The third series of ''

Gladiators A gladiator ( la, gladiator, "swordsman", from , "sword") was an armed combatant who entertained audiences in the Roman Republic and Roman Empire in violent confrontations with other gladiators, wild animals, and condemned criminals. Some gla ...

'' began airing on

Seven Network The Seven Network (commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is a major Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, and is one of ...

on 13 April 1996. Twenty four episodes were filmed at the

Brisbane Entertainment Centre The Brisbane Entertainment Centre is a multi-purpose indoor arena located in the Brisbane suburb of Boondall, Queensland, Australia. The centre is managed by ASM Global. The arena has an array of seating plans which facilitate the comfort of ...

in December 1995, including three three-part specials. The series was once again presented by

Kimberley Joseph Kimberley Joseph (born August 30, 1973) is a Canadian Australian actress who is based in the United States. Joseph was born in Canada, brought up on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast in Australia and educated in Switzerland. After returning ...

and Mike Hammond with Tony Schibeci as commentator, Mike Whitney as referee, John Forsyth as assistant referee and the Kix cheerleaders performed in the background of the events. Forsyth also acted as a stand-in referee in Quarter Finals 1 and 2 after Mike Whitney caught a stomach bug virus, and Forsyth's position as assistant referee was taken over by Neil Waldron because of this. The third series suffered a slight decline in viewing figures and due to an increase in costs, production on the fourth series was halted until the revival in 2008.

Gladiators

Male

* Commando - Geoff Barker * Condor - Alistair Gibb * Hammer -

Mark McGaw Mark McGaw (born 17 May 1964) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. Nicknamed Sparkles, he achieved national and state representative honors in the sport and following his retirement bec ...

* Predator - Tony Forrow * Taipan - Michael Melksham * Tornado - Tony Latina * Tower - Ron Reeve * Vulcan -

John Seru John Seru (born 12 January 1964) is a Fijian actor and former professional wrestler. Biography Seru was trained by father and son Boris and Dean Malenko at the renowned Malenko Wrestling Academy in Tampa, Florida (1994). He is best known as ...

Predator suffered an injury in Heat 4 and was sidelined for the rest of the series. Taipan missed a number of episodes due to a knee injury and was only able to play in non-contact games like Hang Tough, Joust and Swing Shot.

Female

* Blade - Bev Carter * Cheeta - Nicky Davico * Delta - Karen Alley * Electra - Roz Forsyth * Flame - Lynda Byrnes * Fury - Julie Saunders-Melksham * Glacier - Lourene Bevaart * Storm - Charlene Machin Blade suffered an injury on Hang Tough in heat 7 when she landed on part of the arena floor not fully covered by crash mats. Whilst the fall was televised, Blade's injury was not referred to onscreen and she was sidelined until the semi finals. Cheeta chose to leave the show after heat 4. Due to this, reserve Gladiator, Electra was brought in though she only appeared in six episodes and never appeared in the starting credits or any publicity material. The official Australian Gladiators magazine makes no reference to her. She is married to John Forsythe, who was assistant referee, stand in referee for quarter-finals 1 and 2, and Director of training.

Events

Atlaspheres, Duel, Gauntlet, Hang Tough, Hit & Run, Powerball, Pursuit, Pyramid, Swingshot, Suspension Bridge, Wall and Whiplash all returned. The layout of the Pursuit course was slightly changed or this series. Two new events were introduced, Skytrack and Joust, the latter of which had been recently axed in the UK series with the apparatus being shipped to Australia. Tilt which had only appeared once early on in the preceding series did not return.

Shows

A three-part individual sports athletes challenge preluded the third domestic series. Fifteen shows were filmed in a progressive competition, followed by a further two specials at the conclusion of the domestic series. Winning challengers are in bold. ¹These were the lasts appearances by Cheeta and Predator.
²This was the first appearance of reserve Gladiator Electra.
³Catherine Arlove was injured after Hang Tough and was unable to compete in the Eliminator. Marisa Huettner had to run the eliminator by herself against the clock. She won the series as the strongest competitor holding the fastest Eliminator time recorded in any series.
⁴All four finalists won the right to compete for Australia in the second Ashes series in Birmingham.

