02/05/2008
The entertainment show which took the nation by storm in the 90s is back and it's bigger, louder and more extreme than ever before.
Ian Wright and Kirsty Gallacher preside, as 32 Contenders take on TV's toughest challenges in the hope of being crowned series champion and winning the £50,000 prize. They are joined by original referee John Anderson on the biggest studio set in the UK. From 20,000 applicants, 32 of the UK's finest athletes have been selected to face 12 all-new Gladiators over a series of 15 shows. But do they have the speed, the strength and the heart to beat them?
Sky One's very own Wolf, Director of Programmes, Richard Woolfe, couldn't be more excited about the greatest of all TV revivals: "I think it's going to absolutely blow people's socks off. It's a colossus of a programme; it's on not one, but two, soundstages at Shepperton studios. Water and fire are very big features. The games are bigger, the Contenders are stronger and the Gladiators this time around are even more unbelievable."
So why is now the right time to bring back Gladiators?
"Sky One has got its focus on being an entertainment destination and there's no bigger show on TV than Gladiators in driving a family audience to a channel," explains Richard. "It is the juggernaut of family entertainment. And it's absolutely right for 21st-century reinvention. Before it has even hit the screens the outpouring of the public's love and affection for this programme has been unlike anything I've ever known in 25 years in television."
And with John Anderson back in command, the 12 Gladiators couldn't be in better, or sterner, hands.
"Gladiators is John Anderson and John Anderson is Gladiators," says Richard. "Doing the show without John is inconceivable and I'm so thrilled that he wants to do it. He's a legend. He's iconic. It's about the scale of the show, it's about the extraordinary characters we've found to be our Gladiators and it's about the Contenders. We are very excited."
David Jensen Photography:
https://www.davidjensen.co.uk/
