I Totally agree with you, infact all schedules on The BBC and ITV have gone right down the drain since the end of 2001 when Pop Idol began and Live & Kicking ended. Pop Idol should never have been commissioned because if it hadn't we wouldn't have shows like strictly and X Factor and Dancing on Ice which I would be so happy. Simon Cowell should also never have been introduced to the public spotlight. It's now time for him to retire from public life.
Everything about this show was awesome, I feel so fortunate to have been brought up in the UK in the 90s, and also so unfortunate to be living in this current era! I hope all the former gladiators are doing well, especially Wolfman! Legends.
For those wondering about all the empty seats, the explanation is simple. When filming a series, the events were filmed together rather than the whole episodes. For example, you would have hang tough filmed for all the heats, then they could change the arena and have an event like Duel. Therefore, the arena would be full of family and friends of all the other contenders. As this was a kind of one-off, it only had 4 sets of families and friends.
well they did didnt they, and it failed miserably haha. Some things just cant be redone, different era, better attitudes and a total fresh original approach to sat night tv. Just all cgi remakes and catch up tv these days haha
So many empty seats the absence of so many faces those remaining must have had enough by the end they couldn't do it forever gladiators was for the 90s only
omg i loved dave all along through out so glad he is supreme champion, i loved all the clips of the gladiators and ulrika saying goodbye, i had a tear in my eye from thinking about watching this when i was a teenager growing up and how the world was better for me back then and bought back some good memorys xx
Amazing really it was still getting pretty decent ratings and viewers. When you think of some of the utter trash on TV nowadays that barely get 3m viewers and they still wont pull the fooking plug on them ie Doctor Who/Eastenders/Coronation Street etc. But they axed this because it dropped a bit standard wise and lost half a million on its average weekly viewing figures ffs. It was more to do with propaganda in my opinion,, and the fact this actually brought people together whereas its all about dividing people in todays make belief world.
Series 7 fell below 6 million viewers for the first time, and in ‘98 there were other shows pulling in 10-20 million viewers, so I wouldn’t say it got decent ratings given the time. Even Series 8 had a downfall within its 4 shows, falling from 7 million to 6 million. I think John Fashanu and a few other Gladiators (Warrior, especially) leaving the show was where it went wrong, plus the childish antics from Wolf made it too stagy. I think Gladiators was of its day. It came to a good end at at a good time, and I don’t think it can be replicated now unfortunately. Lots of shows get around 3 million today because there are more channels now, plus distractions from social media, Netflix, Amazon, PlayStations etc. As I write this, ITV’s current highest-rated show is The Masked Singer at 10 million! 😫 Even so, I know a few people who found Gladiators unwatchable.
By the way, the UK adopted the one on one gladiator system after the Springbock challenge and it stuck until series 9 when it revived with three gladiators.
John Anderson sent the medical team in after Mark’s gauntlet run to check Ace’s Nose. Ace mentioned he had a nose injury in the series 9 legends special.
James Griffin I’ll tell you one thing, the UK Gladiators are my favorites overall. I expected Wolf’s character is to be a bad boy and that’s why I like him. He’s a good heel (to use a wrestling term)
PiplupJames Battle your right they where all amazing in their own rights and as Wolf he was always one of my favourite parts of the show as I always remember all the trouble he used to cause on the show but most of it was all in good humour plus seeing him close out the final show was awesome
As a kid growing up in the '90s this was the best thing about a Saturday evening. The show had everything, fun, excitement, and heart break topped up massively with pantomine villianary from the Wolf man. Not to mention having a cast of some truly memorable characters both contenders and gladiators alike. I was very disappointed when it came to an end but I suppose most things on prime time TV has a shelf life. When Sky re-booted the show in 2008 it just was not the same. It didn't have that buzz to it. The production was so bland, at its worst it was awful and at its best it was mediocre. Many of the new gladiators felt wooden to me and the format was not suited to being in a television studio as opposed to the National Indoor Arena. I think (despite being pre-recorded) the atmosphere of the NI arena added a lot to the home viewing experience. The atmosphere and tension of the reboot was underwhelming and fell flat in comparison. Even with John Anderson returning as the referee for the first series, and Wolf being made the team coach later on it simply couldn't recapture the spirit of the original that made it such a joy to watch. For some reason the reboot at times (and I really dont know why) actually reminded of a '90s CBBC programme called Get Your Own Back. Furthermore the intro had no spark to it whatsoever, it didn't psyche you up like the classic theme did. I can listen to it now and it still has not lost any of its magic. The best episode of the new series by a country mile in my opinion was ironically the first legends cross over. The likes of Wolf, Hunter, Lightning and the rest of the old guard stole the show. It came as no real surprise when Sky wielded the axe a little over a year after bringing it back.
Shame, so many empty seats can be seen in the arena for the show's final episode. But still it went out beautifully. Great memories, so much nostalgia. One of the best shows there was.
Anyone know which show it was when Wesley "Two Scoops" Berry leaps over that car? It must have been after he won one of the internationals. I never saw that one. Gutted.
