead, they trained and entered as contestants, and it wasn't until hours before the first recording that it was decided two more Gladiators would be required for the series. The big man himself! Occasionally, a celebrity or charity special will be broadcast after the grand final. Caroline Flack. similar to his American counterpart, Larry Thompson, but he added a countdown, "Three! Male Gladiators: Cobra, Hunter, Raider, Rhino, Saracen, Trojan, Warrior, Wolf Most of the events tested the contenders' physical abilities against the superior size and strength of the Gladiators, who were mostly pro or amate… Applicants who wanted to take part in the show had to go through vigorous fitness tests before they were selected to take part. Former TV-am weather presenter Ulrika Jonsson was with the show from the first episode and in many ways was the main anchor due to her TV background. Laser was brought in as a replacement and even used the same costume but with minor changes. Only one new event was roadtested in this series, Cannonball Run, which was later used in the 1994 televised series under the name Hit & Run. This was the most new events introduced in a single season since 1994. Three new Gladiators, Bullit, Trojan and Zodiac were included in these shows. The Cast Of Gladiators. She was hand-picked to be a reserve Gladiator for the sixth series, however, she ended up becoming a full-time participant after Gold injured herself during training. Footage of several of the tests were broadcast during behind-the-scenes segments during both the first and second series. Venue: Sheffield Arena, Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England The 50-year-old television star, known for playing the role of … After the sixth season in 1997, Warrior (Michael Ahearne) was sacked from the show, after being arrested for a firearms offence. Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate, Four new Gladiators were introduced in these shows over Easter 1995, with Raider, Rhino and Vogue going on to take part in The Ashes series in Brisbane shortly afterwards before taking part in the 1995 televised series. Venue: Wembley Arena, London, England Before every event he called: "Contender ready! Both Cobra and Lightning were never originally intended to be Gladiators. Once all five or six games are played, the number of points is totalled and the contestant with the highest number of points gets a headstart in The Eliminator assault course with every point ahead of their competitor worth half a second. As well as the 3 new games, 3 established events (Powerball, Pendulum and Gauntlet) had rule changes. Presenter. Timekeeper: Derek Redmond. The hit show ran between 1992 and 2000 for eight series on ITV before it moved to Sky in 2008 for two revived series. A group of cheerleaders also accompanied the show, known as the "G-Force". Laser originally trained and entered as a contender but was later made into a reserve Gladiator due to several Female Gladiators being unable to compete due to ongoing injury problems. Gladiators UK is a British television game show series that aired from May 2008 to October 2009. Over the course of the 8 domestic series, Gladiators had 3 main presenters. Duel would feature in the 1997 Royal Tournament and Pursuit featured in the 1998 Royal Tournament despite it having been axed after the 1996 series. The US, UK and Australian versions of the show were all revived in 2008. Behind the scenes aspects were added including clips of the contenders selections and training as well as clips showing the contenders choosing which Gladiator they would face on a certain game via coin toss. Gladiators is a British television sports entertainment game show, an adaptation of the American programme and its format, American Gladiators, and was produced by LWT for ITV from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000, with a revival made for Sky 1 between 2008 and 2009. Highlights from these shows were shown in a preview episode to the 1993 series and whilst footage of him playing was included, there was no specific reference to Bullit (or Flame, Phoenix and Hawk). Vulcan joined the British Gladiators series after his native Australian edition of the series was cancelled. Although played in a friendly manner, 'Wolf' would often be portrayed by Michael Van Wijk as a 'bad boy' who would argue with officials and contestants after a defeat to fire up the crowd in the style of a, This page was last edited on 8 March 2021, at 14:16. In 1997 and 1998 a short segment of Gladiators was introduced to the Royal Tournament event at Earls Court after London Weekend Television won the broadcasting rights from the BBC. Red for females and blue for males. The format was updated to include water and fire. However all 3 did not go down well with viewers. Lightning - Kim Betts. Falco John Shrapnel. Powerball, Pyramid and Atlaspheres were also played,[8] with Saracen injuring his knee during Powerball. Other events played were Atlaspheres, Powerball, Gauntlet, Hang Tough and the Eliminator. He appeared in Batman (as Heath Ledger's double). Female Gladiators: Flame, Jet, Lightning, Panther, Phoenix, Scorpio, Zodiac Now aged 65, Michael runs a successful chain of gyms in New Zealand, where he now lives with his wife and their four children. Referee: John Anderson Wolf was THE star of the show and often wound up referees and contestants alike. The series involves contestants battling against a 'Gladiator' in a number of events to secure points for the final event, The Eliminator. Awooga! These consisted of a revised version of Hunter, and figures of Hawk (United States), Terminator (Finland) and Dynamite (Russia). Gladiators star Diana Youdale has teased that the original cast could return for a 30th anniversary special of the show. It was announced in 2018 that Ridley Scott was back on board to direct Gladiator 2. In the first show, the Gladiators, including bad-boy Wolf and glamour-puss Jet, were reunited in Birmingham at the venue where they gripped millions around the UK in the 90s. Atlaspheres, The Wall, Powerball, Hang Tough, Duel and The Eliminator were also played. before starting the game. Gladiators returned to our television screens in 2008 and was broadcast on Sky 1. Quintus Ralf Moeller. Amazon (Sharron Davies) severely injured her knee during training and had to retire from the show (she did however appear on all publicity material for this season). However following these shows, Huthart wanted to compete as a UK challenger for The Ashes series and stepped down as a Gladiator. Cobra suffered an ankle injury during the shows and had to be sidelined. Typically, both male and female contenders would compete in the same events; however, during series six, this format was removed, and female contenders would play easier games, whilst the male contenders would play more difficult games. The honour went to Hunter (James Crossley). Lucilla Oliver Reed. Self - Gladiator 6 episodes, 1996 Frank Scholz ... Self - Gladiator 6 episodes, 1996 Martin Seiz ... Self - Gladiator 6 episodes, 1996 Christy Skoglund ... Self - Gladiator 6 episodes, 1996 Julia Tarasenko ... Self - Gladiator … Proximo Richard Harris. Pendulum had been intended to be roadtested in these shows but the arena was too small to fit the safety net. Iconic British series Gladiators came to an end 21 years ago, in January 2000, after introducing the likes of Wolf, Jet, Lightning and Cobra to millions of viewers.. After the third season in 1994, a newspaper uncovered evidence that Shadow (Jefferson King) had taken steroids. Over the years some were dropped due to safety reasons (Tilt, Joust, Pole-Axe and Pyramid) although the latter 2 returned with safety modifications and one just disappeared without any explanation despite being both popular with viewers and was not known to have caused any injuries (Pursuit). when Willie Carson took part. Timekeeper. Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate The second wave of figures included Trojan (B815), Hunter (B816), Zodiac (B817) and Panther (B818), as well as revised versions of Jet (B800) and Wolf (B802). After stunning producers in training, he was offered a role on the main Gladiator team. Timekeeper: Andrew Norgate I had a peculiar relationship with Lightning. In each event, the contenders will score a number of points, usually ten for a win. Joust was also roadtested in this series with pugil sticks being used but the sybikes were much larger and lower to the ground than the events ultimate appearance in the televised series. Another change was the Gladiators' costumes; the "logos" (Bow for Hunter, Playing Cards for Ace etc.) It lasted for eight thrilling series (plus many specials) and is the longest and most successful version of the Gladiators show in the world. It was due to air on Sky2 during August 2009, but was dropped before airing. A third new event taken from the American series, Breakthrough And Conquer, was also roadtested but would not be taken forward. Despite having no hosting experience, footballer John Fashanu was given the role of male host of the series. Bobby Bragg. Full Cast & Crew: Gladiator (2000) Cast (66) Russell Crowe. They were both upgraded to full-time participants in show three, and both remained until the very end of the programme. These consisted of new models of Trojan, Wolf, Jet, Lightning, and the previously unreleased Rhino. Produced: London Weekend Television (LWT) Broadcaster: ITV. At the back of the room, four gladiators – Cobra (Michael Anthony Willson), Lightning (Kim Betts), Wolf and fan favourite Jet (Diane Youdale) – are perched on … Presenters: John Fashanu and Ulrika Jonsson These shows were used to roadtest new event concepts and new Gladiators. In 1995, McDonald's gave away an exclusive range of figures through a Happy Meal promotion. Figures of Tower, Commander, Condor and Hammer were also released, along with an identical 'Duel' playset. However he was injured at the beginning of Powerball, the fourth game of the night, as a result of a mistimed tackle from Shadow and was replaced by Phil Campbell (whom he defeated in his semi-final).