The Crystal Maze

I've just caught the last 25 mins of tonight's repeat on Challenge TV and it was the one tonight where the lift was broken!

Another thing, I wonder how accurate the water clocks in Aztec were?!

Yeah, there was that as well..



About as accurate as the sand timers in Medieval most likely. Some games you'd lose about six seconds in the Richard era yet you always gained about three seconds or so extra in the Ed era.

Well, either that or the post-production people started the on-screen timers too early and just chopped however many seconds out before the first time-check to make it accurate.

I always thought the 2 and a half minutes were the best ones.

What type of clocks did they use in the Ocean and Industrial zones?

AND going off topic a bit, why do Challenge tv show that american bloopers show, it isn't a quiz show!

LOL tonight's episode was a classic with Richard letting the team get to the next zone the hard way and then him following the easy way

Ocean used to have "normal" style clocks IIRC that were like big timers. How many series was Industrial there for? I can barely remember it.

Industrial used to have big round analogue clocks. On the subject of the bloopers show, I don't really understand that either. It kind of makes a nonsense of the Challenge concept. I mean I can understand game shows and makeover shows etc. but a bloopers show ?

The best bit was the mess they made of that game where you need to lift the door up and pull the chest into the front section to use the key, they always took a while to work that one out!

Oh and how did Ed tell the fans to start in the crystal dome?

Initially he just said "let the fans begin" (or something similar) just like Richard but then made his own phrase as he got more into it "Let the North winds blow!!" was the one he loved most.

The best bit was seeing them completing the task, and trying to find the crystal..."IT'S IN FRONT OF YOU!!! WHERE? THERE!!! I CAN'T SEE IT!!..."10...9..8" GET OUT!

Oversized stopwatches on the wall - like an analogue watch.



Probably for the same reason that they showed that awful other programme from the same genre presented by the bloke who hosted the Defectors show on the same channel. Forget the guy's name and the proggie though. I also see Game Central has disappeared as well.

Isn't Challenge's mandate "game" as opposed to "quiz" shows in any case? Doesn't explain the presence of the blooper show though, or are they just slot filling now?



Note how everybody panics "get out" at 10 seconds despite being right next to the door and, as Richard once observated, it doesn't take ten seconds to turn round.

They used to show it in the good old days when I used to be a regular viewer, in the days of The Games Room and Challenge Prize Time as well, so its not a new idea

They got rid of game central ages ago shortly after introducing the gj's (games jockey's) on the channel; basically through the nite they are continuity announcers that u can chat to by email and they give programme info, etc.

Game Central was better in the old form when they provided the continuity and played games too on challenge tv (oh how i miss that sting and tune!); in the newer games central; they started to just have it on for 5 minutes now and then in a bigger studio and with guest hosts like bradley walsh!