Leotards, giant foam fingers and oversized obstacle courses are BACK on television on Saturday nights, thanks to BBC1 reviving the cult teatime classic that is Gladiators. The remake once again sees physically fit members of the public take on the resident gladiators - hulking ex-athletes with glistening muscles and monikers like Apollo, Bionic, Diamond and Fire - in a series of bruising challenges. Want more pumped, slightly cartoonish action that looks like sports from the future, if the future turns out to be cheesy but fun? See below for our guide to your next shows to stream if you’re a Gladiators fan.
Gladiators is big, brash and colourful, so it’s no surprise to learn that the original, definitive version is American - and so our top pick has to be American Gladiators. It debuted in 1989, which means it adds big hair to the big biceps, and over the course of seven seasons it hones what we would now recognise as the classic roster of games. But it’s a bit more violent than the UK version: a lot of it is like American football without the padding.
American Gladiators was a big hit, which meant it attracted a fervent fanbase, but it was also a chaotic production that almost didn’t make it to air. All the behind-the-scenes gossip is in Muscles and Mayhem: An Unauthorized Story of American Gladiators, a breathlessly entertaining documentary series.
Gladiators imitators have come and gone over the years, with British telly having had success with Total Wipeout and Ninja Warrior, both of which tried to be Gladiators without the gladiators: ordinary folk took on huge obstacles, but there weren’t any beefcakes trying to hinder them. Australian Ninja Warrior is the blondest, most bronzed version out there. Then there’s the internationally focused Ultimate Beastmaster, which takes teams from different nations and sets them up in competition with each other. Variations on the theme include Strong, which helps American women to lose weight by pairing them up with sculpted male training gurus and then setting the duos strength-building tasks.
All these shows owe a debt to the genius mayhem of 1980s Japanese cult classic Takeshi’s Castle. Last year it returned, with Amazon Prime Video adding British commentators Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davis to make Romesh and Tom Take Takeshi’s Castle, an even more hilarious take on an already funny show.
In the wake of the hit drama Squid Game, Korea has latched on to the magic of souped-up pseudo-sport with Squid Game: the Challenge, a real-life version of the competition from the fictional show that makes an important tweak to the format: failed competitors are not killed. Even better is Physical: 100, in which the nation’s fittest people are put through their paces by an unseen gamesmaster.
Back in the UK, there’s a lot of Gladiators in SAS: Who Dares Wins, although the tough special forces guys who form the show’s judging panel wouldn’t like to admit it. It’s still random punters taking on elaborate tests of endurance. Fancy your own marathon of Gladiators-esque shows? Here are our top 10 picks, and where to stream them right now.