Episode summary

Individual Sports Challenge

Individual Sports Challenge Heat One

Original airdate: 13 April 1996
Challengers: Karla Gilbert (Iron Woman) v Emma George (Pole Vaulter), Chris Fydler (Swimmer) v Peter Winters (Decathlete) Eliminator *Female: 5 second start for Emma *Male: 7 second start for Peter *Heat One Winners: Emma George & Peter Winters

Individual Sports Challenge Heat Two

Original airdate: 20 April 1996
Challengers: Shelley Oates (Kayaker) v Nici Andronicus (Triathlete), Guy Andrews (Iron Man) v Sean Carlan (Hammer Thrower) Eliminator *Female: 1.5 second start for Shelley *Male: 2 second start for Guy *Heat One Winners: Shelley Oates & Guy Andrews

Individual Sports Challenge Grand Final

Original airdate: 27 April 1996
Challengers: Shelley Oates (Kayaker) v Emma George (Pole Vaulter), Guy Andrews (Iron Man) v Peter Winter (Decathlete) Eliminator *Female: 9.5 second start for Emma *Male: 6.5 second start for Peter *Heat One Winners: Emma George & Peter Winters

Domestic Series

Heat 1

Original airdate: 4 May 1996
Challengers: Allison Ferry v Joanne Rogers, Shane Vuletich v Wayne Neuendorf Eliminator *Female: 2 second head start for Joanne *Male: 8 second head start for Shane *Winners: Joanne Rogers & Shane Vuletich

Heat 2

Original airdate: 11 May 1996
Challengers: Liz Ruffin v Marisa Huettner, Paul Stubbs vs Sam Soliman Eliminator *Female: No head start *Male: 5 second head start for Paul *Winners: Marisa Huettner & Paul Stubbs ¹Cheeta caught Liz but was disqualified by Mike Whitney for starting before the whistle.

Heat 3

Original airdate: 18 May 1996
Challengers: Leanne Martin v Mary Kominos, Cameron Simon v Paul Reynolds Eliminator *Female: 3.5 second head start for Mary *Male: 5 second head start for Cameron *Winners: Leanne Martin & Paul Reynolds

Heat 4

Original airdate: 25 May 1996
Challengers: Nicki Richards v Kylie Saunders, Jamie Rafanelli v Phil Burgess Eliminator *Female: 10.5 second head start for Nicki *Male: 2.5 second head start for Jamie *Winners: Nicki Richards & Phil Burges ¹ Predator suffered a season-ending injury in Powerball and Vulcan was substituted in for the remainder of the game.

Heat 5

Original airdate: 1 June 1996
Challengers: Astrid Edlinger v Catherine Arlove, Joshua McEwan v Kerry Packer Eliminator *Female: 2 second head start for Astrid *Male: 2.5 second head start for Joshua *Winners: Catherine Arlove & Joshua McEwan

Heat 6

Original airdate: 8 June 1996
Challengers: Jacqui Drew v Christine Dale, Jeff Prewett v Gavin Wise Eliminator *Female: 0.5 second head start for Christine *Male: 11 second head start for Jeff *Winners: Christine Dale & Jeff Prewett

Heat 7

Original airdate: 15 June 1996
Challengers: Leesa Sharpe v Debbie Santic, Daniel Di Paolo v James Lenehan Eliminator *Female: 2.5 second head start for Debbie *Male: no head start *Winners: Debbie Santic & James Lenehan

Heat 8

Original airdate: 22 June 1996
Challengers: Sandra Hansen v Siobhan Skinner, Keith Hansen v Peter Cranney Eliminator *Female: 2 second head start for Keith *Male: 2.5 second head start for Siobhan *Winners: Sandra Hansen & Peter Cranney

Quarter-Final 1

Original airdate: 29 June 1996
Challengers: Leanne Martin v Debbie Santic, Joshua McEwan v Paul Reynolds Eliminator *Female: 3 second head start for Leanne *Male: 0.5 second head start for Paul *Winners: Debbie Santic & Paul Reynolds

Quarter-Final 2

Original airdate: 6 July 1996
Challengers: Marisa Huettner v Christine Dale, Paul Stubbs v Peter Cranney Eliminator *Female: 2.5 second head start for Christine *Male: 5 second head start for Paul *Winners: Marisa Huettner & Paul Stubbs

Quarter-Final 3

Original airdate: 13 July 1996
Challengers: Joanne Rogers & Catherine Arlove, Phil Burgess v Jeff Prewett Eliminator *Female: 9 second head start for Catherine *Male: 10 second head start for Jeff *Winners: Catherine Arlove & Jeff Prewett ¹ Fury caught Joanne early but lost her footing on the track, forcing Catherine to crash in to her. Fury was taken down and Catherine re-ran her race with Delta which she won.

