History Series / Gladiators

In July 2022, reports of a second revival broke which would see the show air on [[Creator/{{BBC}} BBC One]] in 2023, with Bradley Walsh and his son Barney hosting.

The show was revived in May 2008 (probably to due to nostalgia) on Creator/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 Gallagher 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).

In July 2022, reports of a second revival broke which would see the show air on [[Creator/{{BBC}} BBC One]] in 2023, with Bradley Walsh and his son Barney.

* 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. This was due to Warrior suffering an injury in the Atlaspheres event, which was filmed after he had already faced the heat contenders in Duel, therefore requiring Duel to be aired first to maintain continuity). The Eliminator also went straight from the zip lines to the Travelator, rather than having the balance beams before it.

* '''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.

* '''Gauntlet''': One of the tougher events, this event has the Contender 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.
* '''Hang Tough''': Another iconic piece. The objective was for the Contender to reach the opposite platform by swinging on a grid of rings. 10 points if they made it to the other side, or 5 if they were in the scoring zone after 60 seconds. Most of the time the Gladiator would manage to latch onto them and bring them down.
* '''Pendulum''': Where a Contender and Gladiator participate in a game of "Hide and Seek" on a giant swinging ball suspended above a catch net. The Gladiator needs to reach the Contender and steal their tag from their back.

* '''Skytrak''': A spectacular event which was a 40ft in the air, upside down Scalextric track. The Contenders race each other around a figure of 8 while the Gladiators try to catch up to them and press a button to eliminate them. The winner is awarded 10 points.

%%* LargeHam: John Anderson.

* MarketBasedTitle: Duel was renamed from Joust in ''Series/AmericanGladiators''. A different game called Joust was brought in early in the original run, but was axed for safety concerns.

%%* ScaryBlackMan: Shadow

The show was revived in May 2008 (probably to due to nostalgia) on Creator/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).

In July 2022, reports of a second revival broke which would potentially see the show air on [[Creator/{{BBC}} BBC One]] in 2023, with Holly Willoughby mooted as the show's presenter.

* LargeHam: John Anderson.

* RuleOfCool
* ScaryBlackMan: Shadow

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

* DeadpanSnarker: Ulrika Johnson, John Fashanu, John Sachs, and a big chunk of the Gladiators would all make sarcastic quips here and there.

After playing six of these events, the two Contenders (without any Gladiators) then competed in a race on "The Eliminator", an obstacle course whose features varied over the years but always finished with a dash up a 45° moving floor known as the Travelator; this quickly became the most notorious obstacle in the show, due to a lot of contenders finding themselves being unable to run up it thanks to fatigue. Most matches could be won or lost here, and several Contenders who would've had no chance of winning thanks to a huge gap could find themselves overcoming the deficit. The game was won or lost solely according to who finished the Eliminator first; the six preceding events were played for points, the leading Contender having half a second's headstart on the Eliminator for each point they led by.

* 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. 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.

After playing six of these events, the two Contenders (without any Gladiators) then competed in a race on "The Eliminator", an obstacle course whose features varied but always finished with a dash up a 45° moving floor known as the Travelator; this quickly became the most notorious obstacle in the show, due to a lot of contenders finding themselves being unable to run up it thanks to fatigue. Most matches could be won or lost here, and several Contenders who would've had no chance of winning thanks to a huge gap could find themselves overcoming the deficit. The game was won or lost solely according to who finished the Eliminator first; the six preceding events were played for points, the leading Contender having half a second's headstart on the Eliminator for each point they led by.

* AmazonianBeauty
** StatuesqueStunner: Flame and Nightshade (both 6') and Scorpio and Zodiac (both 5' 9'')

* OneSteveLimit: Well and truly averted with a presenter, commentator, and referee all named John (though the presenter often went by his nickname of Fash). Four of the gladiators are Mikes (Cobra, Saracen, Warrior, and Wolf)

* ActionGirl: One year, one of the contestants, Eunice Huthart, happened to be a kickboxing champion. The resulting EpicWin probably constituted the show's SugarWiki/MomentOfAwesome.
** She went on to become Creator/AngelinaJolie's favourite stunt double.

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

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

* EarlyBirdCameo: Mike Adamle showed up in the series 3 celebrity special from 1994 as a teaser for the ''International Gladiators'' event in 1995.

* {{Heel}}: Wolf played this for all it was worth: (playfuly) shoving contenders, ripping up banners and generally being the "nasty one". It actually helped to make him one of the most popular Gladiators. He did occasionally drop the theatrics and decide to play nice but only for an episode or two at a time.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gladiators_uk.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:AWOOGA!]]

* CatchPhrase: "H'Gladiators....ha-readaaaaaaaaaaaaay!"

The appeal of the series (and of the franchise globally) could be put down to many factors. For one thing, it was a highly competitive and tense show involving some very hard games. The contestants were regular people who went up against the aforementioned trained and professional athletes, who weren't known for being soft-hearted. As a result, the Contenders were often the underdogs, which added to the stakes- and to the popularity. it was also a very adaptable show: while many a GameShow relies on the same proceedings each episode, the variety of events on display meant no two episodes would be the same. It also allowed for new events to come and go over the years, ensuring less predictability. One thing the UK version amped up was the theatrics, making it more like a drama or soap opera; as a result there were quite a few ProfessionalWrestling tropes present, but this was usually kept subtle, in order to ensure that viewers would continue to take it seriously. This allowed the show to be framed as a serious sporting event, helped by Saturdays being the UK's traditional sports day each week,

* AnyoneCanDie: Inverted; nobody died, but by the end of the run there were only about four of the original Gladiators left. The others had left due to injury, lack of popularity, or having been fired for more controversial reasons. There were also several injuries to contenders over the course of the show which meant the backup contenders were required.

* 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.

** John Anderson did not wear his signature black cap in the first series, and he was also less of a ham when doing his event introductions.