Gladiators semi-final pulled from BBC schedule

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Gladiators followers will probably be dissatisfied to study that tonight’s semi-final has been pulled from the BBC schedule and delayed by one week.

This week’s semi-final has been pushed off the schedule to make room for the FA Cup quarter-final between Manchester City and Newcastle United on Saturday 16 March, which is able to air within the traditional Gladiators spot from 5:10pm to 7:40pm.

The penultimate episode of the collection will as a substitute comply with subsequent Saturday (23 March), leaving viewers with a two-week hole between reveals.

The reboot of the traditional Nineties present has seen enormous success with its return, with a median of 6m viewers tuning in for the launch episode, and a complete of 8.7m watching it within the first seven days since its launch.

After weeks of dramatic tumbling, big Q-tip wrestling matches and nail-biting assault programs, solely three episodes of the season stay.

The authentic programme was introduced by Ulrika Jonsson alongside John Fashanu and later Jeremy Guscott. For the 2024 reboot, Bradley Walsh and his son Barney have taken over internet hosting duties, however some authentic solid members have been left dissatisfied by the appointment.

Alex Georgijev, who performed Hawk on the collection 30 years in the past has stated that he believes that the present’s authentic system of getting a feminine presenter is an “important part” of the programme that the remake has missed.

“I was a bit disappointed in the presenters, I have to admit,” stated Georgijev in a BBC interview.

“Bradley Walsh wouldn’t have been my first choice, and his son was there. I think that a female presenter was missing – I really think that was an important part of the Gladiators.”

In his three-star assessment of the brand new collection of Gladiators, The Independent’s TV critic Nick Hilton writes that the present is the place “the public embarrassment of Takeshi’s Castle meets the pantomime quality of WWE wrestling”.

“If the original series was dominated by ex-squaddies and county athletes, this new version is the domain of the personal trainer (PT). As a PT marketing exercise, nothing could be more effective: scuttling up climbing walls or rope nets, getting thumped in various formations, swinging across hoops and bars,” he provides.

“There is a simple, unalloyed joy in seeing people getting smashed in the face with a giant Q-tip.”

Gladiators continues subsequent Saturday (23 March) at 5.50pm on BBC One.