Takeshi's Castle reboot confirms UK comedy icons as presenters and release date.

Virgin Radio

21 Jul 2023, 10:58

Two of Britian's biggest comedy talents have been announced by Amazon as the commentators for the Takeshi Castle Reboot.

The classic Japanese gameshow, Takeshi's Castle, is getting a fantastic British reboot featuring some familiar faces. Prime Video is bringing us the British version, 'Romesh and Tom Take Takeshi's Castle' presented by the witty duo, Romesh Ranganathan and The Curse's Tom Davis.

Tom Davis has been dubbed "a Takeshi's superfan," while Romesh Ranganathan is known for enjoying watching people take hilarious falls and humiliate themselves. The hilarious pair will guide viewers through the wild and dramatic world of Takeshi's Castle, rekindling the nostalgic '90s mayhem.

Contestants in this physical challenge show will face off against guards, devils, and giant foam mushrooms, all in pursuit of storming Takeshi's seemingly impenetrable castle and winning a grand cash prize of 1 million yen (£5,550).

Romesh and Tom will offer a "uniquely British perspective" on this Japanese classic, entertaining the audience with their infectious enthusiasm and world-weary cynicism. In a joint statement, they expressed their excitement about bringing back this madness and passing on the life lessons they learned from the original show to a new generation.

Dan Grabiner, Prime Video's head of originals, shared his delight about the ingenious new take on the classic battle show: ""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."

Twitter users also chimed in with their thoughts, expressing excitement over the reboot and praising Romesh and Tom's humor.

One Twitter user shared their enthusiasm, saying: "Used to love this show, couldn't think of 2 better people to reboot it," and another added: "Their wolf and owl pod is funny as hell.".

However, some long-time fans expressed their concerns about the absence of Craig Charles, the original commentator from the UK reboot in the early 2000s.

"No Craig Charles...I already have a bad feeling about this..." one user sighed, while another fan was clearly distressed by the announcement, saying: "With Romesh, no thanks I would rather stick red hot pokers in my eyes!"

Takeshi's Castle originally aired in Japan from 1986 to 1990, followed by a UK revival from 2002 to 2004, with Craig Charles providing commentary. In 2013, comedy duo Dick and Dom took over the commentating duties for "Takeshi's Castle Rebooted," which ran for six episodes.

Get ready to laugh, cheer, and cringe as Romesh and Tom bring their comedic brilliance to the beloved gameshow, promising a whirlwind of nostalgia and absurdity like never before!

When Romesh Ranganathan joined The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch, he spoke about another new series of Rob and Romesh vs… and reckons it is “the best” that the duo have ever done.     

Along with this week’s release of his first children’s book, Lil’ Muffin Drops the Mic, the comedy star’s popular series with his pal Rob Beckett returned to Sky Max on Wednesday. 

The show sees the two funny men travel around the world and take on challenges that put them well and truly out of their comfort zones. Regarding the new episodes, Romesh told Chris: “We went to Vegas to train to do magic. And so we trained with Penn and Teller. We're doing Crufts, because Rob and I got a dog at the same time. So we entered our dogs for Crufts. We're doing K-pop, so we went to Korea and sort of trained in that.”

He continued: “I would say, the K-pop episode, completely unrelated to K-pop, has one of the most humiliating things that Rob and I have ever done. Ever, in our lives, I would say.”

Takeshi’s Castle launches on August 30 exclusively to Prime Video members in the UK and Ireland.

Romesh’s book, Lil’ Muffin Drops The Mic is out now. Rob and Romesh Vs. airs Wednesdays at 9pm on Sky Max. For tickets to Romesh’s Hustle tour romeshranganathan.co.uk.

For more great interviews listen to  The Chris Evans Breakfast Show with cinch weekdays from 6:30am on Virgin Radio, or catch up on-demand here.