Series / Gladiators (2024)

Are... you... ready?!

"Do you feel the power of the Gladiators?
Do you have the will and the skill?
Do you have the speed, the strength,
the heart to be a winner?
It's not for beginners"

— Gladiators theme song (opening credits)

Gladiators is a British Game Show produced by Hungry Bear Media and MGM Alternative UK for The BBC.

It's a revival of Gladiators, which was itself an adaptation of American Gladiators.

The show, like its predecessors, sees contestants ("contenders") compete in a range of physical challenges. They're competing against each other, sometimes directly, but they're also opposed by the titular Gladiators - the show's squad of elite athletes, who adopt pseudonyms and stage personas for the show.

Much like Professional Wrestling, there's an element of kayfabe to the Gladiators themselves, with some adopting a Heel persona and actively playing the villain. The Gladiators' real identities aren't a secret, and some of their profiles acknowledge their previous achievements. However, within the show they're only ever mentioned by their persona's name.

The show is hosted by Bradley Walsh and Barney Walsh, a father and son team, who interview the contenders and Gladiators between the challenges. Guy Mowbray provides voiceover commentary, and Mark Clattenburg heads up a team of three referees.

Each episode sees four contenders - two men and two women - completing in five challenges against the Gladiators, then a final assault course race against each other. The strongest male and female contestants from each episode proceed to the next round.

The first episode was aired January 13, 2024. In March it was confirmed that the show had been renewed for a second series.

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Gladiators contains examples of the following tropes:

