History Series / Gladiators

* CareerEndingInjuries: Several Gladiators, such as Jet and Amazon, retired after suffering injuries during games. A number of contenders were also taken out of the running this way.

** Some would argue that the Gladiators felt this way about the event Tilt, given that it gave near CareerEndingInjuries to two of them, and in Panther's case could easily have killed her.

** Some would argue that the Gladiators felt this way about the event Tilt, given that it gave near [[GameBreakingInjury career ending injuries]] to two of them, and in Panther's case could easily have killed her.

* Bishounen: Hunter

* {{Heel}}: Wolf.

* NintendoHard: subverted, quite a few events didn't have a "win" condition so much as score as many points as you could. Hang Tough however was notorious for being exceedingly difficult however, especially if were up against a Gladiator who specialized in it.

* ShesGotLegs: well, they all had nice legs really. Jet stood out (as usual) since her signature pre-event move was to pretend to play guitar using one of her legs.

''Gladiators'' was a popular Creator/{{ITV}} GameShow that inspired Britain to get fit again from 1992-2000, based off the original ''Series/AmericanGladiators''. There were Australian, Finnish, Swedish, South African, and Russian versions too, an international crossover series and a couple of Ashes series [[CaptainObvious between England and Australia]]. The show was presented by Ulrika Johnson and John Fashanu for most of its original run. John Sachs, son of [[Series/FawltyTowers Andrew Sachs (Manuel)]], provided commentary. John Anderson was the referee for the original series.

* '''Gauntlet''': One of the tougher events, this event has the Contender [[CaptainObvious running a gauntlet]] of five Gladiators, all armed with either power pads or ramrods. Points were awarded for completing each section, though completing the entire gauntlet would get the most points.

* BadassGrandpa: Wolf, by the time of the revival was pushing 60! Yet still had a physique that could rival people half his age! he had also lost none of his temper and ferocity.

* NintendoHard: subverted, quite a few events didn't have a "win" condition so much as score as many points as you could. Hang Tough however was notorious for being exceedingly difficult however, especially if were up against a Gladiator who specialized in it (no contender got a win against Saracen in eight years, except once by disqualification in the first series, for a mistake Saracen didn't make again).

* EightiesHair: Despite it being the 90's, the original ladies all had big hair; the second series on played it down. The men's styles could be pretty out there too.

* NintendoHard: subverted, quite a few events didn't have a "win" condition so much as score as many points as you could. Hang Tough however was notorious for being exceedingly difficult however, especially if were up against a Gladiator who specialized in it (no contender got a win or even a draw against Saracen in eight years, except once by disqualification in the first series, for a mistake Saracen didn't make again).

* NintendoHard: subverted, quite a few events didn't have a "win" condition so much as score as many points as you could. Hang Tough however was notorious for being exceedingly difficult however, especially if were up against a Gladiator who specialized in it (no contender got a win or even a draw against Saracen in eight years).

* NintendoHard: subverted, quite a few events didn't have a "win" condition so much as score as many points as you could. Hang Tough however was notorious for being exceedingly difficult however, especially if were up against a Gladiator who specialized in it.

* TheDreaded: Many gladiators had a talent for a given event (Shadow for Duel, Cobra and Lightning for Hang Tough, and so on), while others like Nightshade kicked arse no matter the event.

* ActionGirl: One year, one of the contestants happened to be a kickboxing champion. The resulting EpicWin probably constituted the show's MomentOfAwesome.

* HeartwarmingMoments: After arguably the shows most infamous injury, Panther managing to return later the same year.

* BigBad: Wolf. The song ''[[Disney/ThreeLittlePigs Who's Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?]]'' played whenever he lost. Conversely, ''Wild Thing'' played when he won.

* OneSteveLimit: well and truly averted with a presenter, commentator and referee all named John. Four of the gladiators are Mikes (Cobra, Saracen, Warrior and Wolf)

The show was revived in May 2008 (probably to due to nostalgia) on SkyOne, where an all-new team of Gladiators took on a new group of Contenders. It was based on Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''American Gladiators'' revival, which was based on the original British version, which was based on the original syndicated ''American Gladiators''. ([[RecursiveImport Got that?]]) The show brought back some classic events, replaced crash mats with water tanks, and included its own version of the Eliminator (complete with Travelator). It was presented by Ian Wright, with Kirsty Gallacher in 2008 and Caroline Flack in 2009, also included John Anderson as the referee for Series 1. It also hosted some Legends Specials, pitting the old Gladiators against the new Gladiators, which also saw the return of fan-favourite Wolf. Lackluster ratings and a lukewarm reception saw this show sent the way of a contender to the crash mats (or water tank).

** The theme song for the credits kept changing in the early seasons - the first season used a shortened version of the full theme song, season 2 used "The Power Rap", and season 3 onwards used "Tussle With The Muscle" (Which was slightly remixed for season 4). Later closing themes include "The Boys Are Back In Town" and "The Gladiator Stomp".

* AdaptationExpansion: Look at the [[Series/AmericanGladiators American version]] in comparison, and you'll see a dramatically different show: the U.S. version had a relatively tamer style more akin to a traditional Saturday afternoon sports telecast (although still stylized) and other sports-oriented competition shows such as ''Battle of the Network Stars'' and later ''[[Series/NickelodeonGuts Nickelodeon Guts]]''. The British version took the same basic format UpToEleven by turning it into a DarkerAndEdgier primetime spectacle with elements inspired by UsefulNotes/ProfessionalWrestling (such as more {{Keyfabe}} from the Gladiators). U.S. viewers were exposed to the British version during the international tournaments, while NBC's primetime revival would be modeled more after the British version than the original syndicated run.

