The Crystal Maze - reboot of supersized Dungeons and Dragons game charmingly preserves original - review

Ed Power
Updated
Richard Ayoade returns to host Channel 4's The Crystal Maze - PA
Richard Ayoade returns to host Channel 4's The Crystal Maze - PA

Entry to the rebooted Crystal Maze (Channel 4) has thus far been limited to celebrities donning novelty boilersuits for one-off charity broadcasts. Now new host Richard Ayoade was throwing open the doors to the first "civilian" contestants. It was back to the pre-Simon Cowell era when "reality television" meant wriggling through crawl-spaces and attempting intricate puzzles as random loved ones shouted their advice through a vent. 

Awaiting the Watson family from Scotland was a revamped version of the styrofoam-and-plywood labyrinth which brought Channel 4 some of its highest-ever Nineties ratings. Ancient viewers will have experienced a flutter of nostalgia as the competitors negotiated the Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Futuristic Zones. Each had been recreated more or less faithfully. The exception was the Futuristic Zone –  made-over in the gleaming style of an Apple Store Genius Bar.

The Air Cadets Team from episode 9 - Credit: Channel 4 Television 
The Air Cadets Team from episode 9 Credit: Channel 4 Television

But the biggest change was the presenter. Where original-of-the-species Richard O’Brien was a mix of cackling dungeon master and demonic school principal, the purple-suited Ayoade couldn’t stop winking at the audience. He began with a joke about the show’s arcane structure and introduced the Aztec Zone as "a place that has fatally tested the limits of my pre-existing Aztec-humour based comedy".

In these cynical, self-aware times, it was inevitable O’Brien’s successor would be more blatantly in on the joke. Still, it was a shame Ayoade didn’t lean a little into the nerdy persona of his IT Crowd character Moss. He’d have loved what was essentially a supersized Dungeons and Dragons game whereas the sophisticated Ayoade obviously found it all a bit ridiculous – though there was compensation in his sparkling one-liners ("it’s like a terrible, deleted scene from Blade Runner," he said as the Watsons came unstuck in the Industrial Zone) . 

Host of the Crystal Maze Richard Ayoade - Credit: Ray Burmiston/Channel 4/PA
Host of the Crystal Maze Richard Ayoade Credit: Ray Burmiston/Channel 4/PA

The upgraded puzzles had clearly been designed with the smartphone generation in mind. One challenge involved memorising mathematical teasers while negotiating a sequence of air-locked doors, another required mum Fiona to align a series of metal gates using her powers of dexterity. Comedian Adam Buxton elsewhere popped up as "Jimmy Riddle", a head in a jar posing not-especially-tricky teasers. 

But the underlying format was unaltered and, after navigating the four areas, the Watsons were ushered into the iconic Crystal Dome – a geodesic wind tunnel swirling with golden tickets. They collected 51 – enough to bag a VIP tour of York Dungeon ("including guide book and souvenir photo"). Slightly rubbish prizes are part of Crystal Maze tradition and, in this and many other aspects, the hokey spirit of the original has been charmingly preserved.