Gladiators (1992 UK TV series) Series Six

The sixth series of Gladiators started on September 13, 1997 and ended on December 20, 1997. The series aired on ITV. Ulrika Jonsson and Jeremy Guscott presented, with this being Guscott's first series as co-presenter, along with referee John Anderson and commentator John Sachs, and timekeeper Eugene Gilkes stands in for Andrew Norgate while he takes a one-year break The series was followed by a celebrity special.

Changes from the last series

The most notable change in the show's line-up was the departure of co-host John Fashanu. Fashanu had been accused in a football match fixing controversy the previous year, whilst the fifth series aired on ITV, and the producers chose not to renew his contract. He was replaced for this series by England rugby union player Jeremy Guscott.

In the Gladiator line-up, three long-standing female gladiators retired - Nightshade (Judy Simpson), Panther (Helen O'Reilly) and Zodiac (Kate Staples). Trojan (Mark Griffin) also did not return and Laser (Tina Andrew) also left the team after just a single series.

Five new gladiators were introduced - Fox (Tammy Baker), Gold (Lize Van Der Walt), Rocket (Pauline Richards), Siren (Alison Paton) and Khan (Radosav Nekic).

Two events dropped from the previous series returned - Pyramid and Pole-Axe - with amended rules, and one new event made its debut, which was Tightrope. Pursuit was dropped from the event roster for this series for unknown reasons.

The Eliminator course was also heavily modified, the unpopular 'Spaghetti Junction' element was replaced a second, smaller cargo net, which contenders had to bounce on a mini-trampoline to get onto, the roller beams were also dropped and replaced by a new double trapeze section for contenders to traverse across to make it to the large cargo net. Finally, the balance beam became two see-saw beams, and contenders were required to touch a yellow marker with at least one foot, otherwise they would be sent back to attempt it again.

Finally, a new element introduced within the show was known as a 'split' event - this was when the female contenders and gladiators played one event whilst the male counterparts played another. This allowed the numbers of events per show to increase back up to six, plus the Eliminator.

New and returning events

One new event was introduced and two were reintroduced, which brought the roster of events for this series to 17.

Tightrope Contender and gladiators are harnessed onto their own tightrope and compete in a head-to-head race travelling up their tightrope using their own pully. When they reach the changeover station, they must unclip themselves from the harness and fly down a zip wire to hit a target on the other size, which detracts their opponent's zip wire restraints and sends them crashing into the safety net below. 10 points are awarded if a contender wins the race.

Pyramid Using the same rules as previous, in which two gladiators aim to stop the contenders from climbing to the top of the pyramid, only with the introduction of a "red step", should the contender reach this step, they are allowed a free run to the top. 10 points are awarded for the first contender to reach the summit, and 5 points if the second contender also makes it to the top.

Pole-Axe Also using the same rules, but both contender and gladiator are now attached to harnesses, and the race begins with a run-up to the pole. 10 points are awarded if the contender wins.

Cyclotron was also planned as a new event this series, even going a far as appearing in the opening credits that series, but for technical reasons, this was dropped shortly before the series began filming.

Episodes

After the previous series used a "North vs. South" divide, this series returned to a standard knockout tournament - eight heats, four quarter-finals, two semi-finals and a final. A celebrity special was also filmed.

• ¹ Wendy Dawes injured her back on Tightrope and was replaced by Paula Bush. This episode was originally planned for broadcast on Saturday, 6 September but following live coverage of the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, it was postponed until the following Saturday as ITV felt that Wendy Dawes' injury on Tightrope would be too inappropriate to show.
• ² Debbie Sharp did not run the Gauntlet after sustaining a knee injury in Whiplash. She participated in the Eliminator but re-aggravated the injury during it and did not complete the course.
• ³ There was no split event in this episode and only five events plus the Eliminator were played.
• ⁴ Jayne Offer injured herself in Powerball and was forced to retire before the Eliminator. She was not replaced and Christina instead ran the Eliminator course against the clock.
• ⁵ Brian Doamekpor injured himself in Powerball and was replaced by Adam Stretton.
• ⁶ Gordon James replaced Carl Wooton before the show due to Wooton sustaining an injury in the Eliminator during the heats.
• ⁷ Helen Martin injured herself in Powerball and was replaced by Julie Hall.
• ⁸ Ronnie Williams did not complete the Eliminator due to an injury.
• ⁹ This episode was presented by Ulrika Jonsson alone, as Jeremy Guscott was involved in a recording of an episode of This Is Your Life.
• ¹⁰ The Eliminator in this episode was run in a relay format featuring all team members. The Jockeys team originally had a 9.5 second head-start after the five events but voluntarily decided not to take it, in favour of a head-to-head start.

Events

In this series, the most played events were The Wall, Duel, Hang Tough, Powerball and Pendulum. Aside from Tilt and Joust, Pursuit became the third event to be axed entirely starting this series. Pyramid and Pole-Axe returned this series following a series break, with neither event having appeared in Series 5. Several of the lesser-used events made a higher number of appearances this series; with Suspension Bridge, Pole-Axe and Hit & Run each appearing five times. Danger Zone was the least played event this series; only appearing twice.