• Bring It: The season one opening credits show Apollo, one of the titular Gladiators, making a "bring it" beckoning gesture with one hand whilst giving the audience a meaningful nod.
• The Cameo: Saracen from the original series appeared in the audience for the first series' Grand Final.
• Cheaters Never Prosper: In episode three of season one, when heel Viper tries Deliberately Jumping the Gun in "Duel", he's immediately reprimanded, the contender's Ring Out is overturned, and the challenge is restarted. Viper then gets immediately flattened in a Curb-Stomp Battle as the contender gets some payback. In one of the Quarter Finals, one of the female contenders turtles completely during Duel so she ends up lasting the distance, but is promptly disqualified by Mark for being too passive.
• Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In "Duel", the contenders use red pugil sticks and the gladiators use black ones to make it easier to tell who's doing what.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Some of the challenges can be ended abruptly by a Ring Out or similar victory.
  • In season one's first episode, Giant wins his podium "Duel" just two seconds into the contest, sending contender Myles flying before he lands a blow of his own.
  • In season one's second episode, during "The Edge", Apollo immediately intercepts contender John and simply throws him off the platform, five seconds into a minute-long challenge.
  • In season one's third episode, Giant wins "Duel" in seconds, saying that he knew ex-military contender Finlay would be challenging, so he couldn't risk giving him an opportunity. On the flip side, after heel Viper has to restart "Duel" after Deliberately Jumping the Gun, contender Ash repays him for cheating by immediately knocking him off his podium, winning the challenge. In the same episode, during the men’s "Gauntlet", Bionic absolutely batters Ash with an almighty shunt, sending him rolling head-over-heels from zone 4, right back to the start.
  • In season one's second quarterfinal, Chung becomes the first contestant to gain maximum points on "The Edge" while still opposed by a Gladiator, running rings around Legend. The challenge is halted before time runs out, as he can't score any more points.
  • During the season one finale, Fury goes up against Bronte in The Edge. When the timer starts, Fury runs straight for her and, seconds later, tackles Bronte off the platform and into the net below, with no points scored.
• Deadly Dodging: The beams of "The Edge" are 30 feet above the net and, if a contender dodges, the Gladiator may fall out of the challenge, leaving the contender unopposed. In the final heat of season one, Tuathlaith dodges Fury, who continues over the edge and into the net. In the first quarterfinal Diamond falls the same way when she misses Tasha.
• Deliberately Jumping the Gun: In season one's episode three "Duel" challenge, perpetually angry heel Viper lashes out before the referee starts the clock, knocking the surprised contender off his podium. The referee intervenes, warns Viper and restarts the challenge. Without the sneak attack advantage, the contender easily wins and Viper falls from his podium within seconds.
• Distracted by the Sexy: During the first season one quarter-final, Wesley says that his "Duel" opponent, Phantom, was a "good-looking lad", so he was distracted. It gets a laugh from the audience.
• Don't Try This at Home: When new challenge "Collision" debuts in the first season, Barney Walsh warns viewers not to try it at home. The warning's promptly lampshaded by his father, as viewers are very unlikely to have the equipment to attempt it.
  Bradley Walsh: Next up is a brand new game that's all about trying to cross a giant suspension bridge.
  Barney Walsh: And please don't try this at home.
  Bradley Walsh: Yes, for all of you watching with a giant suspension bridge in your front room, please don't try this at home.
• Eating the Eye Candy: When she's interviewed after "The Ring" challenge in season one episode three, contender Alex mentions that her opponent Sabre was distractingly good looking.
  Alex: I will say, you want to hate her, but she's so good-looking. I was mesmerised for a second, lost in her eyes.
• Eliminated from the Race: Each episode's final challenge is the aptly named Eliminator, a head-to-head race between two competitors, with no Gladiators involved. Points from previous challenges convert into a time advantage - half a second per point. The first contestant across the line goes through to the next round. The fastest runner-up from the first round episodes also gets a place in the quarter finals. The other losers are eliminated.
• Establishing Character Moment: Viper debuts in the very first episode's "Collision" challenge. He swiftly cements his Heel role by abandoning the rings he's supposed to swing back and forth from, dropping down to directly wrestle a contender instead. He's promptly disqualified for cheating and there's a glimpse of him getting very close and personal with the referee immediately afterwards. He remains menacingly silent throughout all of this.
• Establishing Character Music: Each Gladiator has their own song, which is played for entrances and profile screens, but not for the challenges themselves. The song is actually listed in their profile screen text.
• Freeze-Frame Introduction: Each Gladiator's first appearance in a particular episode normally has a freeze-frame highlighting them as they take the stage, then cuts to their profile screen for a couple of seconds while the commentator introduces them.
• Game Show Physical Challenge: Gladiators is a game show, but all of the challenges are physical contests. Either contestants are competing against each other, they're directly competing against a Gladiator, or they're trying to complete some sort of task while one or more Gladiators try to stop them.
• Giving Them the Strip: In season one, when "The Wall" challenge makes its debut, two of the episode's four contenders successfully make it over the top of the wall despite the Gladiator catching up with them. In both cases, a frustrated Gladiator's left holding an empty shoe and the contender gets away. Bradley even gets a joke at Legend's expense the first time this happens, quipping that they "socked it to ya!". It happens again in the women's challenge later in the season, and then again in the quarter-finals. Steel even lampshades how it keeps happening.
• Handicapped Badass:
  • The first episode introduces Fury, the first deaf British Gladiator. As usual, the show's profile screen intro does its best to immediately establish her as a very competent badass, even before she starts pummelling contenders. It helps that the performer behind the persona and kayfabe is Jodie Ounsley, a deaf athlete who competed internationally in jiu jitsu and rugby, and has repeatedly won the World Coal Carrying championship.
