THE DOG'S BLOG
PRESS LAUNCH, SERIES 1
FRIDAY APRIL 11, 2008
A big welcome to the first ever Dog's Blog by me; Paul Noddings, editor and designer of the Gladiators Zone web site.
Press launch day had arrived. After weeks of anticipation I was all set to finally find out the identity of the brand new Gladiators. Press, photographers, journalists and film crews gathered at Circus Space in Old Street, London and were quickly given access to the specially built Gladiators arena. Huge metallic 'G' logos, flashing strobe lights and a large 'catwalk style' runway filled the arena. The audience were each given the iconic foam 'Glad Hands' as Queen's 'We Will Rock You' blasted out of the speakers. I had suddenly transformed back to being 12 years old as the hairs on my arm stood on end. The Gladiators were really back!
Suddenly John Anderson's voice bellowed into the arena shouting "Wolf ready!" - everyone's heads turned; was the Wolf-man really back? As 'Wild Thing' played, blasts of fire shot from the arena floor and dry ice filled the air. From the smoke emerged Richard Woolfe (Director of Programming; Sky), brandishing a pugil stick. He enthusiastically announced that Gladiators were back and had found a new home on Sky One. The audience was then treated to a teaser video of Gladiators as John Anderson took to the stage. Everyone literally went crazy as his famous catchphrase of 'Gladiators Ready' brought on a massive cheer and individually the new Gladiators were introduced with their own theme tune and impressive on-screen graphics.
First up was Oblivion who literally stomped his way down the runway to face the press and photographers for the first time. A fierce looking Panther was next looking very feline as she did some high kicks and growls. Destroyer shook his fist at the crowd and Ice literally looked like a frozen ice queen in some of her poses. Predator made a very calm, chilled appearance and Tempest gracefully blew a kiss to the audience. Next up was Spartan who probably had one of the biggest cheers from the female members of the crowd. The explosive Inferno angrily took to the stage with bursts of fire and a pose that would unnerve any Contender. A cheeky Atlas admired himself on the big screens before winking at one of the audience members. A mysterious looking Enigma psyched the crowd out with a series of punches and Tornado entered with some impressive roundhouse kicks. Finally entered Battleaxe who probably had the most unusual name from the new Gladiators. She pretended to wield a huge axe and brought it down on the crowd followed by a true Gladiatorial pose! It was very obvious that the new Gladiators team hadn't come to mess about. They meant business! The new costumes were brilliant and were all very individual for each Gladiator and had a strong roman styling but with a modern twist.
I was then given an hour to meet the new team to get some interviews and photographs for publication on the Gladiators Zone website. Everyone was so nice and friendly and they were all massive fans of the show. Tempest wanted to try out the foam 'Glad Hand' I'd been given earlier and I chatted to Inferno about the birthday party she once had in a Gladiators themed kids playground! All in all it was an absolutely brilliant day and I'm really looking forward to seeing these Gladiators in action.
Paul Noddings
Editor & Designer of the Gladiators Zone
