The Crystal Maze is a British game show devised by Jacques Antoine, based upon his format for the French game show Fort Boyard, and produced for Channel 4. The programme focuses on teams of contestants, a mixed group of men and women, attempting a range of challenges to earn time required to help them complete one final challenge, which if completed successfully earns them a prize. The premise of the show is themed around challenges set to different periods of human history within a fictional labyrinth of time and space (the titular "Crystal Maze"), and is notable for the use of golf ball-sized Swarovski glass crystals (referred to as "time crystals") as a reward for each challenge successfully completed by contestants, and lock-in conditions for contestants that ran out of time or broke a three-strikes rule on a challenge.

The Crystal Maze originally consisted of six series, including five Christmas specials involving teams of children, which aired between 15 February 1990 to 10 August 1995. The first four series and three specials were hosted by Richard O'Brien, with the remaining two series and specials hosted by Edward Tudor-Pole. In October 2016, Channel 4 created a one-off celebrity edition for Stand Up to Cancer, hosted by Stephen Merchant. In 2017, the broadcaster began airing new episodes of the game, after reviving it following the 2016 special, revamping its format and creating several standard episodes along additional celebrity specials, and appointing Richard Ayoade as host. This run was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic after three series with the final episodes airing in 2020.A 10-episode American version of the show, filmed on the same set as the UK version, aired on Nickelodeon in 2020.In March 2016, The Crystal Maze Live Experience opened, allowing the public to buy tickets and compete in a replica of the game show's zones and challenges.