It might have new athletes, games and presenters, but this reboot is everything 90s kids remember watching on a Saturday night. The big question is: who will bite the dust?
Children of the 1990s, ready! For no reason other than why the hell not, weekend teatime classic Gladiators is back. It’s on BBC One this time instead of ITV as it was years ago, but the format is unchanged: we at home lie belly-down on the lounge carpet watching explosive physical challenges in which members of the public with fitness addictions and mild narcissism take on retired athletes with shiny leotards and severe narcissism.
The gladiators are a new cohort of sprinters, gymnasts and bodybuilders, with stage names such as Giant, Fire, Electro, Nitro and Comet. They emerge, do their signature pose and then, as their Lycra struggles to contain their enormous muscles, they obliterate the hapless volunteers.
