The Crystal Maze is a British game show devised by Jacques Antoine, based upon his format for the French game show Fort Boyard, and produced for Channel 4. The programme focuses on teams of contestants, a mixed group of men and women, attempting a range of challenges to earn time required to help them complete one final challenge, which if completed successfully earns them a prize. The premise of the show is themed around challenges set to different periods of human history within a fictional labyrinth of time and space, and is notable for the use of golf ball-sized Swarovski glass crystals as a reward for each challenge successfully completed by contestants, and lock-in conditions for contestants that ran out of time or broke a three-strikes rule on a challenge.
2016 revival titlecard
Fort Boyard is a French game show created by Jacques Antoine that was first broadcast on 7 July 1990. Many foreign versions of the show, totalling over 1,800 episodes, have aired around the world since 1990.
Fort Boyard (game show)
Fort Boyard (game show)
Fort Boyard, pictured in 1989, during refurbishment work with its original access platform already installed. The watchtower has not been rebuilt yet.
André Bouchet, 2009. (Passe-Partout)