BBC In Talks With MGM Studios To Bring Back ‘Gladiators’, One Of UK’s Biggest 1990s Shows

Caroline Frost
·1 min read

The BBC plans to bring back one of Britain’s biggest shows of the 1990s, with the broadcaster reported to be in talks with rights holders MGM Studios to relaunch the very physical game-show Gladiators.

Broadcast Magazine had the scoop that, three decades after professionals with unlikely but catchy names like Blaze, Falcon and Wolf took on contestants in a series of muscle-flexing challenges, the BBC hopes to bring the show back by next year, say insiders, who report that a set of new professionals has been selected and filming will take place in Sheffield, northern England.

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The BBC is currently keeping quiet on its plans for the show, but Broadcast Magazine cited a source who told them, “It’s exactly the kind of Saturday night family entertainment show that BBC One needs.”

While Strictly Come Dancing continues to bring in big Saturday evening audiences for the BBC, ITV has enjoyed a more recent hit with The Masked Singer.

Gladiators was one of ITV’s biggest shows when it aired between 1992 and 2000. Presenter Ulrika Johnson presided over the hyped-up contest, based on the U.S. show American Gladiators. Referee John Anderson was in the original series, and also joined the brief reboot that aired on Sky One between 2008 and 2009.

The BBC declined to comment to the Guardian at time of going to press.

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