The Crystal Maze

The Crystal Mazes origins can be traced to an attempt to create an edition of Fort Boyard for British television, commissioned by Channel 4 in 1989 from Chatsworth Television.

Complications in creating a pilot arose due to the fortress used by the TV game show, situated off the west coast of France, being unavailable for filming due to its ongoing refurbishments that year.

As a result, the pilot was filmed in London at Elstree Studios, using a basic replica set funded by Channel 4, but the result was deemed unsuccessful and not broadcast, due to the considerable changes required to the French-owned format in order for it to suit a UK audience.

Channel 5 later bought the rights and made their own British version of Fort Boyard, using the now refurbished set, which aired for four series from 1998 to 2001.

In order to create a more successful format for Channel 4, who had commissioned a full series, Chatsworth Television producer Malcolm Heyworth contacted Fort Boyard's creator Jacques Antoine – who attended the pilot's creation, and who had created the company's other productions: Treasure Hunt, and Interceptor – and proposed creating an alternative format which conducted challenges within themed zones.

Each episode had a budget of £125,000 and was filmed over a period of two days at the show's studio.