‘The Crystal Maze’ will return for another series.
The popular game show has been given the go-ahead to return to Channel 4 this year for another 12-part instalment – including six celebrity specials in aid of Stand Up to Cancer and six civilian episodes – following the success of last year’s series.
The new series will be filmed at the purpose-built maze in Bristol, used in the last instalment and celebrity special, and will once again be hosted by Richard Ayoade.
The forthcoming episodes – which will include a team of midwives, a group who met on jury service, friends from a deaf school, and an AC/DC tribute band – will start filming in the spring of this year, while episodes shot in 2017 will air later this year.
In a statement, commissioning editor Tom Beck told Digital Spy: "The return of ‘The Crystal Maze’ has been a huge success on 4, thanks in no small part to the brilliance of Richard Ayoade as the Maze Master and the inspired production team at Fizz.
"I’m particularly pleased by the number of young viewers who loved the show – and it’s nice to have finally made a programme I can watch with my children."
The show’s executive producer Neale Simpson added: "It was a huge privilege bringing this show back and it’s been wonderful seeing young audiences engage with the new series and our magnificent Maze Master."
The original series ran from 1990 until 1995 and was previously fronted by ‘The Rocky Horror Show’ creator Richard O’Brien and punk rocker Ed Tudor-Pole.
At the height of its popularity, the series drew in up to six million viewers per episode, making it the most popular show on Channel 4 at the time.
The programme famously featured four zones, Aztec, Industrial – which was later replaced by Ocean – Futuristic and Medieval, where the contestants took part in a series of challenges and games in order to win crystals, each of which gave them five seconds in the final crystal dome.
In the finale, the teams had to grab 100 gold tokens which blew around the dome, but lost one for every silver they also had.
Just 18 out of the 83 teams who took part over the years managed to win.
The Crystal Maze to return for new series
