Gladiators Australian Series 1

Gladiators
Genre	Sports entertainment
Created by	Dan Carr John Ferraro
Developed by	MGM Television
Directed by	Timothy Kupsch
Presented by	Kimberley Joseph Aaron Pedersen
Narrated by	Tony Schibeci
Theme music composer	Cameron Tait Marty Irwin Noel MacDonald
Country of origin	Australia
Original language(s)	English
No. of episodes	15
Production
Executive producer(s)	Patrick Condon Des Monaghan
Producer(s)	Bill Edmonds Roger Kirk
Production location(s)	Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Queensland
Camera setup	Multiple-camera setup
Running time	60 minutes (including commercials)
Release
Original network	Seven Network
Picture format	576i (PAL)
Audio format	Stereo
First shown in	Australia
Original release	29 April 1995
Chronology
Followed by	Gladiators Australian Series 2

The first series of Australian Gladiators began airing on Channel 7 on 29 April 1995 following successful versions of the Gladiators format in America, the UK and Finland. The series closely resembled the UK series albeit with just four events and the Eliminator.

Fifteen episodes were filmed in a progressive competition at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre between 24 March and 2 April. Kimberley Joseph and Aaron Pedersen presented the show whilst play by play commentary was by Tony Schibeci. John Alexander acted as referee and John Forsyth as assistant referee. The Kix cheerleaders performed in the background of the events.

Winners of the heats received a Sony music system and a selection of CD's valued to $2,000. The runners up received a set of gym apparatus. The winners of the final won a car.

Gladiators

Male

• Condor - Alistair Gibb
• Cougar - Ashley Buck
• Force - John Gergelifi
• Hammer - Mark McGaw
• Taipan - Michael Melksham
• Tower - Ron Reeve
• Vulcan - John Seru

Force suffered an injury in Atlasphere in the third quarter final and had to retire from the show.

Female

• Blade - Bev Carter
• Cheeta - Nicky Davico
• Delta - Karen Alley
• Flame - Lynda Byrnes
• Fury - Julie Saunders
• Rebel - Barbara Kendell
• Storm - Charlene Machin

Events

Atlasphere, Duel, Gauntlet, Hang Tough, Hit & Run, Powerball, Pyramid, Suspension Bridge, Tilt and Wall were played over Series 1. The Eliminator featured as the final event in every show.

Shows

Fifteen shows along with an unaired pilot were filmed with the televised shows taking the form of a progressive competition. Each show featured four events along with the Eliminator. The winner of the Eliminator would progress to the next round.

Winning challengers are in bold.

Episode	Contest	Original airdate	Challengers (Female)	Challengers (Male)	Events
0	Unaired Pilot1	N/A	Lisa Vs Jane	Brian Vs James	Powerball, Wall, Hang Tough, Duel
01	Heat 1	29 April 1995	Gina Goode Vs Heather Marychurch	Clinton Barter Vs Howard Abuthnct	Gauntlet, Pyramid, Powerball, Hit & Run
02	Heat 2	6 May 1995	Sabrina Hoyman Vs Carol-Anne Horrath	David Wallis Vs Paul Vella	Hit & Run, Wall, Duel, Powerball
03	Heat 3	13 May 1995	Bernie Withers Vs Tracy	Andrew Vs Adam	Suspension Bridge, Hang Tough, Atlasphere, Tilt
04	Heat 4	20 May 1995	Karen Swansborough Vs Hillary Darke	Tony Vs Corey	Pyramid, Tilt, Gauntlet, Suspension Bridge
05	Heat 5	27 May 1995	Kerry Warman Vs Annie	Ian Jacobs Vs Mark	Wall, Duel, Powerball, Hit & Run
06	Heat 6	3 June 1995	Nellie Baker Vs Fernanda Lacey	Ashley Martin Vs Alex Sanz	Atlasphere, Wall, Duel, Hang Tough
07	Heat 7	10 June 1995	Theresa Brett Vs Alison Jackson	Rod McQueen and John Powell	Gauntlet, Atlasphere, Hang Tough, Suspension Bridge
08	Heat 8	17 June 1995	Tania Vs Donna/ Kathy Katzourakis2	Rhett Foreman Vs Andrew Strickland	Pyramid, Gauntlet, Duel, Powerball
09	Quarter Final 1	24 June 1995	Sabrina Hooyman Vs Nellie Baker	Ashley Martin Vs David Wallis	Pyramid, Tilt, Wall, Suspension Bridge
10	Quarter Final 2	30 June 1995	Kerry Warman Vs Bernie Withers	Andrew Halliday Vs Ian Jacobs	Powerball, Duel, Hit & Run, Pyramid
11	Quarter Final 3	1 July 1995	Teresa Brett Vs Karen Swansborough	Rod McQueen Vs Tony	Wall, Atlasphere, Hang Tough, Gauntlet
12	Quarter Final 4	8 July 1995	Fernanda Lacey3 Vs Tania	Howard Vs Rhett Foreman	Duel, Pyramid, Hit & Run, Powerball
13	Semi Final 1	15 July 1995	Teresa Brett Vs Nellie Baker	Dave Wallis Vs Rod McQueen	Suspension Bridge, Pyramid, Powerball, Hang Tough
14	Semi Final 2	22 July 1995	Fernanda Lacey Vs Bernie Withers	Andrew Halliday Vs Rhett Foreman	Duel, Wall, Tilt, Gauntlet
15	Final	29 July 1995	Teresa Brett Vs Bernie Withers	Dave Wallis Vs Andrew Halliday	Gauntlet, Duel, Pyramid, Hang Tough

¹ The challengers in this episode were actually members of the production crew and changed throughout the episode. The names given were just for filming purposes. The headstarts given in the Eliminator were not based on points scored in the events.
²Replaced Donna after she fell on her pugil stick and injured her leg.
³Replaced Gina Goode who having won her heat was unable to continue in the Quarter finals due to an ankle injury.

Production

Production began in January 1995 when the producers began their search for Gladiators and challengers. The long list was cut to 100 people who attended tryouts in Brisbane (where it was decided the show would be filmed), Melbourne and Sydney. Fourteen Gladiators and a number of challengers were selected.

The apparatus was delivered to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in March requiring 35 trucks and 100 riggers whilst the Gladiators filmed the opening credits at Dee Why. Challengers arrived at the BEC on 16 March to begin training.

An unaired pilot episode was filmed using the Gladiators and production crew as chaallengers. There was no audience and Force, Rebel and Cheeta did not compete in any events.

Filming commenced on 24 March and wraps on 2 April. Initially audiences numbered 2,000 but grew to 5,000 as filming progressed. St John's Ambulance personnel were on site during filming.

The first episode aired on Channel 7 on 29 April and immediately entered the top 10 most watch shows in Australia. A second series entered production in May.

External links

• Gladiators Zone