Gladiators (1992 UK TV series) Series Three

The third series of Gladiators started on September 10, 1994 and ended on December 17, 1994. The series aired on ITV. Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu returned as presenters along with referee John Anderson and commentator John Sachs. In addition to the domestic competition of 15 episodes, three specials were aired—a series preview show "The Return", a Celebrity Special and an Armed Forces Special. This was the last series to be produced by Nigel Lythgoe.

Changes from the last series

This was the only series of Gladiators in which there were no changes to the gladiator line up. As such there were no changes to the starting credits and, despite the series popularity, there were no new photoshoots for promotional materials with the photography from the 1993 series re-used for the programmes and merchandise.

The most notable difference in previous years was that the events were cut from six events to five events (plus the Eliminator). This reduction coupled with the increased event pool meant that several events appeared sparingly throughout the series, in particular many of the events introduced the previous series.

Gauntlet received a significant change with the event being a 30-second time limit to pass through five Gladiators through a much narrower Gauntlet (as opposed to passing through three as quickly as possible). Reaching the end within 20 seconds scored 10 points and within 30 seconds, 5 points. Power pads were utilised for the two additional Gladiators and all participants worse chest guards. The same chest guards would be worn in Danger Zone from this series onwards.

The Atlaspheres used from this season onwards were lighter and moved quicker across the arena floor (often referred to as 'turbo charged') with the contenders atlaspheres being yellow and blue in colour (rather than yellow and red as previous). Due to it being used as part of Hit & Run, the Suspension Bridge had ends added onto it - primarily to stop the contenders running off the end when the bridge was used for Hit & Run. Additionally on Suspension Bridge, contenders and Gladiators started from opposite ends compared to the previous series. A minor amendment to the rules of Swingshot allowed contenders to now grab as many balls as they could in one jump.

Andrew Norgate was replaced as timekeeper by Derek Redmond whose then wife Sharron Davies presented the junior Gladiators series Train II Win before being asked to audition as a Gladiator the following year. The contenders outfits for the heats were markedly different from the pink/ yellow (women) and red/blue (men) pieces used for the majority of the show. The female contenders wore peach and lilac outfits with the male contenders wearing simple red and blue vests with black shorts. From the Quarter Finals onwards, the contender outfits reverted to the familiar pink/ yellow and red/blue outfits.

Finally, between the women's and men's Eliminator, a Time Out section was added in which various Gladiators discussed their favourite events, past times and music.

New events

Four new events were introduced in this series. Unlike previous series, the new events were gradually introduced through the televised order series with this being the only series in which no new events debuted in the first televised heat (despite all being featured in the opening preview episode).

Pyramid
First appearance: Heat 2. Contenders and Gladiators face one another on a giant pyramid with the Gladiators at the top and Contenders at the bottom. Contenders had 60 seconds to reach the top of the Pyramid with the Gladiators trying to prevent them by grappling or pushing and rolling them down. The first contender to the top received 10 points with he second receiving 5. This event was taken from the American series and despite this being the most popular of the new events and frequently appearing in Series Four, the event would be axed twice during the shows later run.

Hit & Run
First appearance: Heat 5. Contenders had to run across the suspension bridge as many times as possible in 30 seconds scoring 2 points per successful crossing. Four Gladiators stand on two podiums either side of the bridge swinging a demolition ball attempting to knock the contender off. This event initially appeared in the 1994 Wembley Shows (under the name Cannonball Run) though did not prove popular, appearing sparingly in later series. Ironically it was the only new event introduced in 1994 that would not get axed and became one of the most frequently played series in the US and British revivals.

Pursuit
First appearance: Heat 7. Contenders race against each other across an obstacle course with Gladiators chasing them after a three-second headstart. The obstacle course consisted of a balance beam, wire bridge, hand ladder, web trap, low wall, web trap, high wall, sprint finish. 10 points were awarded for the first contender to pass the finish, 5 points for second with no points awarded if a contender was tagged.

