The Crystal Maze returns to C4

Actually the Tudor-Pole episodes were originally two commercial breaks when aired on Channel 4. The third break was shoe-horned in under the Virgin years of Challenge.

As to playing more games than they show... They play what you see as Bob Lishman wrote:



Shame Lishman never finished the account he started but there we are.

Applications are open and it looks like you apply as a team now as opposed to individually before. Application site has nice looking background shot of the overhead map.
https://www.shortaudition.com/The-Crystal-Maze

https://www.shortaudition.com/data/company_80/jobs/job13789/MAZE_LAST.jpg is the overhead map.

He did. I remember his website (and spoke to him as part of research for my own website. For some reason it isn't all there, but it was at one point. His own website described his entire 2 day shoot.

By pragmatic, you mean "a waste of money and a continuity nightmare"?

It would certainly screw up all of those "so how many games have we played? And how many crystals do we have?" conversations.

They might also win all of them.

Yeah they might win all of them but in fairness a lot depends on the games you played. If you had all the easy games that the proverbial child of three could win and happened to send the right people into the other games who either saw the solution after two seconds or who could hit the ground running then you would always win a substantial amount of crystals.

Of course a substantial amount of appeal came from watching contestants charging into games like a bull in a china shop and then either standing around like a lemon not getting it or making a right hash of the game.

I cannot wait for this to return!! Having the original Maze designer on board is such a coup!!! I expect the Maze to have the same audacious kind of set as it did before, but as it is over 20 years since it was last on, I hope it looks 10X as good as it used to. I cannot imagine what the Futuristic set will look like now!!! I hope there isn't too much reliance on CGI graphics - perhaps a tiny bit or not at all, but the set needs to look genuine from the start and so cool on Full HD sets!!!

I'm looking forward to Richard Ayoyade as Maze Master!!! Tbh, I have not really seen much of his work apart from some appearances on Last Leg and Cats does Countdown, as well as the IT crowd when flicking between programmes!! So it will be interesting how he plays it!! What he does need to do however, is to bring the magic of the Maze to the TV - the mystique, the intrigue, the strangeness of the objects in the zones etc - and have a few characters that he refers to, either as real people or computers etc, or as non playing parts. Stephen Merchant did well but he mocked the original programme slightly, which is alright as a one off, but the new Maze Master needs to create that thought that the Maze is a self contained world and he lives, breathes and inhabits the Maze, much like Richard and Ed did, in their own unique style!!!!

Will there be a Mumsie??? Noone has asked that yet??? Or will there be a new character for Ayoyade to relate to in Medievel??? I hope there are occasional nods to the past as well as moving forward into the future. I hope they use the old original theme tune, I wasn't keen on the new remixed version, it was alright but I didn't think as an orchestra, futuristic enough for the new series!!!

Also, they need to get at least 12 games in each episode, ideally 13. I don't think we'll be seeing 15 games as it used to be, having to allow for 3 advert breaks in an hour. They need to keep the chat to not excessive, there was a bit too much ramble in the one off edition. And Ed also did used to ramble a bit about nothing important which is why they only got 13 games when he did it.

And the Dome needs to much larger than the experience dome we saw in the TV special. Stephen Merchant was almost taller than the dome itself which looked a bit silly.

And the transition between zones needs to last longer in the new series than the one off, they were too brief!!!

And is 20 episodes in one go too much?? Will it be split into 2 series?? And I hope the new Crystal Maze will be on our screens for years to come!!! And not in that stupid filmic effect, just a normal filmed programme as the one-off edition was!!!

And how have Channel 4 found the money to make this series??? Are they hoping that international sales will help to plough that money back into the show or the bake off?? Are they using the money saved from losing Channel 4 Racing or not doing Big Brother??? Anyhow, Channel 4 is my new favourite awesome TV channel for reviving this show. I never thought it would be back on our screens again and yet, here it is!!! Let's hope they can come up with some decent idents before then to introduce the show!!!

At least Amanda Holden or Stephen Mulhern aren't hosting it!!!!

Anyway, bring it on!!!

As much as I agree with you, there seems little chance of them going back to the old theme. Change for change's sake. Some shiny-arse junior executive saying "this is better, because it's different." Plus they're using it on the social media application campaign, so...

Err. Did you not watch the special last year, and spot the character played by Maureen Lipman, then?

Maybe the reason why no-one has asked about Mumsie, was the new incarnation was right in front of the viewers..

Loving the excitement of Juicy Joe, something I think many of us share.

See if Travel Man is still available on All4 - it's probably the best thing that shows off his persona. I've said all along he'll either be bloody brilliant or bloody awful - and people either get him or they don't. I think Travel Man is one of the best hidden gems on TV, and he was one of the highlights of the Big Fat Quiz of the Year, but on other things like Last Leg and Cats does Countdown his awkward manner comes off as more than just an act. Considering much of his career has been built on the idea of him not being able to interact with other humans it'll be interesting to see how he gets on guiding people around.

One slight criticism but I wish the show had stuck to having teams of strangers - applications have been for preformed teams (of 5, which is fine, but with one reserve).


Disagree - I thought the updated version was fantastic. Kept the charm of the original and they didn't overdo it. The 90s one is a bit dated now and for The Crystal Maze to succeed it has to be a show for now, not then.


I agree 12 is likely and I think probable - celebrity editions of any show always have a bit more chat and a bit less gameplay in, so I think they'll aim for 12 for regular editions and 10 for celeb editions.


The original series were each 13 episodes long plus a kids special so 20 isn't too big a jump, though I suspect it will be split. We know that 20 includes a number of celeb specials for Stand up to Cancer (I'd like that number to be one, but suspect it's 3-4). Would be great if they did a kids special for Christmas too.

Loving the enthusiasm here! Nice to see that the Crystal Maze is back.