However, the unavailability of the French show's set (a real fort in the middle of the sea), led Antoine to reinvent the show using themed zones as a means to keep the show visually fresh. The show was originally intended to be a British remake of the French programme Fort Boyard, devised by Jacques Antoine. Each show was one hour long, including commercial breaks. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O'Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole, who made his debut in the 1993 Christmas special. The Crystal Maze was a British game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 15 February 1990 and 10 August 1995.
