Legendary show Takeshi’s Castle is returning for brand new series

A new series of the legendary wacky Japanese obstacle course Takeshi’s Castle is being released on Amazon Prime.

The hilarious show, which sees contestants struggle as they take on giant obstacle challenges to complete the course of the castle and claim victory, first ran in Japan in the 1980s.

It grew in popularity and developed a cult following, making a comeback in the early 2000s with Red Dwarf and Radio 6 DJ Craig Charles voicing the funny commentary over it.

Later, comedy duo Dick and Dom – of ‘bogies!’ fame – provided commentary on the show, adding to the overall wackiness and hilarity.

The new series will be filmed at Midoriyama Studio, the same iconic location as the original show with new commentators, British comedians, Romesh Ranganathan and Tom Davis.

It will be called Romesh and Tom Take Takeshi’s Castle with a launch date set for August 30th exclusively for Prime members in the UK and Ireland.

A new batch of 100 contestants will storm Takeshi’s castle and fight off guards, devils and giant foam mushrooms and hopefully take home a cash prize of 1 million yen (£5,550).

It’s no surprise this legendary show is coming back to TV screens given the trend and huge popularity of Netflix shows such as Squid Game, Alice In Borderland and Physical: 100.

Ranganathan and Davis said: “Nothing is more magical than a reboot of a successful show from yesteryear, heavy though is the pressure in bringing back the wonder that is Takeshi’s Castle.

“We are honoured to be bringing back the maddest show of all time to a whole new generation; hopefully they can take away the life lessons we learnt from the original.”

Dan Grabiner, head of Originals, UK & Northern Europe for Amazon, said: “Takeshi’s Castle has a special place in the hearts of UK viewers, and Tom and Romesh’s ingenious new take on the show makes it as incomprehensible as ever, and very, very funny.”

The new show will be a Prime Video Japan Original production, and already premiered in Japan back in April. The UK version, called Romesh and Tom Take Takeshi’s Castle, is now set to be produced by Rumpus Media. The executive producer is Iain Wimbush.

Catch the new series on Amazon Prime from August 30th.