This show is a rip-off of the fabulous tv maze show "The Crystal Maze", it was ingenious and fantastic to watch the contestants hopelessly get locked in when all they had to do was turn a key or a lever.
This is a remake of it, with a more visual and fear based version, though its pretty boring. This is because Fort Boyard, unlike Crystal Maze, is only one building filled with tigers, snakes, rats, things you'd hate - and the contestants must go into these "fear" rooms to recover a letter, each letter adds up to a password.
This password would then be used to unlock the gold, which had to be recovered before the gates closed. Now this is fine to watch, but it doesn't have the fun of Crystal Maze.
Melinda Messenger, famous for her larger than large breasts helps the contenstants who seem to wear skimpier and skimpier clothes each week. But she is nothing compared to the egnimatic Richard O'Brien - Brien is a marvel to watch - and rarely helps - the team had to find out how to do the task.
However in Boyard, Messenger tells them EXACTLY what to do and HOW to do it...what's the point of sending them in there if you know where everything is and how to play every game?
The Fort is protected by Leslie Grantham, who overly plays his evil Dirty Den character to the extreme and always ends up losing more and more gold. He has french people to help him out (well, it is a french show!). Grantham adds a lot of camp to the proceedings but not much else.
Apart from that, the show is pretty flat, the music helps the build up of tension, but the fact that the Fort is only one building makes it pretty boring very fast.
Bring back Crystal Maze, all is forgiven. 2/10.