  • Nia Rutter, one of the female contenders in episode four, is blind in one eye after losing her vision as a child. When asked how she'll handle Gladiators coming at her from that side she replies that she handled raising four kids with one eye so she'll be fine. After an incredibly close Eliminator she manages to overtake her opponent at the top of the Travelator and secure a place in the quarter finals.
• Handshake of Doom: In the second quarterfinal, Chung delivers a Curb-Stomp Battle to the Gladiators' heel Legend on "The Edge", ending the challenge early by reaching the maximum points allowed. Legend plays the Graceful Loser and offers a handshake — then uses it to throw him off into the safety net, 30 feet below.
• Heartbeat Soundtrack:
  • After the referee calls "En garde", the gap before the start of the "Duel" challenge is filled by a loud heartbeat and a focus on the combatants' faces.
  • If a contender or Gladiator falls from the raised beams of "The Edge", 30 feet above the net, it's presented as a Slow-Motion Fall accompanied by a heartbeat.
• Heel: The first season quickly establishes Viper and Legend as heels for this version of the show. Viper's portrayed as a mostly silent brute with anger issues, willing to cheat and demolish contenders, whereas Legend is vain, dim and self-obsessed.
• Informed Ability: The profile screen in the final heat claims that heel Viper's secret weapon is hypnosis. He's shown no such ability in the show itself.
• In the Hood: Phantom, one of the titular Gladiators, normally wears a hood for his entrance into the arena. It's purely for effect and is pulled back almost immediately, before he competes in any of the challenges.
• It's All About Me: Legend, one of the titular Gladiators, is one of the show's Heels and completely self-obsessed. After one challenge, when host Barney Walsh wants to talk to him about how a competitor did, Legend's so annoyed that his own performance isn't being discussed that he ends the interview by wrestling the presenter to the mat.
  [Legend walks onto the stage]
  Guy Mowbray: [voiceover] The ego has landed.
• Lampshade Hanging: After The Wall in the third quarter final, Bradley talks about a Gladiator yet again taking a contender's shoe off them during the climb. He says it's happened too many times.
• Murderous Thighs:
  • The "Hang Tough" challenge has the Gladiators hanging from rings and using their legs to grapple contenders. Much of the time this means wrapping thighs around them to break the contender's hold on their own rings.
  • In "Collision" Gladiators hang from rings and swing back and forth, trying to knock the contenders below them off an unstable bridge. They use body slams from the swings to accomplish this, and scissor holds with legs are banned — which doesn't always stop heels like Legend from using them.
• Names to Run Away from Really Fast: All of the Gladiators use imposing names, but Viper's an antisocial Heel who cheats when facing competitors. A snake-in-the-grass name suits him very well.
• Non-Gameplay Elimination: invoked It's an extremely physical show with plenty of scope for competitors to withdraw due to On-Set Injury. This is swiftly established in the very first episode after Finley injures his knee in an early challenge and there's discussion as to whether he can continue. He rallies and wins the episode, but at the start of the first quarterfinal it's revealed that he had to withdraw as he hadn't recovered enough. Dev also has to pull out of the semi-finals after injuring his shoulder in the quarters, and a tackle from Apollo leads to Chung mangling his knee during Powerball in the Semis.
• Obvious Rule Patch: In the semi-finals, The Edge had it's scoring changed from three points per run, six runs, maximum score 18, to two points per run, five runs, maximum score 10. Gauntlet had it's time limit cut from 30 seconds to 20. Obviously this makes Gauntlet harder, while it also means The Edge doesn't cause such an imbalance in the scores, after the maximum score being earned in a previous episode led to a massive head start for the contender in The Eliminator.
• On-Set Injury: invoked Gladiators is a very arduous, physical show, with plenty of scope for injury. If a contender is injured during filming, it's likely to be worked into the show and discussed at length.
  • In the very first episode both male contestants end up injured. Finley hurts his knee, abruptly ending one of his early challenges, and the commentary repeatedly questions whether he'll he able to continue. His rival Myles then injures his calf during the final Eliminator obstacle course run. Finley wins the episode, but has to withdraw from his quarterfinal.
  • In the final season one heat, contender Betti falls awkwardly from "The Edge" when Sabre tackles her and they fall together. There's some question as to whether she'll continue, and she has to he checked over by the medics.
  • In the first quarterfinal the other Finlay takes a blow to the ribs falling from "The Edge" with Legend. It's not a serious injury but he's sore enough that he chooses to forfeit "The Gauntlet" rather than be subjected to a series of body tackles.
  • In the second quarterfinal, Nia falls hard after Fury tackles her during "Powerball". The challenge is stopped while she's checked by the medics, and although she can continue, the leg injury causes problems on "The Wall", her next challenge.
  • In his quarterfinal, Dev struggled with the Eliminator due to an injured shoulder, but still manages to win. However, in the first semi final it's revealed he had to withdraw.
  • In the first semifinal, one game is stopped due to Gladiator injury. Sabre tore her hamstring on the Edge. While she appeared on the same event in the "next" episode due to filming order, she was on crutches for months and did not appear in the final.
  • In the second semifinal, Chung falls badly during Powerball and injures his knee. The game is suspended while he's treated by the paramedics. It's eventually decided that Chung cannot continue. The Powerball game is restarted with Matt, who lost to Chung in the heats, stepping in as replacement.
• On the Next: The first episode ends with clips of the next episode's new challenges and highlights the new Gladiators making their debut in the next episode. Once all new challenges and Gladiators in the season are introduced, this is dropped.
• Pink Girl, Blue Boy: The male Gladiators have blue uniforms with some pink highlights. Female Gladiators reverse this colour scheme, with pink uniforms and blue highlights. This is actually a return to the first colour scheme of the original 1992 Gladiators series, which later switched to red, white and blue.
