The Crystal Maze set to return for full new series if charity special is a hit
Stephen Merchant will host a one-off show as part of Stand Up to Cancer next month
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Your support makes all the difference.Start the fans please! The Crystal Maze could soon be returning to our tellies for a full new series, so long as the upcoming celebrity special proves a hit with viewers.
The much-loved Nineties game show originally hosted by Richard O’Brien is making a comeback for Channel 4’s Stand Up to Cancer next month, with comedian Stephen Merchant presenting.
“If we can deliver the show we have the ambition to deliver and an audience loves it, we would love to look at making a series and we hope the channel would be excited about that,” executive producer Peter Usher told Broadcast.
Usher added that fans can expect some “twists and turns” in the special. “We’re huge fans of the show, like millions of people, and it would be madness to completely change it,” he said. “But we have a few surprises and will be putting some twists and turns in there. Our hope is that it will not only appeal to people like us who love and know the show but a new generation of fans who might not have come across it before.”
The Crystal Maze was a huge success between 1990 and 1995, attracting up to six million viewers at the peak of its popularity. It followed teams as they battled against the clock to win various challenges around themed Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Futuristic zones before reaching the Crystal Dome.
Last year, a crowdfunding campaign to launch a new interactive experience based on The Crystal Maze raised £930,000 and catapulted the show back into the headlines. Nearly 4,000 fans donated to the project, which opened to great fanfare in London’s Kings Cross in March. It is here that the rebooted show will be filmed.
There have been a string of recent revivals on TV recently, including Robot Wars, Porridge, Are You Being Served? and Cold Feet, as broadcasters play into viewers’ nostalgia.
The celebrity special of The Crystal Maze airs on 21 October, with contestants yet to be announced.
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