I found myself in a conversation about Richard O’Brien yesterday, and it reminded me of two television programs that went a long way to forming my inquisitive mind, and somewhat bizarre sense of humour. The two shows in question were The Adventure Game and The Crystal Maze. If you remember these programs you’ll understand what strange and addictive viewing they made, and if you missed them (or are two young to have been watching TV back then) well I think you should do yourself a service and go and watch the snippets that have found their way onto YouTube… The sets of The Crystal Maze were ingenious and a long way removed from the glitzy boredom of the today’s quiz shows, The Adventure Game managed to make everyday television presenters and actors smile as they struggled to understand a man speaking backwards sheer brilliance in its simplicity.
To get you started, here are the title themes, shows from a time where the prize wasn’t important and it was the taking part that counted.
The Adventure Game
The Crystal Maze
The Crystal Maze! Good lord that takes me back