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10 reasons why we wish the original Gladiators was on right now

They just don’t make Saturday night television like they used to…

1. The theme tune

The intros weren’t bad either…

YouTube credit: James Morris

2. Ulrika

“Ooh, I wonder what she’s wearing this week.”

Credit: YouTube screengrab

3. The events

Atmosphere, Danger-Zone, Swingshot, Gauntlet, Duel, Hang-Tough… we loved them all.

Credit: YouTube screengrab

4. Referee John Anderson

Credit: YouTube screengrab

Contenders, you will go on my first whistle. Gladiators, you will go on my second whistle. 3… 2… 1…” Brilliant.

5. The commentator

The excellent John Sachs provided the voice-over for all eight series of UK Gladiators.

6. The Wolfman

Credit: YouTube screengrab

The panto-style villain was always so easily wound up. Who’s afraid of the big bad wolf?

YouTube credit: boomchikaz

7. Chants from the crowd

At the end of each event, fans at the Birmingham’s National Indoor Arena would sing along to Queen’s ‘We Will Rock You’, Thin Lizzy classic ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’ or a version of Edwin Starr’s ‘War’, which went something like “What is he good for? Absolutely nothing!”.

8. Jet

Credit: Tumblr

Gladiator, gymnast, actress, dancer, tv presenter, and all-round hottie. We loved her (and still do).

Wonder what she’s up to these days? Check her out on Twitter.

9. The Eliminator

A gruelling 9 obstacles of hell. It began with a 20ft climb up the cargo net, down the slide, across the scramble sheet, onto the overhead ladder, along the rolling beams, a scale up to the platform and down the zip line.

After all that, the exhausted contestant still had to face the ultimate test… The dreaded travelator.

YouTube credit: tinyhorsemen

And that was it for another week. Not to worry about though, next up on UTV was Cilla and Blind Date. Could it get any better?

10. Because we miss you…

A revamped version did return to our screens briefly in 2008, but we’d prefer to forget about that.

YouTube credit: tinyhorsemen

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