Gladiators (1992 UK TV series) Series Seven

The seventh series of Gladiators started on September 5, 1998 and ended on December 12, 1998. The series aired on ITV. Ulrika Jonsson and Jeremy Guscott returned as presenters along with referee John Anderson and commentator John Sachs.

Changes from the last series

Following a dip in audience figures from the previous series, several changes were implemented for this series. Four gladiators left the show - Warrior (Michael Ahearne) was sacked after being arrested for a firearms offence. Gold (Lize Van Der Walt), Khan (Radosev Nekic) and Rocket (Pauline Richards) also departed, all three had only lasted one series. Two new gladiators joined the team, Diesel (Darren Crawford) and Vulcan (John Seru). Vulcan joined the UK series after his native Australian series had been cancelled, and was essentially brought in to give established bad guy Wolf (Michael Van Wijk) a run for his money. This dropped the number of gladiators for this series to fifteen. Somewhat strangely though, neither Diesel or Vulcan's FACES were added to the opening credits of the show.

Furthermore, this series introduced new costumes for the gladiators. The iconic individual kits that signified each gladiator's identity were out, and in came a new, unified kit which looked more the same on every gladiator with the design's slightly altered on each one so that no gladiator had the same or similar outfit style.

Four established events were given major facelifts. Powerball now featured two contenders against just two gladiators, with each gladiator targeting a specific contender. Pendulum now became a game where contenders had to light flashing sectors to score points before they were caught in the usual way, with 2 points each for three main sectors and a special 4 point sector located at the bottom of the pendulum, if the gladiator falls, the contender still automatically scored 10 points. Gauntlet's point system changed to scoring 10 points for completing regardless of the time, which remained at a 30-second limit, if a contender was beaten by the clock, they would score a point for every gladiator they got past. And on Whiplash, the design of the dogbone was changed to make the game more of a challenge for both the contender and the gladiator.

Finally, more behind the scenes cuts were used in this series, this included showing the backstage coin toss for certain events when contenders discovered which gladiator they would face in each one.

New events

Three new events were introduced in this series. Pyramid was axed for a second time after its redesigned format in the previous series received a poor reception from viewers. In total, 19 events were used, the most in any one series.

Catapult
Contenders and gladiators face one another on bungee cords. Contenders have sixty seconds to deposit as many balls as possible into their goal basket, which the gladiators have to defend. 2 points are scored by the contender for each "goal".

Dogfight
Contender and gladiator are each strapped to their own airship (blue for the contender, red for the gladiator). Using hi-tech combat clubs, they have thirty seconds to try and eject their opponent from their airship. Two strikes to their body hit sensor results in an ejection. A contender scores 5 points for hitting the gladiator once and 10 points for ejecting them.

Vertigo
Contender and gladiator climb up a giant pole and must use only their body weight to traverse across four other similar poles, before grabbing a giant ring to fly back down to the floor. If the contender wins, they will score 10 points, if the gladiator wins, the contender scores a point for every pole they have successfully traversed.

Contenders

Listed in alphabetical order of surname.

Episode summary

Heat 1

Original airdate: September 5, 1998
Contenders: Louise Raines v Claire Short, Alan Forshaw v Cassius Frankson

¹ Disqualified for confronting Ace while in play.

Eliminator

• Female: 1.5 second head start for Louise
• Male: 2 second head start for Cassius
• Winners: Louise Raines & Cassius Frankson

Heat 2

Original airdate: September 12, 1998
Contenders: Pauline Shirt v Tara Leyden, David Hanna v Neil Parsley

Eliminator

• Female: 3.5 second head start for Pauline
• Male: 3 second head start for David
• Winners: Pauline Shirt & Neil Parsley

Heat 3

Original airdate: September 19, 1998
Contenders: Kate Rudd v Trudy Ballantine, Mark Whitehouse v Gary Johnson

Eliminator

• Female: 11.5 second head start for Trudy
• Male: 1.5 second head start for Gary
• Winners: Trudy Ballantine & Mark Whitehouse