Pole-Axe
First appearance: Heat 8. Contender and Gladiators have to climb a 36-foot pole, hitting a button at the top which would retract the climbing pegs of their opponents pole, causing them to fall to a six-foot crash mat below. 10 points were awarded should the contender achieve this. Due to the amount of time it took to set up, Pole-Axe would be set up and played live as the first event (before the initial contender interviews) though would often be played out of sync in televised shows. Pole-Axe would have the latest debut of any new event and would be axed a couple of series later.

Episodes

As the previous year, the main series was a fifteen episode single-elimination tournament commencing with a Round of 16 heats. The shows were broadcast in production order with the exception of Heat 1 and 6 which were switched for television viewing.

• ¹ Rachel Culwick was injured in Joust and replaced by Jo Neath
• ² Rowan Duxbery had made the Quarter Finals in the 1993 series but had to pull out ahead of her Quarter Final due to food poisoning and was invited back to take part in this series
• ³ Lisa Gibbs injured herself prior to her Quarter Final and was replaced by Katie Budd
• ⁴ Sam Codjoe was injured in Powerball and replaced by Phil Campbell
• ⁵ Mike Adamle was introduced in this episode as a co-host ahead of his substitution of Ulrika Jonsson who went on maternity leave for The Fighting Forces Challenge and International Gladiators 1
• ⁶ Barry McGuigan and Mark Bosnich were eliminated after scoring the least points after four events and Eddie Kidd and Ellery Hanley were eliminated after scoring the least points five events
• ⁷ In this episode the female Gladiators played Pursuit and The Wall
• ⁸ This episode was presented solely by John Fashanu
• ⁹ Paul Gellender and Richard Harbard were eliminated after scoring the least points after three events and Simon Lovell and John Tredgett were eliminated after scoring the least points five events
• ¹⁰ In this episode the female Gladiators played Atlaspheres and The Wall

Events

New events introduced in this series include Pyramid, Pursuit, Pole-Axe and Hit and Run. The most played events in this series were Duel, Powerball and The Wall. The least played events were Joust, Tilt, Skytrak and Danger Zone. Joust made only one appearance this season. Despite modifications to the skybikes, the production team were still not happy with the equipment and the event was retired, only making one further appearance in Series 4 before being axed altogether. Tilt was axed from the event roster after a serious injury to Panther. Again, it made only one further appearance in Series 4, where following an accident to Nightshade, it too was axed altogether. Skytrak and Danger Zone saw a significant reduction in the number of appearances this season, for reasons undisclosed. Also, despite being introduced this season, Hit and Run only appeared three times throughout the entire series.

Injuries

Prior to filming of this series Cobra (Michael Wilson) injured his ankle during the Wembley live shows. Despite this he appeared for most of the 1994 series though missed Quarter Finals 2, 3 and 4. He also sustained an injury in Gauntlet in the final and had to be substituted for the second contender run.

Panther (Helen O'Reilly) suffered one of the worst onscreen accidents during Quarter Final 1 when she fell from Tilt, injuring her back and reportedly out of action for five months. However despite this, she took part in Semi Final 1, the Final and the Celebrity and Armed Forces Specials which were filmed within the same month. She would return full time for the 1995 series.

Contenders Rachel Culwick and Sam Codjoe suffered injuries during the series. Culwick suffered a back injury after falling from Joust in Heat 2 which forced her retire from the competition and be substituted by the reserve female contender Jo Neath. Codjoe suffered a neck injury after a high tackle by Shadow in Powerball during the final. He was replaced by Phil Campbell who had the quickest Eliminator time of the two losing semi finalists and had himself been knocked out of the competition by Codjoe.

There was one off screen injury to contender Lisa Gibbs who twisted her ankle after winning her heat. She was replaced in the Quarter Finals by Katie Budd who was the highest scoring loser from the heats. Ironically Katie would have the lowest score of any female contender to date, scoring just one point in Danger Zone. Despite having faced a contender in her heat who had been invited back following an off screen incident that was outside of competition, Gibbs did not appear in a future series. Brian Richardson was the male reserve contender for the heats and whilst did not appear this series, would appear as a contender in the following series.

External links

• http://www.gladiatorstv.com/
• https://www.youtube.com/user/AnimalsThatSwim/videos