Television series

Gladiators

Name: Gladiators
Genre: Action, Sports
Released: 2024
Cast: Bradley Walsh, Barney Walsh, Guy Mowbray, Mark Clattenburg, Lee Phillips

Other titles called Gladiators: the film in development.

Action
Relentless
Dip in and out

Gladiators is British Saturday-night spectacle at its most gloriously earnest: ordinary contestants sprint, climb and grapple against a roster of impossibly built professional Gladiators for cash and pride, building each episode toward the sprint-based Eliminator. It's loud, family-friendly and utterly unembarrassed by its own theatrics — sport with the drama and the lycra turned up to eleven.

TVMaze rating

2.8

Should you watch it?

Watch it if you love big physical contests where the rules are simple, the stakes are visible on every run, and the fun comes from watching athletes fail spectacularly and try again.

Skip it if you want a story with characters you follow across episodes, since each week is a fresh contest and the sport does nearly all the talking.

What it asks of you: Roughly an hour per episode, bright and loud from the first minute, with no slow build; it wants your attention for the games, not for characters.

Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.

If you liked this

American Gladiators2008

The brasher American cousin, even more self-serious about its own mythology, with bigger names on commentary and an even louder sense of its own spectacle. Fun to compare accents and absurdity levels.

But It's fifteen years old now and some games are near-identical to the British version, so it can feel like a rerun.

Ninja Warrior UK2015

Same appetite for physical spectacle, aimed at a brutal obstacle course instead of another human — a pure test of strength, balance and nerve, with genuinely thrilling wipeouts.

But No human rivalry, no trash talk, just course versus contestant — you'll miss the theatrical antagonism Gladiators thrives on.

American Ninja Warrior2009

The long-running US obstacle-course juggernaut, packed with genuinely elite athletes and a course that gets more diabolical every season — great if you like watching human limits get tested.

But It's sprawled across dozens of seasons now, so dipping in can feel overwhelming, and the basic format barely changes.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Gladiators

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Ben-Hur1959

Gladiators borrows its entire aesthetic — the arena, the crowd, the built bodies as icons — from the Roman spectacle Ben-Hur dramatizes at its most operatic. This is where the whole idea comes from, minus the irony.

The granddaddy of arena spectacle: a chariot race sequence so thrillingly staged it still holds up, built on the same ancient appetite for watching bodies compete before a roaring crowd.

But It's a three-and-a-half-hour biblical epic — a serious commitment if you just wanted something Saturday-night light.

The Titan Games2019

Dwayne Johnson's American answer to Gladiators, complete with mythic staging, one-on-one physical duels, and a host who is clearly having the time of his life.

But It only ran two seasons and never quite found the charm of its British inspiration, feeling more corporate than earnest.

Takeshi's Castle1986

A cult classic of gloriously deranged Japanese game-show spectacle, dubbed into English absurdity, with contestants attempting bizarre physical challenges under the gaze of an unimpressed feudal lord.

But It's pure chaos with zero sporting seriousness — if you want athletic competition rather than surreal comedy, this won't scratch it.

SAS: Who Dares Wins2015

Trades cheering crowds for grim endurance testing — ordinary people pushed past breaking point by ex-special forces instructors. Same fascination with what bodies can withstand, much darker mood.

But There's no showbiz gloss, no crowd, no glitter — if you wanted the fun of Gladiators, this is its humourless cousin.

Rollerball1975

Same engine — ordinary people transformed into gladiatorial performers for a mass television audience — run through a dystopian lens. Watch this right after Gladiators to see the format's darker shadow.

A grim sci-fi vision of a future where televised gladiatorial sport pacifies the masses — brutal, strange, and unnervingly close to what real spectacle sport actually does to an audience.

But It's cold, cynical seventies sci-fi with none of the warmth or humour Gladiators trades on — a real tonal 180.

The Wrestler2008

Gladiators sells the glossy, triumphant version of what these performing bodies achieve. This is the unglamorous long-term bill — what happens to a person built and worn down for spectacle once the cameras and crowds move on.

Mickey Rourke's devastating performance as an ageing performer whose body has been the price of decades of spectacle sport — tender, brutal, unglamorous, and quietly heartbreaking.

But It's a slow, sad character study with almost none of the triumphant energy or cheering crowds you came to Gladiators for.