• Playing with Fire: Played with in the opening credits and Gladiator profile screens, which present Fire as if she has superpowers, throwing a small fireball from her hands. Like the other titular Gladiators, she's a very competent athlete — but she does not, in fact, have superpowers.
• Precision F-Strike: During one of the backstage segments, Fury can be heard swearing while describing getting hit in the face during her Duel against Nia and instantly getting fired up.
  "That first hit, right? Something snapped, She hit me I thought......fuck you."
• Promoted Fanboy invoked:
  • When Steel makes his debut the commentator explains that, as a kid, he was a fan of the earlier Gladiators shows. Now he's one of the Gladiators.
  • The introduction for episode one contenders Myles and Kerry mention that they grew up watching Gladiators twenty years earlier, and never thought they'd compete in it. Kerry describes it as surreal.
• The Quiet One: Viper is one of the show's heels, a brute with anger issues who barely speaks. When he does get to talk, it's mostly Hulk Speak. The profile screen commentary in one episode mentions that he describes himself as "silent but deadly".
• Retraux: The show's graphic design and overall presentation is very 90s as a homage to the classic show, particularly whenever CGI gets involved.
• Revisiting the Roots: A lot of changes made for the 2008 version are reversed, bringing it closer to the original 1992 Gladiators series. The show moves back to an arena setting, removes the water, adopts the original blue and pink colour scheme for Gladiator uniforms and uses a version of the first show's theme tune. The Eliminator challenge is also heavily influenced by the original series rather than Sky's version.
• Revival: The show is a revival of Gladiators, which was itself an adaptation of American Gladiators. There's a strong element of Revisiting the Roots and it owes more to the original 1992 Gladiators series than to the Sky One revival that followed it.
• Ring Out:
  • The "Duel" challenge puts a contender on a small podium, raised several feet above the mat, armed with a pugil stick. A Gladiator with a pugil stick stands on an adjacent podium. They try to knock each other off the podiums before time runs out. If someone falls, or steps on the other podium, they've lost.
  • "The Edge" is a one-on-one challenge that pits a contestant against a Gladiator on a framework of narrow beams 30 feet above a net. Points are scored by repeatedly crossing from one side to the other and back before time runs out, but if a contender falls off, it's all over. If a Gladiator falls, the contender doesn't automatically win - they still need to cross to score their points.
  • "Collision" has a variation - any contestant the Gladiators can knock off the bridge has lost. This time it doesn't work both ways, as the Gladiators themselves aren't on the bridge.
• Screen Shake:
  • For Nitro's first episode debut he does a very brief dance move to his signature tune, then jumps in the air. A camera effect ensures that the whole stage shakes when he lands.
  • A relatively subtle screen shake is added to reinforce some moments when contestants fall or Gladiators successfully tackle them, especially in replays.
• Sean Connery Is About to Shoot You: The opening credits show the Gladiators in various action poses, some of which are directly aimed at the audience. Viper's about to elbow the viewer in the face, Fire throws a small fireball at the screen and Apollo offers viewers a 'Bring It' gesture.
• Shock and Awe: The opening credits and Gladiator profile clips present Electro as if she has superpowers, with lightning crackling around her hands. Like the other Gladiators, she's a very competent athlete — but does not actually have superpowers.
• Shout-Out: Bradley Walsh references a couple of British Reality Shows in the first season's first episode, comparing Gladiators to I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! and The Great British Bake Off. Neither is mentioned by name, but it's clear which shows he's referring to.
  Bradley Walsh: This comes from an era when you were judged not on how well you could bake, or how you fared eating the private parts of a kangaroo, but how long you could stand on a podium whilst being battered about the bonce by a bloke called Rhino wielding a fluffy lollipop. Better times, in many ways.
• Smug Snake: Legend, one of the show's Heels, is a vain, seemingly dim egotist who describes himself as a cross between David Hasselhoff and Mahatma Gandhi. If a contender beats him, he always has a reason why it's not his fault, and the reason is rarely plausible.
• Sore Loser: The show's resident Heels always take losing badly. Some of the other Gladiators also have their moments.
  • Viper would usually destroy Bradley's microphone whilst being interviewed about his poor performances in events, like punching it and throwing it to the floor in episode 2's Gauntlet event, and biting the foam cover of it in the first quarter final's The Wall event. There's also a glimpse of him getting very close and personal, glowering at the referee, after he's disqualified from "Collision" during the first episode.
  • Legend blames one loss on "The Wall" on the bad lighting of the arena. He also refuses handshakes — and tackles Barney to the mat when Barney's more interested in talking about a contender's success than Legend's own performance.
  • After a contender escapes on "The Wall", leaving her holding an empty shoe, a frustrated Diamond makes a point of hurling it into the audience.
  • Sabre comes across as someone who takes defeat very badly as well; she's the one most often seen nearly blowing a fuse during the backstage segments whenever she isn't beaten totally fair and square (contender plays fast and loose with the rulers, she admits to making a silly mistake, etc).
• Split Screen: Contenders are introduced with a split screen montage showing their life and skills (sometimes including a Training Montage as well).
• Standard Snippet:
  • A few seconds of Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust" accompanies any contender being knocked out of "Duel" or "Hang Tough" by a Gladiator before the time's up. Some Gladiators, such as Nitro or Fire, may even do a victory dance to it.
  • For "Collision", Kool & the Gang's "Jungle Boogie", with its "Get down, get down" lyrics, gets played when a contender falls from the bridge.
• Worthy Opponent: Most of the Gladiators will praise or congratulate a contender who beats them, or at least puts up a good fight. Viper and Legend, as the show's Heels, are a deliberate exception to the rule.
  Steel: Tell you what, absolute respect to those boys. They took some big hits and they got straight back up and they managed to get some points, so fair play

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"Contender, ready? Gladiator, ready? En garde."

— Mark Clattenburg