Back in the day there wasn’t much choice of television to watch on a Saturday night, but even if there were the options that we enjoy today I guarantee that everyone would still be tuning into Gladiators because it was quite simply one of the best TV shows ever invented. What was better than seeing a bunch of regular dudes getting the absolute crap kicked out of them by a group of beasts in ridiculous events like Hang Tough and the climbing wall and that one where you roll around in the balls? It really makes you think about how they come up with this stuff and how people actually think it’s a good idea. Acid probably I imagine.

Some of the stars of the show reunited this week thanks to an ITV special called The Saturday Night Story, which looks back at all the great success stories that the channel had in its prime time slots. Of course, Gladiators was included and they got the gang back in to talk about some of their experiences and see how they’re doing now. You can see a picture of them all below – including Ulriika Johnson and referee John Anderson – I always wondered how you qualified to be a referee for Gladiators – but scroll through the slideshow using the arrow keys to see some individual shots and find out a bit about their lives now.

(Click arrows to navigate slider and check them all out.)