This is the FIRST EVER episode of The Crystal Maze. It was a British game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 15 February 1990 and 10 August 1995. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O'Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole, who made his debut in the 1993 Christmas special. Each show was one hour long, including adverts.
The Second Episode. The Show was originally intended to be a British remake of the French programme Fort Boyard, devised by Jacques Antoine. However, the unavailability of the French show's set led British producer Malcolm Heyworth to reinvent the show using themed zones as a means to keep the show visually fresh.
The Third Episode. The series is set in "The Crystal Maze", which is set within four different "zones" set in various periods of time and space. A team of six contestants take part in a selection of challenges in order to win "time crystals". Each crystal gives the team five seconds of time inside "The Crystal Dome", the heart of the maze where the contestants take part in their final challenge.
The fourth Episode. The Crystal Maze was one of the most daring and popular programmes produced by Channel 4. The maze cost £250,000 to build and was the size of two football pitches. The show was at the time the most watched on Channel 4, attracting up to 7 million viewers at its height and has been described as "a highly-ambitious, high-risk show that paid off handsomely."
The Fifth Episode. Originally, Chatsworth Television intended to make a British version of the French show Fort Boyard, but when it became clear that the fort would not be available at the time of the pilot show, Fort Boyard's creator Jacques Antoine was consulted about developing an alternative format that could be shot elsewhere. As a result, the show ended up using a concept similar to Fort Boyard, but was substantially different in presentation and style. It was filmed on a very large set, originally at H Stage in Shepperton Studios, but in later series at an adapted aircraft hangar named Aces High Studios, at North Weald Airfield in Essex. Channel 5 later bought the rights to Fort Boyard and made their own version, using the original set, running from 1998 to 2001.
The Sixth Episode. The set was divided into four "zones" set in different periods of time and space. For the first three series, the zones were Aztec, Futuristic, Medieval and Industrial. From series four onwards Industrial was replaced by Ocean (set on the S.S. Atlantis, a sunken ship trapped in an air bubble on the edge of an abyss in the Pacific Ocean). At the centre of the maze was the Crystal Dome, a giant geometric acrylic glass 'crystal' where the teams play their final challenge after playing games in each of the four Zones.
The Seventh Episode. The objective of the show was to amass as many 'time crystals' (golf ball-sized Swarovski glass crystals) as possible by playing the games in each zone. When the team reached the Crystal Dome, they had to collect as many gold "tokens" as possible in order to win a prize. Each crystal that the team won earlier would allow them five seconds of time in the Dome.
The Eighth Episode. In each episode, a team consisting of three men and three women (including a team captain and vice-captain) would enter the 'maze'. The teams were put together by Chatsworth from individual applicants, only meeting each other for the first time on the day before filming their episode. Gameplay was co-operative throughout. Starting from a pre-determined zone, the team played three or four games of various types in each zone, travelling through the four zones in either a clockwise or anti-clockwise direction. At the end of the show after playing all four zones, they entered the Crystal Dome.
The Nineth Episode. Before each game in a zone, the team captain (or vice captain should the team captain be locked in) would choose which contestant would play and which type of challenge the game would involve. Games were classed as either: Physical (tests of speed and strength) Mental (tests of brainpower often involving maths or word association) Skill (tests of dexterity and accuracy), Mystery (tests of logic and cunning).
The Tenth Episode. The chosen team member would be sent into a chamber to play a game, and their team-mates could advise them from outside (except in specific mental games where the team would be instructed not to confer, although general encouragement could still be shouted in). Successfully solving the puzzle would release a crystal.
The Eleventh Episode. Each game had a time limit of two, two-and-a-half, or three minutes. If the contestant failed to exit the chamber within this time limit, before the timer hit zero, they would be 'locked in.' Additionally in a minority of games, known as 'automatic lock-in' games, the contestant could also be locked in by committing a foul, for example by touching the floor if this was forbidden for that game, or by setting off an 'alarm' three times. If the contestant breached the penalty rules in an 'automatic lock-in' game, they would be locked in straight away, irrespective of whether or not they had obtained the crystal, and regardless of how much time they had left. Contestants who were 'locked in' were unable to play further, unless the team captain chose to buy a contestant's freedom at the cost of a previously earned crystal, which could be done at any time after the lock-in.
