Gladiators review: This shiny floor reboot is great family fun, they just need to ditch Bradley & Barney Walsh

It was hard not to be reminded of John 'Fash the Bash' Fashanu and teatime on Saturday, dominated by Blind Date, Stars in Their Eyes and Beadle's About.

And, of course, Gladiators (BBC1, Sat, 5.50pm), which made a loud, brash and colourful return to our screens this week.

It kept much of what made the original series so muscle-bulgingly popular – the shiny floor, the excitable arena crowds and the giant foam hands were all present and correct.

And, of course, the Gladiators themselves. Huge slabs of veiny beef (the men) or lithe, quicksilver powerhouses (the women), they still bore slightly silly names like Nitro, Sabre and the slightly more prosaic Giant.

They leap into the arena, pulling poses of varying degrees of silliness, before attempting to take the heads off the luckless contenders. Legend, in particular, seems to be afflicted with a dreadful skin complaint, given the number of times he rubs at his face on every appearance.

The games had a familiar look as well. There was old favourite Duel, where a Gladiator attempts to knock a contender off a pedestal with a giant cotton bud, and The Gauntlet – a run down a sort of corridor blocked by Gladiators. Basically the sort of thing that would be familiar to anyone who has attempted to ignore the arrows in IKEA.

Then there were some new games, including Collision, in which the contenders run from one side of a wobbly bridge to the other, attempting to put some balls in some nets while the Gladiators swing in from the side on trapezes.

It looked like a lot of fun, although the contenders ran a substantial risk of getting a face-full of Spandex-clad Gladiator groin.

The contenders were a hardy lot, but looked puny next to the gigantic sorts in the pink and blue outfits they looked tiny.

It didn't stop Myles, an IT engineer from Leeds, giving them some fearful stick – although it has to be said he came off second best.