Gameshow Further Reading

Websites

• UK Gameshows literally has nearly everything you need to know + Weaver’s Week which is an excellent gameshow review column.
• Bothers Bar has a lot of upcoming gameshow news and great commentary.
• Knightmare.com has everything you want to know about Knightmare and other Broadsword productions.
• Interactive Knightmare has even more information
• The Crystal Maze Database (OG) has all the information about the original series.
• The Crystal Maze Database (New) has all the information about the reboot.
• Interceptor’s Lair has more information about Interceptor then you’ll ever want to know.

Podcasts

• Temporal Discussion: The Knightmare Retrospective Podcast is beyond brilliant. It is an episode by episode review of the series with lots of interviews and behind the scenes knowledge. It is also my favourite podcast of all time.
• Professional Contestants is a podcast where three guys try and create winning strategies for every gameshow in existence, often dissolving into madness. They tend to focus mainly on American shows, which isn’t so much my jam, but they have done episodes on shows like Legends of the Hidden Temple, Jedi Temple Challenge, Splatalot, Floor is Lava, Only Connect, Terror Towers, Takeshi’s Castle, The Traitors and Raven.
  They were also the ones to introduce me to the wonderous marvel that is Where in The World/Time is Carmen Sandiego.
• Queers Gone By is a media retrospective podcast whose library includes Raven, Trapped! and Jungle Run.
• Two Geeks Two Beers is much of the same whose gameshow episodes include Knightmare and Gamesmaster. It also has some great non-gameshow episodes.
• Jack’s Throwback Attack has interviews with David G. Croft (behind the scenes on The Crystal Maze), Richard O’Brien (hosted The Crystal Maze), James Mackenzie (hosted Raven) and Michael Underwood (hosted Jungle Run and appeared on the Crystal Maze)
• The Olden Days is a YouTube podcast with episodes covering Knightmare, Incredible Games, Gladiators, The Crystal Maze, Fort Boyard,TimeBUSters and a couple of miscellaneous gameshow episodes.
• Reality TV Warriors mainly does episode reviews, recaps and analysis for Wie is de Mol, De Mol, The Amazing Race and Hunted but manages to touch on pretty much every other gameshow and reality show along the way.
• The Traidar does episode-by-episode recaps and contestant interviews of the UK, US, Canada, Australia, Aotearoa and India versions of The Traitors. It also branches off into other adjacent shows like Survivor UK, Million Dollar Secret and Genius Game
• Lateral with Tom Scott is a slightly unconventional podcast quiz show where success comes, not from knowing the answers, but figuring them out. Particularly notable is its producer David J Bodycombe, whose game design expertise has featured on shows including The Crystal Maze, Treasure Hunt, The Mole and Sub Zero.

Aftercare Podcasts

• Taskmaster has two offical podcasts - The Podcast and The People's Podcast. Both have lots of interesting insights about the UK and international versions.
• The Traitors: Uncloaked is a 'visualised podcast' - read: talkshow with some audio only content - which is essential viewing after each episode for The Traitors UK.
• Dealer's Room is likely to be a one series wonder like its subject show Genius Game. While it isn't technically official, it's hosted by a member of the production team and has some fascinating information about the development process and interactions that didn't make the edit.

Channels

• Back in the Day makes documentary-equse videos on The Crystal Maze, Fort Boyard, Robot Wars, Gladiators, Treasure Hunt, Takeshi's Castle, Knightmare, Interceptor, The Adventure Game, Scavengers, Incredible Games and so very many more.
• Phil Newton-England's channel, where he does deep dives into the props and promotions of The Crystal Maze.
• Tom Fortey has done really funny retrospectives on Raven, Bamzooki, Trapped!, 50/50 and Robot Wars
• George Browning has done similar retrospectives with Raven, Trapped!, Jungle Run and Bamzooki
• Stuart Millard pokes fun at Interceptor and Scavengers
• Julies WIDM does great De Mol and Wie is De Mol theory videos in English. If you're more interested in Dutch-language theorising, try Siem

Fan Recreations, Own Series and Tributes

• Minecraft Raven especially the last series, may just be the best thing you’ll ever watch. Seriously, it is SO good.
• The Knightmare Audio Series are audio dramas that are scripted but mimic the actual gameplay of the show.
• Bricking It’s Lego Knightmare episode are also scripted but mimic gameplay.
• The Raven re-creation series are actual tournaments.
• Bad Dreem is an incredibly funny Knightmare re-creation/spoof