Heat 4

Original airdate: September 26, 1998
Contenders: Sharon Kewley v Helena Redwood, Karl Mullins v Dave Walter

Eliminator

• Female: 6 second head start for Sharon
• Male: 5 second head start for Dave
• Winners: Sharon Kewley & Dave Walter

Heat 5

Original airdate: October 3, 1998
Contenders: Kate Evers v Maria Ward, Alex Reid v Rudi Kennard

² Was originally awarded 5 points for one hit, but given 10 points after a video replay ruled that she had hit Siren twice.
³ Disqualified for physically fending off Hunter, but was allowed to keep his points for that event.

Eliminator

• Female: 0.5 second head start for Maria
• Male: 2.5 second head start for Alex
• Winners: Maria Ward & Alex Reid

Heat 6

Original airdate: October 10, 1998
Contenders: Margo McMillan v Sarah Hasselby, James Barrow v Colm Curran

Eliminator

• Female: 4 second head start for Margo
• Male: 6.5 second head start for Colm
• Winners: Margo McMillan & Colm Curran

Heat 7

Original airdate: October 17, 1998
Contenders: Judith Huntington v Sue England, John McAvoy v Lavern Ritch

⁴ Ace was disqualified for not conforming to the rules of the game.

Eliminator

• Female: 4 second head start for Judith
• Male: 6.5 second head start for Lavern
• Winners: Judith Huntington & Lavern Ritch

Heat 8

Original airdate: October 24, 1998
Contenders: Fiona Blaiklock v Jane Smith, Micah Hudson v Ross Kirby

Eliminator

• Female: 3 second head start for Jane
• Male: 5 second head start for Micah
• Winners: Jane Smith & Micah Hudson

Quarter-Final 1

Original airdate: October 31, 1998
Contenders: Sharon Kewley v Louise Raines, Dave Walter v Cassius Frankson

Eliminator

• Female: 2 second head start for Louise
• Male: 8.5 second head start for Dave
• Winners: Louise Raines & Dave Walter

Quarter-Final 2

Original airdate: November 7, 1998
Contenders: Pauline Shirt v Trudy Ballantine, Mark Whitehouse v Colm Curran

(*) Tara Leyden replaced Pauline Shirt after Pauline sustained a neck injury in Hang Tough and was unable to continue.

Eliminator

• Female: 4 second head start for Tara
• Male: 6.5 second head start for Colm
• Winners: Trudy Ballantine & Colm Curran

Quarter-Final 3

Original airdate: November 14, 1998
Contenders: Judith Huntington v Maria Ward, Lavern Ritch v Neil Parsley

⁵ Lavern forfeited his run due to a back injury sustained in Powerball.

Eliminator

• Female: 1.5 second head start for Judith
• Male: 7 second head start for Neil
• Winners: Maria Ward & Neil Parsley

Quarter-Final 4

Original airdate: November 21, 1998
Contenders: Margo McMillan v Jane Smith, Micah Hudson v Alex Reid

Eliminator

• Female: 4 second head start for Jane
• Male: 13.5 second head start for Micah
• Winners: Jane Smith & Micah Hudson

Semi-Final 1

Original airdate: November 28, 1998
Contenders: Louise Raines v Trudy Ballantine, Micah Hudson v Dave Walter

Eliminator

• Female: 4.5 second head start for Trudy
• Male: 7 second head start for Dave
• Winners: Louise Raines & Dave Walter

Semi-Final 2

Original airdate: December 5, 1998
Contenders: Maria Ward v Jane Smith, Neil Parsley v Colm Curran

Eliminator

• Female: 1 second head start for Maria
• Male: 9 second head start for Neil
• Winners: Jane Smith & Neil Parsley

Grand Final

Original airdate: December 12, 1998
Contenders: Louise Raines v Jane Smith, Neil Parsley v Dave Walter

Eliminator

• Female:
• Male:
• Winners: Jane Smith and Dave Walter

Ratings

All ratings taken from BARB.