Gladiators (1992 UK TV series) Series Two

The second series of Gladiators started on September 18, 1993 and ended on January 1, 1994. The series aired on ITV. Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu returned as presenters along with referee John Anderson and commentator John Sachs. Following the sucees of the first series, the show was extended from 9 episodes to 17 including a celebrity special. A PREview episode was shown ahead of the series to introduce the new Gladiators and events.

Changes from the last series

This series saw the Gladiator line up increase to 14 with Falcon (Bernadette Hunt), Hunter (James Crossley), Nightshade (Judy Simpson), Trojan (Mark Griffin) and Zodiac (Kate Staples) joining. Flame, Hawk and Phoenix were axed following the results from a fan poll. All of the Gladiators received new outfits with the Gladiators appearing in more post event InterViews and interviewing as themselves rather than attempting to adopt a persona.

The event pool was doubled to include events taken from the American Series as well as original events with six different events being played each week (as opposed to the same events each week) providing much more variety. This mixing of the events would be carried through other series.

The arena itself was slightly lighter than the previous year (as due to the series popularity), the National Indoor Arena was more fully occupied and contender outfits adopted the standard pink/ yellow for women and red/ blue for the men. The opening credits were changed completely and there were a number of other improvements in on screen titles and graphics.

Of the events of the first series, Danger Zone saw the biggest change with the stations being set equidistant apart and the weapon line up changing to Crossbow, Bazooka, Rocket Launcher and Mortar. Gladiators now longer wore a chest guard nor where they attached to a harness and lifted into the air should a contender hit their target. The events theme music was also changed. The pods used in Atlaspheres were given a new look from their original simple design.

The Eliminator also had several changes made. The first cargo net, slide and scramble sheet were removed and replaced by the high and low hurdles and rope climb which would remain in place until the end of the show. A balance beam was also added before the travelator.

New events

Six new events were introduced in this series, the highest number of new events to be added in throughout the series. Three of them had appeared in some form in live shows played in Wembley the preceding Easter.

Powerball
First appearance: Heat 1. This event was taken from the American series. Two contenders and three Gladiators face off on a pitch containing five scoring pods. At each end are boxes containing red and blue balls with contenders being allocated a specific colour. Contenders have to place as many balls as they can in the scoring pods during 60 seconds, collecting balls from opposite ends each time whist Gladiators are tasked with trying to PReVENT them by tackling. 2 points were awarded for each outside scoring pod and 3 for the centre.

Skytrak
First appearance: Heat 1. This event was adapted from the American series. Two contenders and two Gladiators are suspended from an upside down figure of eight course on the arena ceiling. Contenders have a short headstart over Gladiators and have a detonator button trailing them. On the whistle, players must scramble forward round the figure of eight with the Gladiators aiming to hit the detonator button which sets off a small shower of sparks from a backpack on the contender. 10 points are awarded for the first contender round the course and 5 for the second provided they are not caught by the Gladiator.

Suspension Bridge
First appearance: Heat 1. This event had been played at the Wembley Live shows as an updated version of Duel before being named as a separate event. Contender and Gladiator battle out on a 24 foot suspension bridge using hammerhead weapons. Contenders receive 10 points for reaching the Gladiators platform (whether they knock the Gladiator off or not) and 5 points should they stay on the bridge for the full 60 seconds.

Tilt
First appearance: Heat 1. This event had been roadtested at the Wembley Live shows. Contender and Gladiators face off on a tug of war on two tilting platforms. Due to their weight advantage Gladiators are on a higher table that is initially tilted forward. Contenders have two 30 second pulls against the Gladiator, scoring 5 points each time they dislodge the Gladiator and 2 points for each draw. This event proved deeply unpopular with the Gladiators due to the disadvantage they were at on their tilt table and the event was quickly phased out of the series and training programmes in future series before being axed after the 1995 series.

Joust
First appearance: Heat 2. This event had been roadtested at the Wembley live shows. Contender and Gladiators face each other on skybikes which twist, buck and rotate for 30 seconds. Armed with combat clubs, participants attempt to remove their opponent. Contenders get 10 points should they dislodge the Gladiator and 5 points for a draw.

Gauntlet
First appearance: Heat 6. Contenders must run through an alleyway of Gladiators armed with ram rods to impede their ProgresS. Contenders receive 3 points for each Gladiator they pass with the contender with the quickest time through scoring a bonus point. There was no time limit on this event, effectively meaning contenders automatically received 9 points for taking apart. The event would be modified the next year and would become one of the core events in later years.

Contenders

Listed in alphabetical order of surname.

Episodes

Unlike the previous year, this series was a fifteen episode single-elimination tournament commencing with a Round of 16 heats. A preview show was aired a few weeks prior to the tournament introducing the new Gladiators (and their fitness auditions), the new events as well as showing footage from the Wembley live shows and from backstage training. A celebrity special in which presenter John Fashanu took part was also filmed.

The shows were broadcast in production order with the exception of Heats 1, 2 and 7 which were switched for television viewing. Heat 1 was originally Heat 7 in filming, Heat 2 was originally Heat 1 in filming and Heat 7 was originally Heat 2 in filming.

• ¹ This is the first episode to feature Zodiac. She did not feature in the first televised episode due to an injury that happened prior to the filming of that episode
• ² Lisa Thompson was injured in Powerball and replaced by Jean Klenk
• ³ Rowan Duxbury had food poisoning outside the show and was replaced by Paula Bisley who was the highest scoring loser from the heats
• ⁴ Steve Quick retired after two events due to an illness and was replaced by Gary Towers who was the highest scoring losing Quarter Finalist
• ⁵ After five events John Fashanu had the highest number of points and Gary Mason and Neil Adams were joint second. Due to a minor injury, Mason dropped out to let Adams run the Eliminator against Fashanu
• ⁶ Due to time constraints of all 6 contenders participating in all five events (rather than two being eliminated mid way as per future specials), only highlights of Danger Zone were shown. This was the only time in UK Gladiators history that highlights of an event were shown rather than the full event
• ⁷ In this event the female Gladiators played Danger Zone and The Wall
• ⁸ In this episode only 5 events were played, marking the first time this had happened. From Series 3 onwards only five events would be played before the Eliminator

Injuries

Zodiac and contender Lisa Thompson suffered a collision in Powerball during Heat 5. Whilst she would complete the match of Powerball Thompson had to withdraw for the next event, being replaced by reserve contender Jean Klenk who ultimately went on to win the competition. Zodiac herself missed one episode following her injury.

Chris Yeoman injured his thumb during Joust in Heat 8 and was unable to compete in the Eliminator, meaning his opponent Tim Anstiss automatically went though to the next stage.

Helen Williams injured her back after a fall on Hang Tough in Semi Final 2 but was able to compete for the rest of the competition.

Rowan Duxbury fell ill due to food poisoning after winning her heat and was unable to compete in the quarter finals. She was replaced by Paula Bisley. As she had to withdraw for external reasons, Duxbury was invited back to participate in the next series. Steve Quick retired half way through Semi Final 2 due to a virus and was replaced by Gary Towers.

Reserve male contender Ian Simpson would later compete in Series 3.

External links

• http://www.gladiatorstv.com/