Misc. Videos

• These outake videos (part one/part two) for the original The Crystal Maze which make an interesting peak behind the curtain for how it was made.
• These interviews (one/two/three) with the creators of The Quest 2022 about the development and casting processes, and their ideas for future series that never came to pass
• Numa Numa Nevar is just a silly little piece of editing I find quite funny.
• The Crystal Maze Rave is a very cool song with some brilliant audio editing. The same person also did remixes for Cyberzone and Knightmare
• This review of The Satellite Game
• This retrospective of Interceptor
• This video about some really weird and obscure kids gameshows, the ones even I don't really talk about
• This fun little video comparing American and British kids gameshows (and how British ones are better)
• This myth-busting video about the winners of Takeshi’s Castle
• This Interview with James Mackenzie (Raven) done by Totally Excellent Visions. And this interview with James Mackenzie done for the Raven Forum. Honestly, there are a lot of interviews with James Mackenzie out there, you should go check them out
• Urban Exploration videos of the previously-abandoned-now-destroyed Splatalot set are fun to watch, and this is one of my favourites. There are also some fun urban exploration videos of the little The Crystal Maze entertainment centre experiences from both after they were abandoned and when they were still running.

Misc. Articles

• This case study article about CBBC gameshows
• The Anorak Zone's rankings of the episodes of each series of The Adventure Game
• These reviews of Last Commanders and The Crystal Maze Reboot.

Den of Geek Articles

• This article about Last Commanders including some interesting insights into its development.
• This one about The Adventure Game.
• This one about sci-fi aesthetics in game and quiz shows.
• This celebration of gameshows in general.

Fanzines

• The Eyeshield is a Knightmare fanzine and issues can be found on Knightmare.com
• The Raven’s Eye is a Raven fanzine inspired by The Eyeshield.
  Note: an adblocker is recommended
• I can't remember how I managed to find The Questbook, but contains a lot of info about the OG series of The Quest

Fan Fiction

• Oddment’s and Tweaks’ Mission: 2110 Trilogy: Mission Upgrade, Archive Run and Battle Rites. Battle Rites is unfortunately incomplete. Set during and after series 1 episode 13, but an AU where a member of the human resistance outside FutureGate manages to reach Caleb. It expands a lot on the world building and tightens up some plot holes and unanswered questions.
• Hunter’s Crescent Moon’s Mission: 2110 Trilogy: A New Recruit,Back to The Future and The Call Of Destiny. The Call of Destiny is also unfortunately incomplete. A New Recruit covers what it must have been like for the people in 2010 when the recruits went missing, and follows a future where all the recruits fail to stop Neuros, leading to the need for one last recruit. Parts Two and Three expand greatly on the world building but are also extremely angsty.


• SmallInsect’s Raven fic: All Eternity to Figure It Out. A bit of an epilogue to Raven: The Dragon’s Eye.
• Oddments and Tweaks’ Raven fic: The Warrior’s Path. Based on Raven as it was in series 1, I swear this fic had a formative impact on me.
• TheShapeShifter100’s Raven fic Wolf and Raven, its sequel Old Friends and the Shorts. Featuring Reboot Raven, it is one of my favourite fanfics ever.


• ClarionGlass's Game Changer x Doctor Who crossover fic i've been here the whole time answers the question, what if Sam Reich really did have an evil doppelgänger? And what if it was a Celestial Toymaker-influenced Master? As well as utilising both shows really effectively, it also plays with two of my favourite Game Changer episodes, Deja Vu and Escape The Greenroom.

Forums

• Knightmare.com has a forum
• The Raven Forum is a proboards forum so you’ll need an account to even access it.

Press Releases

• The press release for series 1 of Raven, where they make the interesting choice of describing James Mackenzie as 'Scotland's new fantasy pin-up.
• The press release for the Raven reboot, featuring interviews with the producer and Aisha Toussaint herself.
• This press release featuring the first mention of Escape from Scorpion Island.
• This press release for series 2 of Escape from Scorpion Island, featuring summaries of the games, profiles of the contestants and presenters, an interview with the game designer and a synopsis of the first episode.
• This press release featuring the first mention of Relic: Guardians of the Museum (without the subtitle) and Mission: 2110, under its working title of Roboidz.
• The final press release for Relic: Guardians of the Museum.
• This first brief press release about Mission: 2110 in its final form.
• This more in depth look at Mission: 2110, featuring making-of info, actor interviews, character bios and game summaries.
• The press release for HH:Gory Games.
• This press release featuring Last Commanders under its working title of Fear Falls, with some fascinating differences from the final show.