Who is your favourite Gladiator?

[noblegiraffe]

We've been watching this every week with the kids and have been pleasantly surprised that it's something that we're all really enjoying, even our hard to drag away from his computer teen boy sits down willingly.

Our family favourite is definitely Legend, he's hilarious and we all hope that when he's competing that he'll be interviewed at the end. Loved the bit where he complained about the lights being in his eyes when he failed on the Wall.

From the women it's a toss-up between Sabre and Fury. Oh to have the confidence of Sabre! And Fury is just awesome and so fierce.

I would like to see the scoring rejigged in some of the all or nothing events so perhaps 2 or 3 points for being the one who lasts longest/ gets furthest in duel or the wall and points to reflect timing in the gauntlet so the fastest get more points than someone who just scrapes over at the last second. But they would need to make sure it was well balanced in terms of the gladiator contenders faced because 20 seconds against Giant isn't the same as 20 seconds against Viper.

I've often thought likewise.. I'm sure the Eliminator gaps are lots closer than they were in the original series and on the Sky ones. To summarise, I feel that despite what efforts and results the contenders put into the events...There's not much to show for it come the Eliminator..I think they should award more points foe events. like the one who stays on his the longest in Duel, gets more points than the other. etc. So yep defo agree there should be individual points for some specific events in place of a generic 5 or 10 points. .lol :)

Big gaps can be over come in the Eliminator because it broadly suits a different body type to many of the games. Lots of the games are best suited to sheer strength where as speed, balance and climbing ability are key to the Eliminator, obviously some of the games reflect this but lots are geared towards power.

It would be really interesting to see the gladiators tackle the Eliminator because I suspect the 6'6" muscle mountains would find much more challenging than the the smaller, faster ones would.

Yep,clearly your idea's trending..It makes total sense! As an example if a guy manages to stay on the platform for the best part of 30 seconds against Bionic..He should get more points than the guy whose knocked off after the first blow/2 seconds max! The disparity is also unfair, one goes up against Legend or Viper and the other guy lands Bionic or Giant.. Likewise the females ie Athena or Diamond? Very unfair imo :)

It just seems a bit pointless if you have events where no-one scores or they both score 10. I'd rather the 'best' attempt was always rewarded in things like Duel.

You make a good point. I do find it unfair in regards to the pre Elim points scoring. The contender who performs the better against the muscle mountains should be placed in a far more advantageous position come the Eliminator than the gymnastic sprinter guy whose been vanquished throughout but can breeze through the Eliminator. Apology in advance for my ''wordiness!" lol :)

Exactly the point I'm making! lol :)

Or at least the other guy should face Bionic.. No way one should come up against Giant or Bionic while the other guy lands Viper etc. Likewise for the female duel.. I mean who would I far rather face up there.. Athena or Diamond? Not really a difficult choice to make! lol :)

Shadow (or warrior iirc) used to batter/dispatch virtually every male contestant in duel in the 1990s. And I'm pretty sure it was nightshade fir the women.
And I think jet and Lightning used to do hang tough.

But it was fairer because each contender got the same opponent.
I know everyone loves Legend but he's been a regular fixture on the edge but actually not that great at it (until the final) usually being against him means you'll get a few runs.

Agree that the eliminator often favours lighter smaller contenders as does the wall.

Yeah remember that just about. Used to adore Shadow and was fond of Warrior too. They were two of the bigger hunkier glads in those times. They'd literally smash the other guy down to the mats, was always such an exciting spectacle! Shame they both ended up in prison for various misdemenours..! Shadow looks '' a Shadow of his former self" today. Excuse my wit! lol ! Yep Jet usually did the lighter agile events iirc. They should have specific glads for specific events in my view..Having highlighted the disparity of the men's duel with one guy getting Bionic or Giant whilst the other gets Viper or Legend for example! No way that's fair. They should also give a points differential ie for staying up there longer on some events like duel etc. The current system means a guy or gal who has been whooped in every event still has a huge opportunity come the eliminator vs someone who has done far better against the gladiators themselves! Just like you @Fizbosshoes as you can tell I'm rather passionate about the show (and some of the massive hunks in lycra too)! lol :)

A few comments about Athena being an easier option on dual, although it might not be the case. Dynamite is comparatively short, yet undefeated on dual and looks confidently staying that way.

The original gladiators only really had two huge men in Shadow and Warrior whereas now there is Apollo, Phantom, Giant and Bionic. Even Legend and Steel are big, strong men. It’s just the aforementioned four are massive. I am sure than in real life Viper would be quite an intimidating size as well.

I don’t think any of the male contenders were bigger than any of the male gladiators in height or muscle.

I did make a comment in terms of I'd far rather face Athena or Dynamite than Diamond in Duel as Diamond is considerably bigger and stronger and scarier looking!.(Also apparently more aggressive)!Not that my lardy mom bod would last a second or two against either! Yep good observation @TheSnowyOwl twice as many massive hunks turning out for the modern day glads. For which I register no complaint whatsoever! And you're also right saying that Legend and Steel are also big strong guys, probably bigger and stronger than as I remember Cobra and a couple of the others , Wolf, Rhino etc outside of Shadow and Warrior. I seem to remem Saracen was pretty massive himself as was Hunter, Ulrika's fella.(before Rhino)..lol, enough said! .I take your point about Viper. I just don't like his attempts to be the Wolf man are futile, just not convincing and makes him look a complete d..k imo.! I was fairly cynical during early 2023 when BBC boss Kate Phillips said it was her long held dream to bring it back thinking it would never rival the days of my late youth or even the Sky Gladiators, which was pretty good too. That said it's only been slightly woke (as expected) and the gladiators are actually amazing in the main! (Oh, and huge)...I just hope they primarily sort the Gauntlet event out and change the presenters moving forwards for the next series. I've already mentioned how the scoring appears unfair as well as having the different glads for each contender, which I think led to your response about Athena and Dynamite. I have noted that Dynamite is great in the duel for someone so young. I think her short height but strong bod actually helps her maintain a strong balance:)

Bad news for you @GemmaC50 , Bradley and Barney have been confirmed as the presenters for series 2.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-news/bradley-walsh-son-barneys-bbc-32491665

I'm quite pleased, tbh. I don't mind that they're both male, because they're related, so there's a reason for it.

Oh nooooooo!!! Thanks for your update @noblegiraffe 😂😂.

In fairness to Bradley and Barney, I’ve been watching the original series and actually Ulrika and Fash were dreadful! At least Bradley and Barney try to bring some fun into it

Agreed! They were not good presenters at all, I think the Walshes have done a better job of it.

@Crabble @OhItsOnlyCynthia . Can't agree with either of you on that but it looks like you get your wish for the new series despite Ulrika's interest in the job! lol :)

Ulrika was far too posh to present the show, came across wooden.
I though Fash did a great job considering he was a footballer.