Quarter-Final 4

Original airdate: 20 July 1996
Challengers: Nicki Richards v Sandra Hansen, Shane Vuletich v James Lenehan Eliminator *Female: 1 second head start for Sandra *Male: 4.5 second head start for Shane *Winners: Sandra Hansen & Shane Vuletich

Semi-Final 1

Original airdate: 27 July 1996
Challengers: Sandra Hansen v Catherine Arlove, Shane Vuletich v Paul Stubbs Eliminator *Female: 7.5 second head start for Catherine *Male: 5 second head start for Paul *Winners: Catherine Arlove & Paul Stubbs ¹ Despite appearing to hit Catherine's buzzer multiple times, no sparks appeared. Upon replay a malfunction was reported and Catherine received 0 points.
² Catherine had legally hit Glacier off the bridge, however threw her hammerhead to the matts, and in a controversial ruling only scored five points.
³ Shane's detonator triggered despite Tornado not being remotely close to him, luckily he kept running the race to claim his ten points.
⁴ Hammer was disqualified for dropping his hammerhead.

Semi-Final 2

Original airdate: 3 August 1996
Challengers: Marisa Huettner v Debbie Santic, Jeff Prewett v Paul Reynolds Eliminator *Female: 2 second head start for Debbie *Male: 2 second head start for Paul *Winners: Marisa Huettner & Paul Reynolds

Grand Final

Original airdate: 10 August 1996
Challengers: Catherine Arlove v Marisa Huettner, Paul Reynolds v Paul Stubbs Eliminator *Female: Catherine forced to pull out of eliminator due to shoulder injury. *Male: 0.5 second start for Paul.R. *Series 3 Winners: Marisa Huettner & Paul Reynolds ¹ Storm was disqualified for holding and impeding Marisa's progress during the web trap
² Despite crossing the line first for 10 points, Paul Reynolds' score was reduced to 6 for knocking over two cones

Team Sports Special

This was a 3-episode team event between the Australian sports teams.

Team Sports Special Heat One

Original airdate: 17 August 1996
Challengers: *Natalie Shapiro & Leigh Martyn (

Softball Softball is a game similar to baseball played with a larger ball on a smaller field. Softball is played competitively at club levels, the college level, and the professional level. The game was first created in 1887 in Chicago by George Hanc ...

) v Kristen Towers & Julie Towers (

Hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

) *

John Platten John Patrick Platten (born 17 March 1963) is a retired Australian rules footballer. Platten's career began in the SANFL, where he won a Magarey Medal with Central District, and also with Hawthorn, where he played in four premierships as we ...

Richard Champion Richard Champion (born 14 April 1968 on Yorke Peninsula in Kadina, South Australia) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL) and South Australian National Football Leagues (SANFL). Originally from SANFL ...

(

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

) v

Matthew Hayden Matthew Lawrence Hayden (born 29 October 1971) is an Australian cricket commentator and former cricketer. His career spanned fifteen years. Hayden was a powerful and aggressive left-handed batting order (cricket)#opening batsman, opening batsm ...

Jimmy Maher James Patrick Maher (born 27 February 1974) is an Australian former cricketer, who played One Day Internationals. He is "an attractive left-handed batsman with a clumping cover-drive". Maher competed in the Gladiator Team Sports Challenge i ...

(

Cricket Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...

) Eliminator *Female: 3.5 second head start for Softball (Natalie) *Male: 5 second start for Cricket (Jimmy) *Winners: Softball & AFL

Team Sports Special: Heat Two

Original airdate: 24 August 1996
Challengers: * Debbie Watson &

Naomi Castle Naomi Sandra Castle (born 29 May 1974 in Sydney) is an Australian water polo player from the gold medal squad of the 2000 Summer Olympics. Castle was the captain of the Australian team at the 2004 Summer Olympics where they placed 4th. In 200 ...

(

Water Polo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with the ...

