UK kids wouldnt have survived the 90s without The Crystal Maze, Knightmare, Gladiators and more…

The difference is, even television could be boring in the nineties.

There were no streaming services to come to your rescue.

Video rental was a birthdays-only treat.

What else were you supposed to do?

Wolf was the hard kids choice.

The Crystal Mazethrew a shaft of glorious sunlight onto nineties TV.

It was fun and silly and led by Richard OBriens terrific creative whimsy.

It was a simpler, happier time.

The greatest joy ofThe Crystal Mazethough, wasnt OBriens harmonica, or Mumsey, or even the dome.

Excitement in its purest form.

Buy tickets forThe Crystal Maze LIVE Experience in London and Manchester, here.

There was nothing else on and our teas were getting cold.

Nobody laughed their socks off then.

On the moodboard for 1994s National Lottery BBC launch, there must have been just one word: hysteria.

The whole thing was approached with a level of fanfare usually reserved for the Olympics or a Royal Wedding.

There was dry ice.

There were pensioners in jog suits.

There was Anthea Turner interviewing members of the public in a branch of Spar.

Kids of the nineties have a similarly traumatising event etched into their collective memory.

He cannit see, man!

shouted Duncan, channelling our shared panic as yellow paint dripped down PJs poor face.

Would PJ ever be ready to rhumble again?

In the 90s, these TV presenters made sartorial choices so avant garde theyre still ahead of their time.

To anybody else, a leopard-print jacket alone would be enough of a statement piece.

Not forThe Crystal Mazes Richard OBrien.

On with the floral waistcoat!

Welcome to the Medieval Zone.

Nobody told OBrien what was on trend that season.

A genuine shocker here fromBlind Date, the show to whichBig Brothercontestants flocked beforeBig Brotherexisted.

1998 gave Cilla Black her Hercule Poirot moment.

You dont work as a temporary secretary.

Thats right, Nicola was actually Gill the Cosmopolitan journo and she sat on a throne of lies.

The crowd went wild.

Who heroically steps in to save the day?

Thats right, Anthea Turner armed with some old yoghurt pots and a couple of empty loo roll tubes.

Blue Peters Tracy Island make-it-yourself demonstration was our generations moon landing.

She saved Christmas, and the requests for Tracy Island instruction sheets flooded in to theBlue Peterstudio for months.

Its impossible to impress upon modern youngsters the significance ofE.T.being shown on terrestrial television.

Finally, we could understand all those jokes about phoning home.

Robots are exciting enough, but fighting robots, on fire?

The added bonus: Jonathan Pearces brilliantly overexcited commentary.

This was also invariably the friend who also had Sky TV.

It meantStar Trek: The Next Generation.

It meant the Undertaker, Hulk Hogan and British Bulldog on WWF.

It basically meant trying to get invited to their house every day after school and twice at weekends.

Perhaps theyd appeared onMallets MalletorFun House.

Somebody you knew from school being on TV was legitimately the most exciting thing that could ever happen.

Take on The Crystal Maze at the LIVE Experience in London and Manchester.Tickets available here.