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The zones are faithful to the original show and similar to the ones at the Crystal Maze Experience. “He laid them out on the desk and said we weren’t allowed to do the show without him.” says Simpson. James Dillon designed the original sets and when Simpson invited him to come in to discuss ideas for the new show, he came armed with all the original plans, drawn out in pencil. We are standing in a vast warehouse on the outskirts of Bristol, in the middle of a labyrinthine set encompassing Aztec, Medieval, Future and Industrial zones. Out of office: the Stand Up to to Cancer Crystal Maze special which aired in October 2016 Having not slept for 48 hours, Simpson cried a bit, then turned his attention to trying to hit the sweet spot between nostalgia and innovation with the new series.
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That episode, which aired in October 2016, was such a success, attracting an audience of 4.3 million, that a full series got the green light from Channel 4 the very next day. I was there at 6am on my hands and knees with a Henry the Hoover,” says Simpson. “We had to get in at 11 the night before to set up the rigging and have it all down by the next day. Now we want more focus on the characters” “Back in the original show the teams only met the night before and then went for dinner.
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Designed for real people to play in rather than a film set, it was a logistical nightmare for the camera crew to shoot in.Īdd to that the fact that the Experience is so popular it only had one day in the whole year where it wasn’t fully booked, and the crew were working to a very tight schedule to pull off their one chance at filming the special. The pilot was filmed over the course of one day at The Crystal Maze Live Experience, an immersive adventure game based on the original TV show held in secret locations in London and Manchester. You would think bringing it back would be a no-brainer, but, “just trying not to ruin people’s fond memories of the original” as Stephen Merchant said in last year’s Stand Up To Cancer special, is not that easy. When the show started in 1990, The Crystal Maze was regularly Channel 4’s most watched programme: viewing figures peaked at 5.9 million for the 1992 Christmas special. He is a fan and started pitching the revival six and a half years ago, starting with a one-off special hosted by Stephen Merchant (co-writer and co-director of The Office). Simpson’s delight at re-creating the 20-episode show, hosted by T he IT Crowd’s Richard Ayoade, is palpable. We got them to apply as a team, but we wanted each member of the team to be strong characters, so in the auditions they all had to speak to us individually about themselves.” Now we want more focus on the characters. Having not slept for 48 hours, Simpson cried a bit, then turned his attention to trying to hit the sweet spot between nostalgia and innovation with the new series