Game show which originally ran on Channel 4 for six series from 1990-1995 and returned for a new series in 2017. I reckon you probably know this, but teams of contestants played timed games in four themed zones in order to win crystals, which would gain them time in a final challenge: trying to collect enough tokens in the Crystal Dome to win prizes.
What does The Crystal Maze have in common with
Knightmare?
Both have been repeated on
Challenge, renewing their cult statuses;
Both are celebrated for the physical mishaps and mental shortfalls of certain contestants;
Both led via crowdfunding to live experiences (
Knightmare Live,
Knightmare Convention 2014, The Crystal Maze attraction in
London, followed by a second in
Manchester - played by a team in 2018 called Knightmare);
Both were popular enough for a one-off celebrity episode in the 2010s (Knightmare's 2013 special for YouTube Geek Week; The Crystal Maze's 2016 special for Stand Up to Cancer).
The howling wolf sound effect heard in the Medieval Zone of The Crystal Maze is thought to be the same stock sound used in Knightmare from
Series 4.
"I'll be having a word with the
dungeon master who lives here." Richard Ayoade in the Medieval Zone, S5 E3 (2018)
In 2019, The Crystal Maze introduced a Futuristic Zone game in which the player was navigated through a void by teammates who could see obstacles (and the player) as computer-generated graphics. This has prompted comparisons with Knightmare.
The
Knightmare.com forum has seen much discussion of The Crystal Maze's 1990s
presenters, Richard O'Brien and Ed Tudor-Pole.
Michael Underwood, who appeared in one of The Crystal Maze children's specials, spoke warmly of Knightmare during the
CITV Birthday Bash in 2003.
Mike Park, who appeared in Series 2 Episode 4 of the revived series (captaining The Cosplay Team), later played Knightmare Live at the ConFuzzled convention in 2018. He was later photographed with
Hugo Myatt (
Treguard) at the 2018 Sci-Fi Weekender in
Wales.
The 2011 fanfic
The Crystal Maze, written by Daniel Smith and Liam Davis, depicts Knightmare characters
Pickle,
Sidriss (spelt Sidress) and
Stiletta as Crystal Maze contestants.
The
Knightmare Roleplay Forum includes a 'dream sequence' in which
Young Grimwold is given a Crystal Maze-style timed challenge by a mysterious bald figure. It is implied that the figure is a wizard alter ego of
Sylvester the Jester and that completion of the challenge, reassembling the Fliolanshield, enables the questing revival seen in the Knightmare Geek Week episode.
Knightmare Live creator Paul Flannery has worked as a maze master, Pirate Moustache, at London's Crystal Maze attraction. In 2017, in a podcast interview for Coaching for Geeks, Paul revealed that the attraction has a game named after Knightmare and based on the guiding of
dungeoneers. Paul said that he has provided a
Helmet of Justice for use in the game.
The play Connecting..., written by Knightmare fan
Billy Hicks and first performed by him in August 2018, included the original version of The Crystal Maze theme music.
Provided By:
David, 2021-01-09 15:05:32