The Twelfth Episode. Buying out a 'locked-in' contestant required a team member to physically take a crystal to the chamber where the contestant was locked in, leaving the crystal there in exchange for their 'bought-out' team-mate. If the team had since moved one or more zones further in their journey around the maze, this buying-out was represented[2] as a lengthy trip back through the maze that effectively took a second contestant out of action for at least one game. If both the captain and vice-captain were locked in, a new captain would be elected on the spot, although this never actually happened.
The Thirteenth and Final Episode of Season 1. After competing in all four Zones, the remaining contestants entered the Crystal Dome, a 16-foot-high (4.9 m) replica of the 'time crystals' surrounded by a seven-foot circular moat and entered by a 3-foot-wide (0.91 m) 'drawbridge' which was hydraulically retracted once the team were inside. Similarly, one of the Dome's triangular panels was hydraulically opened and closed to let the team enter, then lock them inside. Inside the Dome, gold and silver banknote-sized 'tokens' made of foil were blown around from beneath the wire mesh floor by six huge fans mounted on a slowly rotating giant turntable, leading to O'Brien's catchphrase, occasionally delivered in a cod American accent: "Will you start the fans, please!" or Tudor-Pole's various elaborate intros, for example "Let the mighty winds blow!" In the Dome, and after the fans and turntable were up to speed with all the tokens swirling around, the team's aim was to grab the tokens from the air and post them into a roughly house brick sized clear plastic container mounted at waist height on the outside of one of the dome's panels. Tudor-Pole called it The Cosmic Pyramid, while O'Brien termed it The Letterbox. The container had a pneumatically-operated door on the inside, marked with a red saltire-shaped cross, which opened when the collection time started and closed when time was up.
So begins the Second series of the legend that is the Crystal maze. Watch another collection of brain dead idiots with advanced qualifications that cant do the simplest of things, like wire up a plug.... Contestants: Keith Rowling (25), Chris Cairns (29), Erica Smith (28), Rosie Gaskin (24), Liz Maxim (16), Roland Hopkins (23)
Season two episode two. What fun and frolics will befall this weeks contestants. Watch and find out.... Contestants: Leslie Bibby, Annette Kay, Stuart Evans, Diane Watoilove, Gavin Tagg, Nikki Bedford
Episode three. Watch Richard O Brien destroy more egos with witty quips and put downs..... Contestants: Dave Coplin, Andrea Addis, Steve Phillips, Lisa O'Hanlou, Harry Gould, Joanne Hopkins
Episode four. Can you see the Crystal??? What do I have to do????? How much time have I got left?????? GET OUT.....GET OUUUTTTTT!!!!! Contestants: Kim Bradshaw, Rachael Duncan, Matt Kiessling, Kate Finn, Gary Holderness, James Songster
Episode five. Good old Reckless Rick is back to guide another collection of imbeciles through the maze.... Will they win? Or will they get locked in???? Contestants: Ali Mohammed, John Claro, Louise Lockhart, Adrian Bell, Siobhan Ugram, Julia Horsley
Episode Six. The Crystal Maze....Richard O Brien and another team of hopefulls attempt the Crystal Maze. Another classic episode from a game show where you had to think, have skill and put some effort in. And not just randomly opening boxes in the hope of winning something..... Contestants: Tracey Woodcock, Stuart Grey, Chris Gilbert, Brett Higginson, Julia Green, Sherry Vincent
