Return of the Crystal Maze

I think pretty much every region on the planet has, or had, a TV series like it: a game show in which contenders run around slightly shoddy, themed sets, racing against the clock to obtain whichever MacGuffin the game has deemed vital for completion.
One that was a staple part of my TV diet in the 90s was The Crystal Maze.
The main component of the show was the traversal of 4 “Zones”, which were neither crystal nor a maze: Industrial, Medieval, Future and Aztec (“Industrial” was replaced by “Ocean” at one point, but it was sh*t). Contenders were led through them by Richard O’Brian, who was amazingly both sinister and welcoming at the same time, and who acted as the “dungeon master” of the game. Each zone was full of chambers that contained a challenge of some sort. A lone player would go in to face it, and if they were successful, they received a time crystal. If they failed, or remained in the chamber for too long, they were locked inside.
After passing through the zones, the final challenge was the Crystal Dome. Time crystals provided seconds within it, or could be spent freeing someone trapped in the maze. Once in the dome, the contenders had to collect 100 gold tokens, which were being whipped around by fans, but with silver tokens mixed in among them and which counted against the final tally, only 19 teams ever managed this.
As a kid, I loved this show, and was inspired by the fantastical nature of the zones. I’d draw pictures inspired by it, devise my own challenges, build little dioramas and, like most who watched it, brainstorm with friends at school over the best way to separate those damn gold and silver tokens.

Riding the nostalgia wave, The Crystal Maze is returning to TV. This, combined with indie video games being popular again and kids obsessing over cheap, plastic, spinny gimmicks….. it’s sure feeling a bit like the 90s, again!
Mmmmmm.
Member berries.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainme…


Would you follow this man into a dark and sinister industrial complex?