Tested to the limit COMEDY

WHEN this reboot of the 90s classic game show started last week, we were full of apprehension.

Would the remake be as good as the original? Could new Maze Master Richard Ayoade fill the boots of the show’s most brilliant and flamboyant former guide Richard O’brien – a man who became synonymous with the show? But it is and he has. Ayoade, in maroon suit, brandishing his wooden hand on a stick, is the perfect blend of deadpan humour and eccentricity. Producers have revealed the reason for the hand is so that the contestants never touch him. They have had to make dozens because he keeps breaking them. Richard may not have a harmonica, but he does have jazzy gold boots and a withering smile. He hops around the set, gleefully mocking the contestants as he leads them through the Aztec, Medieval, Industrial and Futuristic zones, taking on mental, physical, skill-based and mystery tasks. “These people apparently fall into the bracket of celebrities,” he quips, introducing tonight’s jumpsuited adventurers Steve Jones, Scarlett Moffatt, David Coulthard, Joey Essex and Jodie Kidd. “Are your teeth lit from within?” he asks Joey, who is picked for the first task – a physical one. Captain Jodie hopes this will divert Joey from having to do a mental challenge later on. It’s a very sensible move on her part. Later on, trying to help Scarlett in a mystery challenge, Richard suggests: “Say what you see”, before an aside to the camera: “That’s not an infringement on Catchphrase”. The team are chasing the elusive crystals, each of which will give them another five seconds in the iconic Crystal Dome at the end. Can the team hang on to enough of them to win a decent pile of cash for charity?