Episode Seven of Season Two. Richard is at it again with another team of pillocks..... The Contestants : Chris Curtis, Jeff Whiteway, Neil Brown, Helen Bertulsons, Nicola Courtney, Julie Rosworth
Episode Eight. Setting - The Crystal Maze... and Richard O Brien in rip roaring form, destroying the hopes of the team, and generally ripping them to pieces with his acidic wit as another collection of berks try to work out how to get a small ball to drop through a small hole.... Contestants : Ivan Cummings, Andy Fawcett, Neal Williams, Claire Nortcliff, Elizabeth Hurdman, Janet McKenzie
Episode Nine. Another gaggle of eager fools attempt the maze. Can they win a time crystal or three? Or will they fall over their own feet and end up in a pool of water? Watch and see!!!! Contestants : Eira Latham, David Dunlop, Chris Gordon Coker, Lesley Holt, Martin Copperwheat, Kate Davidson
Episode Ten. Another episode of legendary shenanigans from the Maze of Crystals....Watch the hilarity as Richard finally loses patience and attempts to teach a brain dead fool how to count and add up... Contestants : Nicola Ford (20), Donna Kelly (25), Richard Colburn (28), Rachael Schilling (24), Tony Pantelli (23), Nicolas Gout (27)
Episode Eleven. The Maze Master is here for a collection of cunning games to be played by a collection of clueless gimps. Can the young lady get the handle put together the right way round? Can she turn it fast enough to get the crystal? Or will it be a lock in?? Contestants : Sandie Funnell (37), Mark McCarthy (29), Aileen Moran (20), Grant Phipps (35), Louise Gardiner (19), Dominic Gonzalez (26)
Episode 12. Richard is back with another team of 80s throwbacks, who have decided to humiliate themselves on national television. What is going to happen this time????? Will a qualified airline pilot be unable to tell the difference between a red and green light? Or will he get confused by which way UP is supposed to be??? Contestants : Laura Knight, David Carnall, Jane Morland, David MacPherson, Viveca Selhurst, David Beatie
Episode Thirteen. So ends the second series of the Crystal Maze. By this point in the shows run, Richard O Brien had become a household name, and the contestants had cemented their place in history, as classic examples of people that would make chimpanzees look like Albert Einstein... And the term - You Crystal Maze Contestant!!! Had passed into common use in the English language, to be used as an insulting term for someone who is not very bright.... Contestants : Mandy Pinfield Wells (37), Martine Broderick (33), Nick Southan (27), Ian Burrell (20), Lorna Ko (17), Bhajneet Ahlowalia (23)
Th Christmas Special from 1991. The maze is played by children, who do better than most of the adults.... Contesants : Craig Palfrey, Sonali Dutta, Kate Reilly, Steven Pill, Paul Rowan, Anna McWilliam
Season Three of the Crystal Maze is here. Its episode one with some new games and new dimwits to play them.... Contestants : Karen Moseley (23), Corrie Aitken (16), Neil Attard (25), Chris Sherwood (26), Gary Williams (32), Lyn King (30)
Episode Two. No matter how many times you watch the crystal maze it never gets dull...so many interesting things to see, and so many irritating contestants for Richard O Brien to tease.... Contestants : Abs Sinha (21), Duncan Campbell (23), Clare Snook (24), Kate Billington (25), Lucy Hickey (31), Toby Murcott (28)
Episode Three...Ahh the team started so well...but ended up with only five crystals... Contestants : Andy Gallagher (26?), Jo Shepard (21), Cathy MacDonald (23), Mark Douglas (25), Marianne Montgomery (26), Stuart Wilkinson (26)
