TUESDAY'S TV FLASHBACK - The Crystal Maze

If you haven't heard of it you weren't living in the UK in the early-ninties.

My first memory of this show was the preview commercials on Channel 4, they didn't really show much of what the actual show contained except it got me excited about contestants chasing a bald man through tunnels.

Well that bald man turned out to be none other than the great Richard O'Brien, he was the host for the first four years before Ed Tudor-Pole took over. Their jobs were to lead the group of contestants, who didn't know each other, through four different zones (Medievil, Futuristic, Aztec and Industrial/Ocean). In each zone they had a choice of challenges Mental, Physical, Mystery and Skill, for which they had to pick one of the team to do.

If they won a challenge they would get a crystal, a crystal are each worth 5 seconds in the Crystal Dome which is basically a plastic bubble with air jets at the bottom. At the end of the show they would have to get inside the Dome and attempt to collect tokens being blown about the inside. There were gold and silver ones, you had to collect as many gold ones as possible to win, but for every silver one they did get they would lose a gold token.

Anyway another problem that could arise if one of the contestant failed a challenge or didn't get out of the challenge room within a set time limit they could get locked in and it woul cost the team a crystal to free them.

I remember the evenings spent watching this show yelling at the moronic actions of some of the contestants, alot of the challenges were straight forward and it was hilarious watching as their teammates yelled advise through the doors at them, which in turn confused the ones trying to solve a puzzle even more. Couple that with O'Brien's funny remarks whilst the contestants are working in the rooms this made for excellent TV and is sorely missed.