* AdaptationExpansion: Look at the [[Series/AmericanGladiators American version]] in comparison, and you'll see a dramatically different show: the U.S. version felt more like a stylized version of something you'd see on ''Series/WideWorldOfSports'' on a weekend afternoon (indeed, it often aired on weekend afternoons). The British version took the same basic format UpToEleven by turning it into a big-budget primetime spectacular. The U.S. viewers and contenders did get to experience the British version during the International Gladiators and the revival, however.

* EditedForSyndication: Since reruns of the series debuted on the American diginet Charge!, it's been edited for time. "Another One Bites the Dust" is edited out, more commerical breaks are put in, and the closing credits are dramatically shortened.

** The theme song for the credits kept changing in the early seasons - the first season used a shortened version of the full theme song, season 2 used "The Power Rap", and season 3 onwards used "Tussle With The Muscle" (Which was slightly remixed for season 4).

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first series only featured six games - Atlaspheres, The Wall, Danger Zone, Swingshot, Hang Tough, and Duel - in that order in all episodes except Heat 6 {which played Danger Zone first, followed by The Wall, Duel, Atlaspheres, Swingshot, and then Hang Tough}). The Eliminator also went straight from the zip lines to the Travelator, rather than having the balance beams before it.

** The Wall in the first series - female competitors were given a 15 second head start, with the males only getting 10. From series two onwards, they both only get 10 seconds.

* AdaptationExpansion: Look at the [[Series/AmericanGladiators American version]] in comparison, and you'll see a dramatically different show: the U.S. version felt more like a stylized version of something you'd see on ''Series/WideWorldOfSports'' on a weekend afternoon (indeed, it often aired on weekend afternoons). The British version took the same basic format UpToEleven by turning it into a big-budget primetime spectacular. The U.S. viewers and contestants did get to experience the British version during the world championships and the revival, however.

''Gladiators'' was a popular GameShow that inspired Britain to get fit again from 1992-2000. There were Australian, Finnish, Swedish, South African, and Russian versions too, an international crossover series and a couple of Ashes series [[CaptainObvious between England and Australia]]. The show was presented by Ulrika Johnson and John Fashanu for most of its original run. John Sachs, son of [[Series/FawltyTowers Andrew Sachs (Manuel)]], provided commentary. John Anderson was the referee for the original series.

The show was revived in May 2008 (probably to due to nostalgia) on SkyOne, where an all-new team of Gladiators took on a new group of Contenders. It was based on Creator/{{NBC}}'s ''Series/AmericanGladiators'' revival, which was based on the original British version, which was based on the original syndicated ''American Gladiators''. ([[RecursiveImport Got that?]]) The show brought back some classic events, replaced crash mats with water tanks, and included its own version of the Eliminator (complete with Travelator). It was presented by Ian Wright, with Kirsty Gallacher in 2008 and Caroline Flack in 2009, also included John Anderson as the referee for Series 1. It also hosted some Legends Specials, pitting the old Gladiators against the new Gladiators, which also saw the return of fan-favourite Wolf. Lackluster ratings and a lukewarm reception saw this show sent the way of a contender to the crash mats (or water tank).

* AdaptationExpansion: Look at the [[Series/AmericanGladiators American version]] in comparison, and you'll see a dramatically different show: the U.S. version felt more like a stylized version of something you'd see on ''Series/WideWorldOfSports'' on a weekend afternoon. The British version took the same basic format UpToEleven by turning it into a big-budget primetime spectacular. The U.S. viewers and contestants did get to experience the British version during the world championships and the revival, however.

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Pursuit became very popular soon as it appeared, it was essentially a mini Eliminator with Gladiators perusing the Contenders, which added to the tension. However it mysteriously vanished in later series with no explanation as to why.

* Irony: Cobra and Lightning entered as contenders, and were only called up as reserve gladiators when they were short of numbers. They are two of the four (Saracen and Wolf the others) to have appeared throughout the show's run.

* AdaptationExpansion: Look at the [[Series/AmericanGladiators American version]] in comparison, and you'll see a dramatically different show: the U.S. version felt more like a stylized version of something you'd see on ''WideWorldOfSports'' on a weekend afternoon. The British version took the same basic format UpToEleven by turning it into a big-budget primetime spectacular. The U.S. viewers and contestants did get to experience the British version during the world championships and the revival, however.

* '''Atlaspheres''': The first event of the series shown. Two Contenders face two Gladiators and all are caged in large Atlaspheres[[note]]Think giant hamster balls made out of metal and mesh[[/note]] that they have to propel from within. The contenders' task is to roll the spheres onto any of four scoring pods. They were given 60 seconds to score as many points as they could in this fashion, while the Gladiators must block the contenders from scoring.

** The closing titles for season 1 didn't feature the [[DoNotTryThisAtHome warning about not trying any of the stuff on the show at home]]. A wordy version of it was played halfway through the season 2 credits (More or less saying don't try this at home, both contestants and Gladiators are well trained, and that safety equipment is mandatory), and from season 3 onwards, a simple "For safety reasons, please don't attempt to try any of the stunts seen on Gladiators" message played at the start of the credits.

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: The first series only featured six games - Atlaspheres, The Wall, Danger Zone, Swingshot, Hang Tough, and Duel - in that order in all episodes except Heat 6 {which played Danger Zone first, followed by The Wall, Duel, Atlaspheres, Swingshot, and then Hang Tough}). The Eliminator also went straight from the zip lines to the Travelator, rather than having the see-saw and balance beams before it.