Episode Four. Groovy episode and when Richard gets bored with the idiots in the Medieval zone, he sits down at his dusty haunted piano and plays a great rocky horror syle tune. Contestants : Jennifer Crossfield (23), Ben Hammond (20), Denise Ventre (23), Ian Cook (36), Catherine Corgrove (22), Paul Judge (27)
Episode Five. More morons in the Maze...Sue McClellan, who is a P.E. teacher must be good at her job. Because she cant get across a pool of water on some swings in the Aztec zone without going for a swim. Classic.... Constestants : Malcolm Doody (27), John Plump (25), Sue McClellan (35) Sharon Clapton (22), Fiona Connor (27), James Challinor (33)
Episode Six. Richard is back with another team, this lot do pretty well and manage to win eight crystals....Wooooohoooo! Contestants : Claire Taylor (18), Karen Fewtrell (24), Abdul Nathekar (26), Jez Gaydon (29), Jenny Paris (39), Ian Colvin (30)
Its time for episode Seven. And another bunch of under achievers face Richard and the maze...a very average team here... Contestants : Anne Albinson (20), Keith Schrod (34), Andrew Noble (21), Jo Williams (21), Sheila Smith (40), Mark Johnson (25)
Episode Eight. The bold adventure continues with another team and this time they win seven crystals..Maybe they have started to watch the show and have started to work out what they have to do in advance!?!?!? Contestants : Liz, Chris, Heather, Jama, Andy, Peter
Episode Nine. An episode staring a very unfortunate looking contestant. Check out Gitte Blackley with her Scooby Doo Velma's pudding bowl haircut and a pair of those hideous huge Timmy Mallet glasses. She is a B.T. Clerical Officer...enough to put you off Telephones for life. She is also not very handy with remote control diggers.... Contestants : Clive Hackforth (22), Stephen Robson (26), Gitte Blackley (32), Alison Pollecutt (21), Chris Shaw (21), Kumi Conethard (34)
Its Episode Ten. Richard takes out his frustrations on the Future World computer after meeting this weeks team. There is Sandy Douglas with his spirit level straight fringe and wearwolf beard. He is a school teacher / horror film extra and fits in well in the Medieval zone...Then there is Tania Jordon, leader of the Lesbian Liberation Leauge...Where else on Television do you get contestants like thesee today??? Contestants :Barley Laing, Sally Bird, Nick Weston, Tania, Sandy Duncan, Camilla Chandley
Episode Eleven. More zero intellect humans in the maze this week, with Phillip being unable to tell what wire to cut on an alarm, despite a six foot high sign telling him which wire to cut...I love this show! Contestants : Philip Broomhead (31), Malcolm Ross (18), Helen Randall (23), Viktoria Moyes (18), Jo Stupple (38), Anthony Allan (31)
Episode Twelve. Another average team is here to play the games. And with yet more weird jobs in the real world. Sarah-Jane Hancock is a PYRONTECHNIC PACKAGING DESIGNER!!!! What?????? So she spends all days drawing fireworks on boxes...coool! Contestants : Julie Lewis (24), Tara Elder (17), Nick Harmer (39) Jason Tisdall (27), David Baker (24), Sara-Jane Hancock (27)
Episode Thirteen the final episode of season Three. Classic episode in which Catherine tackles the raft game in the Aztec zone, but spends most of her time falling off and swimming. Richard ends up going into the game and dragging her out, and struggles to hide his amusement. However she wins the crystal! Thus ends season three of the best game show ever to be made for television. Contestants : Catherine McHale (18), Steve Hewitt (31), Amanda Keerie (23), Christopher Parker (21), Mike Fittock (27), Mary Lowther (31)
Its the Crystal Maze Christmas special... Time for Richard to let the kids loose in his maze again...
