The Crystal Maze - Cultural References

Cultural References

In December 1992, video game publishers Codemasters released "Crystal Kingdom Dizzy", one of the last instalments in their successful "Dizzy" series. In the final level of the game, Dizzy had to return the lost treasure to its rightful place, but before he could do that he had to take on an obstacle course of moving platforms beneath water, and collect a crystal and make his way out, in a parody of the programme itself. During this course a Richard O'Brien look-alike says in a caption "Quick!, quick!, get the crystal!", which was one of O'Brien's most well-known phrases on the TV show.

The Crystal Maze was parodied in 1994 in an episode of the children's sitcom Maid Marian and her Merry Men (series 4, episode 1 - Tunnel Vision), with the Robin Hood character acting as the part of O'Brien. It was also referenced in the 2000 movie Dungeons & Dragons, which featured a maze with similar puzzles, with its owner played by O'Brien. The show was lampooned on The Mary Whitehouse Experience when a group of "contestants" completely failed to complete the Making a Cup of Tea game.

On 18 February 2006, a parody of The Crystal Maze (called The Crystal Muck) appeared on Dick and Dom in da Bungalow, featuring a character called Richard O'Muck. The character played the harmonica at moments where the contestants needed to concentrate the most, a parody of O'Brien's antics.

The online multiplayer game RuneScape features a maze of puzzles, traps and other obstacles known as the Rogues' Den, operated by a character called "Brian O'Richard". When spoken to, Brian O'Richard claims the maze belongs to "mummsie".

Comedy duo Adam and Joe also parodied The Crystal Maze on Channel 4's The Adam and Joe Show using their well known style of using toys. This time, the Crystal Maze was hosted by Yoda. The team was led by Emperor Palpatine and consisted of Jabba the Hutt, Princess Leia, C-3P0 and a drunken Obi-Wan Kenobi. The game culminated in the team only collecting 1 crystal, and the Emperor being so frustrated with his team's terrible performance, destroyed the Crystal Dome with his Force powers and declared "The pony trekking holiday in Ullswater will be mine!".

In "Sex", an episode of the third series of Absolutely Fabulous first broadcast in April 1995, the character Christopher, Edina Monsoon's hairdresser, calls out enthusiastically, "This is just like The Crystal Maze!" as he and others run through university hallways looking for a videotape.

In 2007, the Sony Award nominated pilot for the BBC Radio 7 sketch show A Series of Psychotic Episodes, one sketch featured a traumatised daughter whose father had been locked in the Aztec Zone of The Crystal Maze in 1994 and never being released from the maze.

The 1992 Larry Niven and Steven Barnes book The California Voodoo Game features a Crystal Maze competition which is used to introduce two of the teams competing in the larger game around which the plot is based.

The show was notable for dedicating to the memory of one of its contestants, David MacPherson, who died in a motorcycle accident after the recording of Episode 12 of Series 2. Likewise, the last episode of Series 6 featured a dedication to team captain Jim Alexander, who died in between the recording and transmission of the episode. The dedication only appeared on the original broadcast.

The Half Man Half Biscuit song Paintball's Coming Home tells a story of a couple who were due to appear on the Crystal Maze, but were unable to do so as they were mugged in Florida.