When I think back on nostalgic television of my childhood, the Japanese game show Takeshi’s Castle always stands out. There was something overwhelmingly entertaining and universally appealing about watching people hurl themselves at ridiculous obstacles, particularly when paired with narration by Craig Charles. And of course, who could forget classic obstacles such as Bite the Bun, the Skipping Stones, and the Honeycomb Maze?
Takeshi’s Castle carved a place in the heart of Britain with its nonsense, so it only seems right that a new season is due to finally return to Comedy Central this month. But as with any reboot, it is hard to shake the wariness that it may not live up to the expectations we have created by regarding the original series as a cult classic.
Of course one of the biggest concerns when considering the success of this new series is the absence of our favourite sarcastic narrator, Craig Charles. Fans of the show have proven picky in the past when it comes to their narrator; demonstrated by their adamant dislike of Dick and Dom in the 2013 reboot. Jonathon Ross will be taking over narration in this series, hopefully to a higher degree of success than his predecessors.
From the looks of the latest trailer that has been released, the new season of Takeshi’s Castle does appear to have incorporated some of the more iconic games and obstacles that we know and love. However there are also a variety of new obstacles we can expect to see that will appease our desire to laugh at the misfortune of the contestants.
As long as the show attempts to capture the mayhem and silliness of the original series, I’m confident that the new series will fill the Takeshi’s Castle shaped hole in our hearts.
The reboot of the cult classic gameshow is due to air on the 26th of October at 8pm on Comedy Central.