The disappointing reboot of The Crystal Maze is attempting to get rid of its lacklustre ratings and/or critical analysis by having a new zone! The Radio Times reveals that Medieval is going to be replaced by Eastern.
Interesting choice given that Medieval is probably the most iconic of the four zones. 13 celebrity episodes to get thrown out randomly later in the year, if the previous run is anything to go by.
I wonder if they thought this new zone would appeal more to international audiences. It looks like the Future zone with those circular doors so I wonder if the radio time actually got it wrong.
If it’s medieval I wonder if it’s actually a budget cut and it’s a much smaller set, like Future.
Just to confirm, it is replacing Medieval: https://www.channel4.com/press/news/crystal-maze-unveils-brand-new-eastern-zone
We’re getting Towers of Hanoi aren’t we?
Something with chopsticks.
A waving cat.
Memorising chinese menu numbers.
Words written in English but in brush style.
The ‘house font’ for the zone is going to be Papyrus.
“Name a zone from The Crystal Maze” is probably one of the great Family Fortunes questions never asked, mostly because ITV don’t promote Channel 4 shows any more. Off the top of my head is have expected Aztec to be the top answer, more because of having the water tanks (long before Ocean) and the rowing entrance, but Medieval was the one with Mumsey, so perhaps it’s just as iconic aftereffects all.
Non-specific generic Orientalism doesn’t attend me as the best-thought-out concept ever, as it doesn’t help to confuse countries with each other, let alone deliberately, but I’ll still be watching, excited about the prospect of new games, and hoping forlornly that they’ve got Richard some new jokes.
Ugh, a couple of terrible autocorrects I didn’t spot there, sorry, but hopefully it’s clear enough from context.
I always thought that if they did a US version one of the zones would be Wild Western- and Medieval would have been the one I would have replaced too…(It just seemed to me you could only do so much with that zone)
Medieval? Gravity and the birth of EVERYTHING.
Could this possibly be for a potential us pilot recording as it makes sense what with that story a few months ago.
To be fair, these producers clearly had no idea what to do with Medieval. The other zones all had games that, despite being basic, felt like they were in the right zone. Medieval had a toy shop and assembling a fan.
When Futuristic was remade for the new series, it lost alot of charm. I get it for camera angles and stuff why it needed to be changed as it was claustrophobic in the old series, but that’s where the charm was. I did enjoy going on the turntable when I was on it, but otherwise it was a very bland set.
This new zone from that one picture also screams of accommodating for the cameras and not so much for the charm or the heart of the zone. I do hope I’m wrong though, and it blows us all away.
I’d put money on there being some sort of maths challenge with this new theme. I’d also expect a take-off of Museum from Fort Boyard given they now have an excuse to theme stuff around vases etc.
Always felt a Roman Zone would be a good replacement for Aztec.
Still have a soft spot for Ocean though – think as a kid I was rather late to the show and for me Aztec, Ocean, Medieval and Future was the classic combination.
I doubt they will be considering they never play the zones in the correct order they could at least move Eastern to top right on the map so they appear to be playing the zones in order once again.
I do think it’s an unfortunate coincidence for The Crystal Maze that Taskmaster has already adopted a slightly needless and baffling pseudo-Japanese veneer, which hasn’t really helped, in its otherwise very good current season.
Have to say, I’m looking forward to the new TCM series. The investment in the new zone is promising, even if the choice of theme might have to skirt cultural sensitivities a bit. The games look more colourful, there’s genuine technical innovation, and they look annoyingly fiddly – in a good way. I just wish there was another 5-10 of them a series…
Still completely baffled about those old, unbroadcast episodes, though.