Its Episode One of Season Four. This is sadly the last season starring Richard O Brien. So make the most of it! The graphics are updated, and the industrial zone is gone, to be replaced by the Ocean Zone... Contestants : Debbie Hutchings (27), Daljit Dohil (27), Ian Otley (30), Vicky Griffiths (16), Martin Lewis (32), Marilyn Chetwynd (37)
Episode Two. Utterly useless team this week. Hopeless at everything. Much running and shouting and no success. Richard is on top form as always and this lot only manage to win four crystals. Contestants : Kris Whitmore (18), Mandy Horsey (26), Tim Lewis (25), Seema Gupta (19), Jerry Price (31), Paula Jones (24)
Episode Three. Ahhh more morons in the maze. Lead by Jane Burt who is a "Contracts Administrator" whatever the hell that is. She is the team captain and utterly hopeless at it. I wonder if she enjoyed her swim in the Aztec Zone? Contracts Administrator??? So that makes me a Crystal Maze Guide Writer then? Contestants : Wendy Brown (25), Hilary Carr (26), Dave Murphey (29), Andrew Kinnon (16), Spencer Martin (24), Jane Burt (32)
Episode Four. This week, for once the team is pretty good and win nine crystals...I say pretty good, it would have been ten crystals, but one of the was dropped in game. Oh well... Contestants : Wendy Snedden (26), Sarah White (17), Michelle Gilder (28), Andrew Sansome (37), Dave Regan (28), Garry Procter (33)
Episode Five. Its another fairly good effort this week, with the team of people with weird job titles that no one has ever heard of, winning eight crystals. I must remember to apply for that job as a ceiling relocation engineer this weekend when I have time... Contestants : Anne Youngs (28), Giles Hooker (34), Fleur Beeley (22), Sally Cornall (25), Duncan King (28), David Ayling (24)
Episode Six. This weeks team are a bit useless. What a shock. They only get five crystals, and two of them go swimming this week, one in Aztec zone and one in Ocean zone... Contestants : Paul Sellars (22), David Greenhouse (27), Rachel Hewish (24), Karen Catlow (24), Clare Sardari (35), Steve Gibson (26/36)
Episode Seven. Classic set of idiots this week. They manage to get two of the team locked in games, and only win four crystals. They end up at the dome with only the four of them to play. Probably the worst performance of the whole fourth series is here. Contestants : Caroline McCann (19), Morag Monaghan (26), Tony Philpps (25), Ray Wallace (34), Ian MacGregor (32), Sharon Melarkey (32)
Episode Eight. More antics in the maze from another average set of humans. They manage to get seven crystals, but go to the dome one member short. Such is life in the crystal maze.... Contestants : Paul Brady (34), Tracey Bennett (27), Geoff Todd (32), Ilan Josephs (20), Ruth Smith (26), Chris Massey (35)
Episode Nine. Another collection of misfits, weirdos and genuinely annoying people come together to attempt the maze. The team does pretty well, but watch out for Lisa Hawkins with her Duran Duran boys haircut. She goes head first underwater in the Atec Zone Pole balance game. Classic swimming episode! Contestants : Paula Walcott (21), Graham Clark (29), Lisa Hawkins (24), Stuart Sibbald (28), Janine Palmer (34), Nick Ward (32)
Episode Ten. Another classic collection of useless pillocks, that dont realise just how useless they are. Only four crystals at the end and two lock ins. Richard just loves it! Contestants : Nicolette Hinckson (18), Julie Griffin (26), Sandra Finnimore (28), Craig Leech (17), Keith Dunthorne (27), Mark Lodge (24)
Episode Eleven. Scary haircuts return again along with the contestants. An average episode here with the usual displays of stupidity and blindness. Contestants : Rob Neasham (31), Darren Harley (23), Richard French (24), Jennie Clark (38), Rachael Black (21), Lynn Green (26)
Episode Twelve. Another epic collecion of hopless fools come to face the maze. Richard is in a reflective mood and busy building a matchstick model of his castle in the Medieval Zone. Contestants : Maria Ashworth (29), Simmi Gupta (18), Patsy Lees (38), Howard Barlow (18), Sanjay Sharma (30), Simon Dean (33)
Episode Thirteen. And so here it is. The final episode of the Crystal Maze with Richard O Brien. His replacement Ed Tudor Pole is just a poor copy of Richard. Its obvious he was just trying to be like him and failing, the audience figures fell and it was soon all over. Everyone knows now, that we all watched the show for Richard O Brien and his interaction with the Maze Morons... Another Average team in the maze, with only five crystals won. As Richard says " Stay well, look after each other and....Bye!"
Another Kids Christmas special, beginning with a goodbye from Richard O'Brien.
