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Gladiators is a British sports entertainment game show, an adaptation of the American program and its format, American Gladiators, and was produced by London Weekend Television for ITV from 10 October 1992 to 1 January 2000. It received two revivals: the first one ran on Sky One from 11 May 2008 to 25 October 2009, and the second one currently runs on BBC from 13 January 2024 onward.
The ITV version of the show was presented by Ulrika Jonsson throughout its original run, alongside John Fashanu (1992-1996 & 1999) and Jeremy Guscott (1997-1998), with John Sachs providing commentary on each event, and John Anderson refereeing the contests. The Sky One revival was presented by Ian Wright, alongside Kirsty Gallacher (2008) and Caroline Flack (2008-2009), with Alan Parry handling commentary, and John Anderson (2008) and John Coyle (2008-2009) officiating the games. The BBC One revival is hosted by Bradley Walsh and his son Barney Walsh, with Guy Mowbray on commentary duty, and Mark Clattenburg, Sonic Mkoloma, and Lee Phillips all serving as referees for the events.
A group of cheerleaders also accompanied the show, known as the "G-Force". The success of the British series spawned further adaptations in Australia and other countries, while a children's version for the UK, entitled Gladiators: Train 2 Win, was also created and broadcast on CITV between 2 September 1995 and 13 March 1998. The BBC version would get Gladiators: Epic Pranks, which first aired on 15 February 2025.
Format[]
The show involved contestants battling against the show's combatants known as the Gladiators in a number of events in order to secure points for the final event, an assault course called "The Eliminator". Typically, four contenders would appear in each episode, two male (Red and Blue) and two female (Pink and Yellow), and each contender would compete in five or six events, depending on the series or time constraints.
In each event, the contenders would score a number of points, usually ten for a win. Typically, both male and female contenders would compete in the same events. Once all five or six games are played, the number of points is totalled, and the contender with the highest number of points gets a headstart in The Eliminator with every point ahead of their opponent worth half a second. The winner of The Eliminator then went on to compete in the next round.
Why It Will Go On The Referee's First Whistle[]
- The Gladiators themselves, such as:
- Wolf (the pantomime villain and most well-known Gladiator of the ITV version, who would always butt heads with Referee John Anderson)
- Jet (the leggy brunette and #1 female Gladiator of the ITV version)
- Shadow (the very scary Black-British man who always steam-rolled any contender who ever came across him)
- Lightning (the babyfaced blonde beauty and #2 female Gladiator of the ITV version)
- Saracen (the mighty Jamacian-British fireman whose image song was "The One and Only" by Chesney Hawkes)
- Cobra (the practical joker with great martial arts skills and plenty of mugging for the cameras)
- Hunter (the Welsh pretty boy and youngest Gladiator of the ITV version who was Ulrika Jonsson's secret boyfriend)
- Nightshade (the near-invincible Jamacian-British woman who was dangerous at Duel and Powerball)
- Falcon (the raven-haired high-flyer with an awesome mullet)
- Trojan (the poster boy for the Action Man dolls and later portrayed the character in the DIC Entertainment-produced animated series)
- Zodiac (the all-around blonde titan)
- Rhino (the stocky powerhouse)
- Vogue (the upper-class ex-supermodel)
- Oblivion (the Sky One revival's main villain as played by wrestler Nick Aldis, who would go on to win the TNA and NWA World Championships, as well as become the General Manager for WWE's Friday TV show SmackDown)
- Viper (the main villian of the BBC One version, who lets his actions speak louder than words and always gets in trouble with Referee Mark Clattenburg)
- Legend (the second villain of the BBC One version who likes to blow his own trumpet and make up excuses for whenever he wins or loses)
- Diamond (the statuesque blonde beauty and #1 female Gladiator of the BBC version)
- Nitro (the lighting-fast Black-British gladiator of the BBC One version and host of the spin-off Epic Pranks)
- Fury (the first-ever British Gladiator to be deaf, but still packs a wallop on Powerball thanks to her rugby background, and also the daughter of a male contestant who competed in the Sky One version)
- Dynamite (the youngest Gladiator of the BBC One version whose image song is "Bang Bang" by Jessie J, Ariana Grande, and Nicki Minaj)
- Ulrika Jonsson, John Fashanu, Ian Wright, Kirsty Gallacher, Caroline Flack, and Bradley Walsh and his son Barney all being excellent hosts, with Fash spouting his famous catchphrase "Awooga!"
- The events themselves are astonishing to watch, such as:
- Atlaspheres (both contenders and Gladiators ride around in giant steel hamster balls, as the contenders try to score points), The Wall (the contenders have to climb to the top of a very tall wall before two Gladiators catch them)
- Danger Zone (each contender tries to avoid being shot by a Gladiator while taking cover to shoot back)
- Swingshot (the contenders use bungee cords to swing over to a column and grab coloured balls to score points while avoiding two Gladiators)
- Hang Tough (each contender has swing from one platform to another on chains with rings while avoiding a Gladiator)
- Duel (each contender fights a Gladiator one-on-one on elevated platforms with pugil sticks)
- Powerball (the contenders try to score points by dunking foam balls in baskets while ducking and dodging three (temporarily reduced to two for the ITV version's final two series) Gladiators)
- Gauntlet (each contender tries to run down a narrow strip past five Gladiators)
- Skytrax (the contenders race each other on an upside-down Scalextric track while being chased by two Gladiators)
- The Eliminator (the contenders race each other on an assault course)
- Referees John Anderson, John Coyle, and Mark Clattenburg are pretty large hams, with lines such as "Contenders, ready! Gladiators, ready!" and "Contenders, you will go on my first whistle. Gladiators, you will go on my second whistle."
- The theme song is awesome, as performed by Muff Murfin.
Why It Deserves a Red Card[]
- As the years went by, several Gladiators would leave the show due to either injuries or scandals.
- Jeremy Guscott was a very poor replacement for John Fashanu during Series 6 and 7. Luckily, Fashanu would return for Series 8.
- The Sky One version didn't have the Gladiators theme.
Trivia[]
- Saracen, Lightning, Cobra, and Wolf were the only Gladiators to appear in all eight series of the ITV version's run.
- When John Fashanu temporarily left the ITV version of the show, Jeremy Clarkson was considered to replace him.