Rat Labyrinth

Rat Labyrinth is a Kuboian children's game show that ran for four series from 1994 to 1997. It was created by Dominic Halls and Tone Riddles, with the latter also serving as the presenter. The show featured a group of children joining Riddles as they attempt to save Tack the Rat (in his first ever appearance), who has been kidnapped by a group of evil giant rodents.

Each of the four series aired on Vision 1 and had eight episodes each, with three specials also being produced. The first three series aired as part of the Bumper's Block programming strand whilst the fourth aired under regular Vision 1 branding. It was one of the three live-action programmes to be produced for Bumper's Block, the other two being Harvy's House and Family Feud.

Format
Rat Labyrinth borrows mutliple elements from and had a similar structure to the British game show The Crystal Maze. Every episode had four contestants, which were all children aged 8-11 (though one episode of series two featured a 7 year old) who had previously never met before.

Each episode had five different challenges, with each member of the team taking part in at least one of the challenges, with the fifth challenge being done by whoever did the best in their respective game. The aim of every challenge was to solve some sort of puzzle or obstacle course within a 2-minute time limit. Beating a challenge awarded the team a Tack Gem. Tack Gems determined how many lives the team had in the final challenge (the team were instantly giving one, so they could have up to six).

After the fifth and final challenge, the team head to the Rat Dome, where they are given two minutes to run around a maze-like area collecting keys and bringing them to a large cage in the centre. Additionally, red spotlights, called Rat Detectors, would move about the maze. If one of children touched one of the Rat Detectors, they would lose a life. Collecting six of the eight keys in the Rat Dome meant the team won and rescued Tack. Running out of time or losing all their lives would result in them losing.

If the team won, they and their families would win a two-night stay in a private hotel in Jaillage, East Kuboia, which featured a leisure and entertainment room. Additionally, all contestants were given a silver trophy of Tack the Rat and a goodies bag containing snacks and show-based merchandise, regardless of whether they won or not.

The show saw a few changes in its run. The scenes which saw Riddles and the children running from one area to another were shortened in later series. The second series also introduced a feature where the team could sacrifice a Tack Gem in favour of ten additional seconds on the clock if they wish. The fourth and final series also featured viewer-submitted challenges that were picked from a competition that occured a few months before the series's filming.

Development and production
Rat Labyrinth was conceived by Dominic Halls in early 1993 as a game show that he thought both children and adults would find entertaining. He brought the idea up with Tone Riddles, who had been a children's entertainer for several years. Riddles agreed to plan ideas for the show whilst Halls would focus on the construction and design of the set. In September 1993, Bumper's Block aired brief segments asking viewers "Would YOU like to be on television and win prizes?", referring to the then-unnamed Rat Labyrinth.

According to Halls, each episode was shot in a single day, and took approximately twelve hours to film. He said that the children were usually exhausted after the Rat Dome. A few years after the show ended, Halls admitted that he would give the children fizzy drinks to keep them awake during filming the episodes, despite Riddles being unkeen on the idea.

Each series was filmed over a four-week period, with episodes being filmed on Mondays and Thursdays. Each series was filmed at the beginning of September, meaning the first three series were filmed and edited only a few weeks before they aired on television.

Unlike similar shows, such as The Crystal Maze, the contestants were not given any uniform, instead just wearing their normal everyday clothes. However, they were allegedly told not to wear tops with logos and "recognisable designs" on them. Riddles himself, on the other hand, would always wear a black formal suit when filming episodes for the show.

Music
Rat Labyrinth is known for its soundtrack. Composed by Frank Weasel, it mostly consists of acid house, techno, industrial dance and KB hopscotch instrumentals.

International airings
Outside of Kuboia, Rat Labyrinth aired in several other countries.

In the United Kingdom, the show began airing on CITV in 1995 and also Challenge TV in 1997. During the late 90s, CITV would air newer episodes whilst Challenge TV would air older episodes. After the show was dropped by CITV around 2002, Challenge began showing the later series. The show last aired on Challenge around late 2010.

In the United States, Rat Labyrinth premiered on Nickelodeon around 1996. It later aired on Nickelodeon Game and Sports for Kids from 1999 until around 2004.

The show also aired on Nickelodeon in YinYangia and Discovery Kids in Circlia.

Home media releases
All of the show's episodes were released on VHS in volumes from 1995 to 1998. Each volume had four episodes.

In 2004, to celebrate the show's tenth anniversary, The Best of Rat Labyrinth was released on DVD in Region 2, which featured six episodes from the first two series and the Christmas Special.

Other ventures
A PC CD-ROM video game based on the show was released in 1996. A Nintendo 64 version was planned, but cancelled for unknown reasons.

In November 2021, twelve of the contestants who appeared on the show in its run had a "reunion" where they spoke about their experiences on the show and discussed some of the things that happened behind the scenes. The reunion was edited into a fifteen-minute video that was uploaded onto YouTube and has since received over three million views.