Here’s a fun thing that’s turned up over the Festive period, the guys who ran the original Cyberdrome Crystal Maze (the proto versions of the Crystal Maze Live Experience about 25 years before the Crystal Maze Live Experience) have dragged their original website out from the archives and it’s pretty interesting. Not least the prices (£2.50 per person at Southampton! Compare to £50 per person in 2019(*)) and the fact in the News section we almost got The Cyberdrome Crinkey Bottom, based on Noel’s House Party.

I’ve linked to this before, but here are some Americans exploring an abandoned Cyberdrome Crystal Maze set.

(*) Yes I’m aware that The Cyberdrome Crystal Maze is only an half hour experience compared to a 60-90 one, and a largely automated set-up compared to having an actual person go round with you to enhance the experience. Still, though.

Well I hope that went well for you. I managed to watch roughly half of the things I intended on watching, but my Christmas hero was the Stellify PR person trying to get people to switch from Gavin and Stacy to Millionaire on Twitter last night.

Tonight (Boxing Day) there’s The Big Fat Quiz of the Year which is usually acceptably entertaining.

Anyway the thing that’s mostly been amusing me the last few days is Youtube Channel Playstation Access’ The Christmas Maze. Effectively a daily series of 45 minute let’s plays with some sort of challenge element (thus far a treasure hunt in Skyrim, a Crash Bandicoot whilst eating chillis task, and trying to play Metal Gear Solid blindfolded), it’s quite neatly done with regards to the split between the people playing and reaction from team mates watching next door, intermixed with the host getting bored and hoping they hurry up because he wants his lunch. It’s a giggle.

And so Bother’s Bar enters it’s annual Christmas Lull (i.e. we’re here and about but don’t expect to have much to post about for the next week or so, although we’ll put up a discussion post for Quizmaster) and so I’d like to wish all readers a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, and we can all look forward to the Poll of 2019 opening on January 2nd. See if you can spot anything egregious missing from the 2019 UKGameshows list.

In the meantime, tonight there is the 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown Christmas Special (9pm C4), The Crystal Maze Christmas Special (10pm C4), Christmas Eve tomorrow features the BBC nicking two of ITV’s biggest stars with likely entertainment pilot Take Off With Bradley and Holly (will it be the next Johnny and Denise’s Passport to Paradise?) (BBC1, 8pm) and there’s The Chase Bloopers (ITV, 7:30pm). Christmas Day has Celebrity Millionaire on ITV from 9pm.

Plenty of other things on too of course, but these are the things I’ll likely be watching.

Friday, 9pm GMT
Here and on Youtube

What delights await inside the doors of the Bother’s Bar Advent Calendar?

GAMES! Games and surprises. Tonight seven panellists and YOU THE AUDIENCE will go toe to toe with each other and the best of Jackbox, and tonight a surprise opener we’ll be playing for the first time at 30 frames per second.

To join in all you need is our live stream – link will be here when it starts – and a device that can log on to jackbox.tv to input all your answers. I’ll be keeping an eye on the Youtube Chat all night, and tonight we’ll be requiring a Voice of the Audience for the final so keep your microphones ready.

Following tonight’s broadcast, Game Night Extra pre-recorded a game of Use Your Words last night, so if you wanted to know what that’s like then sub to the Bother’s Bar Youtube channel and it will pop up after.

Edit: Here’s Game Night EXTRA:

Still looking for Game Night contestants for Thursday and Friday, please apply and I’ll let you know if you’re in on Wednesday night.

In other news a couple of people have bought this up (I’ve yet to watch it), professonal no-money traveller Simon Wilson’s Youtube channel has Done A Thing with people racing to Monaco with no money to try and win £5,000, Race Across the World meets Lost. Here’s episode one.