Gladiators Zone - Fight for Gladiators on Sky1 Petition

TV's Gladiators was axed by Sky1 in 2009 after a brief but successful relaunch of the 90's classic. The show was axed due to the new Sky1 controller Stuart Murphy pulling the plug on the show as part of his plans for the channel.

The campaign to reverse the axing of Gladiators gained various press attention, particularly in The Guardian. Glad Fans hit the headlines as many sent Sky1 several hundred cotton buds in homage to the giant pugil sticks that are used in the show asking them to clean out their ears and listen to the fans. Read the article: Sky bosses feel Gladiators Backlash.

At the Edinburgh TV Festival 2009 Richard Bacon confronted Stuart Murphy about killing Gladiators. "Gladiators has done a great job for Sky1 over two seasons, resonating with our young audience and showcasing our entertainment credentials. But now we need to prioritise and allow for both new entertainment formats and genres not recently seen on Sky1, such as comedy," he said. "Studio-based entertainment shows are a really big issue on a digital channel because they don't repeat well. So we have to be judicious about the number of those shows we do. The nature of Gladiators, it launched strong then came down in the ratings. I couldn't see how we could get higher ratings for a third series of Gladiators," he adds. He says he thinks by cancelling Gladiators it might have been a bad move because it came from Liz Murdoch's production company. In the end he decided: "I don't give a sh*t."

Richard Bacon also asked Five controller Richard Woolfe (former Sky1 controller) at the Edinburgh TV Festival 2009: How do you feel about Stuart Murphy killing some of your Sky1 shows? "I'm sure Stuart's got a masterplan and I know he's make a great success of it. When I left Living, I kept looking over my shoulder. But with Sky1, by the time I left, I left behind a lot of great friends but I'd moved on. I'm obsessed with the challenge that lies ahead. I'm upset that Gladiators went - of course I am. I loved that show."

Sadly, even due to the press attention and the light hearted nature of the campaign Stuart Murphy has refused to change his mind regarding a 3rd series of the show. He commented on Twitter: "Def(initely) not bringing back Gladiators I'm afraid. Had a lot of persistent and usually offensive campaigning two years ago. Sorry."

The Gladiators Zone would like to thank everyone that supported the campaign to save Gladiators. Unfortunately, although we were unsuccessful with returning the show to Sky1 perhaps another broadcaster such as Five (with Richard Woolfe) or the Gladiators original home ITV will see the potential of Gladiators in the future.

We will now be focussing on celebrating the 20th anniversary of Gladiators. Stay tuned Glad Fans. Awooga!