'BBC's Gladiators reboot is ready to bring some fun to teatime telly'

When I first heard that the BBC was planning to reboot ITV’s epic sporting challenge Gladiators, I must admit I raised my eyebrows higher than the likes of Wolf and Shadow no doubt did when they were first squeezed into their unforgiving leotards back in the early 90s.

In fact, the first words that crossed my mind were “Contenders, ready? Gladiators, ready? Off switch, ready?”

I wasn’t exactly oiled up and raring to go when the Beeb announced who would be receiving the presenting baton from Ulrika Jonsson and John Fashanu. (Yes, I know there was a short-lived reboot on Sky in 2008 with Ian Wright and Kirsty Gallacher but as no one — most of all, Wrighty and Kirsty — ever talks about it, I don’t see why I should).

The big name is Bradley Walsh, who is on TV so much these days you will be in no way surprised to hear that at the same time Gladiators launches this Saturday evening Bradley will be busy hosting The Chase on ITV.

Bradley is joined in the Gladiators Arena (er, Utilita in Sheffield) by his son Barney, who may or not have landed the co-hosting gig on his own merits. Either way, the temptation to suggest Barney’s Gladiator name would be Nepo is almost overwhelming.

Suitably buoyed by this lack of enthusiasm, I wearily pressed play on the special preview edition of the first episode, which the BBC’s publicists had kindly provided. To be honest, as it had been gathering dust on their shelf since June 2023 I’m guessing they probably just wanted to clear some space.

And guess what? I really enjoyed it. It might not pull in huge ratings like the original version did and it probably won't change the world like Mr Bates Vs The Post Office. It is, though, the most fun the BBC has offered the family at Saturday teatime since it foolishly axed Total Wipeout.

Obviously, the waves of nostalgia which engulfed me the minute I heard the strains of the old theme tune played a big part in that. (And yes, where that vocal is concerned, “strains” is exactly the right word.) However, once the novelty of seeing the old set and the old games again had worn off I was still feeling the power.

It helped that the new producers had wisely decided to start with the giant cotton buds game, where a Contender and a Gladiator try to knock each other off a raised platform with the aforementioned giant cotton buds — which the new commentator Guy Mowbray insists on calling pugil sticks. Alright, Guy — whatever. It was an equally wise decision to not change anything about the original series that didn’t require changing.

So, alongside the boys from Walsh Inc we have a new referee Mark Clattenburg, the former Premier League football official who is arguably the most excited person in the entire arena and who, by way of preparation for the role, almost certainly spent weeks in front of his bathroom mirror in his black and white stripes yelling “En garde!”

Of course, the major difference between this reboot and the 1992 version is the actual Gladiators. Despite the recent protestations of Wolf (school register name: Michael Van Wijk), who is now 71-years-old and almost fully de-maned, being a Gladiator is clearly a young man or woman’s game.

The Beeb has therefore trawled gyms and sports halls — and possibly dating apps — up and down the country and assembled quite the line-up of bulging biceps and grunting gurners.

In keeping with tradition they each have a Gladiator name. While some of these are classic-sounding, a few of the new ones have a whiff of “rejected team name on The Apprentice” (Apollo, Athena, Bionic, Nitro), or “nickname of one of the geezers in a betting advert” (Giant, Diamond, Legend) about them. Actually, I’m surprised we haven’t had a Gladiator called Geezer yet.

My first impression of this new batch is that they possess just as much personality as the original legends of the leotard — read that as a compliment if you like.

First out of the blocks in the race to become the panto villain are Viper — who seems to be trying a bit too hard — and Legend, who seems an absolute natural. They all appear to be having lots of fun though. As do the crowd, waving their homemade signs and screeching at every bump and fall.

Curiously, the only people who look like they’d rather be elsewhere are Bradley and Barney. I'm sure Bradley would love the audience — and the autocue — to be a little closer, while first-timer Barney just looks (understandably, perhaps) terrified throughout.

The Beeb and Barney really ought to have listened more closely to the lyrics of the theme tune: “It’s not for beginners.”

You can watch Gladiators on BBC One and BBC iPlayer from Saturday 13 January at 5.50pm.

This article originally appeared on Yahoo TV UK at https://uk.news.yahoo.com/bbc-gladiators-reboot-fun-teatime-tv-095836536.html