) v Sharon Finnan & Keeley Deverey (

Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

) *

Graham Mackay Graham Mackay (born 12 October 1968) is a former international and state representative rugby league footballer whose club career spanned Ten Australian and English clubs, including Western Suburbs, Penrith, Gold Coast Chargers, Hull FC and ...

& Jason Crocker (

Rugby League Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

) v Brett Smith & Michael Foley (

Rugby Union Rugby union, commonly known simply as rugby, is a close-contact team sport that originated at Rugby School in the first half of the 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand. In its m ...

) Eliminator *Female: 3.5 second head start for Water Polo (Naomi) *Male: 9 second start for Rugby League (Graham) *Winners: Water Polo & Rugby League

Team Sports Special: Final

Original airdate: 31 August 1996
Challengers: *Natalie Shapiro & Leigh Martyn (Softball) v Debbie Watson & Naomi Castle (Water Polo) *Johnny Platten & Richard Champion (AFL) v Graham Mackay & Jason Croker (Rugby League) Eliminator *Female: 5 second head start for Softball (Natalie) *Male: No head start *Team Sports Special Winners: Softball & Rugby League ¹ Storm was red-carded for attacking the challenger's head while pulling from the Wall.
² In an Australian Gladiators first, both Richard and Tower fell from the bridge at exactly the same time, calling for a re-match.

Army vs Navy

This was a 3-episode team event between the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...

and

Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister of D ...

Army vs Navy Heat One

Original airdate: 7 September 1996
Challengers: *Sandra Hansen & Suzie Llewellyn (Navy) Vs Sandra-Lee Walker & Michelle Perrone (Army) *Peter Gatti & Keith Lewis (Navy) Vs Gavin Davis & Ritchie Gibson (Army) Eliminator *Female No head start *Male: No head start *Winners: Army won both Eliminators

Army vs Navy Heat Two

Original airdate: 14 September 1996
Challengers: *Tess Donellan & Donna Hunt (Navy) Vs Candice Cushway & Jacinta Peel (Army) *Tim O'Brien & Jon Iles (Navy) Vs Dwaine Stevenson & Rick Morse (Army) Eliminator *Female 1 second head start for Army *Male: 0.5 second head start for Army *Winners: Army won women's Eliminator, Navy won men's Eliminator

Army vs Navy Final

Original airdate: 21 September 1996
Challengers: *Sandra-Lee Walker & Michelle Perrone (Army A) Vs Candice Cushway & Jacinta Peel (Army B) *Gavin Davis & Ritchie Gibson (Army) Vs Tim O'Brien & John Iles (Navy) Eliminator *Female No head start *Male: 2.5 second head start for Navy *Winners: Army B won women's Eliminator, Navy won men's Eliminator.

Cheerleaders

Choreographers: Davidia Lind, Simon Lind Cheerleaders: Cintra Bedford, Jane Crichton, Jessica Emblen, Sarah Harlow, Tamra Lind, Tamara Raup, Emma Sieber, Leigh-Anne Vizer, Francene Vedelago, Kyle Watson

Production

Production began in October 1995 following the success of series two. Recording dates were pencilled in for 11–22 December at the

. The Gladiators were given their specialist training schedules in October and took a break from promotional activities in November whilst the production crew started work on the new events. Filming began in December and continued through into the new year. Seating in the Brisbane Entertainment Centre was increased to 8,000 and the arena itself had some subtle changes with darker lighting and an increased use of spotlights similar to the UK arena at the

National Indoor Arena Arena Birmingham (known for sponsorship reasons as Utilita Arena Birmingham, and previously as The Barclaycard Arena and originally as the National Indoor Arena) is an indoor arena and sporting venue in central Birmingham, United Kingdom. It ...

. The Arena floor was also changed to a black floor with lights, just like the UK. A fourth series went into pre production.

Pendulum A pendulum is a weight suspended from a pivot so that it can swing freely. When a pendulum is displaced sideways from its resting, equilibrium position, it is subject to a restoring force due to gravity that will accelerate it back toward the ...

, a UK event seen in the International series was to be introduced and there were events being developed that would be unique to the Australian series."Behind the screams" Australian Gladiators magazine Issue 9 However, due to injuries, rising production costs and a slight decline in viewing figures, Channel 7 opted not to go ahead with a fourth series and after being on television for an almost constant eighteen months, Gladiators was over until its revival in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

References

{{Gladiators 1996 Australian television seasons *series three