Gladiators (Australian TV series) series 3

The third series of Gladiators began airing on Seven Network on 13 April 1996.

Twenty four episodes were filmed at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre in December 1995, including three three-part specials.

The series was once again presented by Kimberley Joseph 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.

Male

 * Commando - Geoff Barker
 * Condor - Alistair Gibb
 * Hammer - Mark McGaw
 * Predator - Tony Forrow
 * Taipan - Michael Melksham
 * Tornado - Tony Latina
 * Tower - Ron Reeve
 * Vulcan - John Seru

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.

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 Two 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 Grand Winners: Emma George & Peter Winters

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

1 Cheeta 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) v Kristen Towers & Julie Towers (Hockey)
 * John Platten & Richard Champion (AFL) v Matthew Hayden & Jimmy Maher (Cricket)

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 (Water Polo) v Sharon Finnan & Keeley Deverey (Netball)
 * Graham Mackay & Jason Crocker (Rugby League) v Brett Smith & Michael Foley (Rugby Union)

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 and Australian Navy.

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 Brisbane Entertainment Centre.

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. 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 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.

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.