A transcript of the Challenge documentary shown before the broadcasts of Series 3 episodes in December 2002.
Knightmare on Challenge?
[Christmas 2002]
Series 3 Knightmare repeats started on Challenge on 23rd December as part of the Christmas Cult Selection season on Challenge. A short Knightmare documentary (approx 3 minutes) was also shown immediately before each broadcast, featuring various clips from Series 3 and contributions. A video of the documentary can found in the Clips section, and a transcript follows here:
Voiceover: "ITV's pioneering virtual reality adventure Knightmare has a special place in the hearts of children born in the late 70s. The name might not ring any bells, but mention a terrified kid with a bucket on his head, and suddenly you're back behind the sofa."
Tim Child: "The kids were really the stars. The great games playing age is in that last few months when raging hormones are just about kicking in, but they're not quite there."
"Give me games players of that age, with the ability to communicate with each other, and you'll always get a great game."
"It sort of started in the mid-1980s. My eldest sister at the time was a sidekick for Clive Sinclair (who invented home computers and things like that). So the idea of taking the idea of an interactive computer game, and operating it in a television scenario, and playing it live in a television studio came about."
"If they tilted their heads far enough back, they could see the clue tables across the room. When they did that, they were told that the blindfold would go on underneath if they didn't behave themselves."
Hugo Myatt: "Once you got into the game, there were no re-takes, and that, I think, is one of the reasons it has this feeling it's on the edge. I mean you do sit on the edge of your seat, you get so involved. Their decision making was incredible."
Tim Child: "The adventure is their adventure to play. Its not just a series of hurdles that they have to go through. We went out of our way to make it a serious challenge."
"This was a major experience being away from home by some youngsters of 11 years old, staying in hotels for the first time, in a large studio full of wizards, monsters and goodness knows what else. It's quite amazing how well they stood up to it really."
Voiceover: "Knightmare was tough, but these kids already had a sense of where they were going in life. Out of 70 teams, only 8 completed the game. Dealing with fools and maniacs, teamwork and stress, leading to eventual failure and off-hand dismissal, were adult lessons learnt at a tender age. And where are these bright kids now? Well, you're probably working for them."
A Challenge? ident from February 2003 showing Knightmare on the TV Listings.
Additionally, Challenge produced short trailers for Knightmare during 2003. These can also be downloaded in the Clips section. The ratings for Knightmare on Challenge during the period January-June 2003 can be seen in the pdf file attached to this article.
 1062_Challenge_Ratings_2003.pdf | [Viewing Figures for Knightmare on Challenge TV from January-June 2003] | 9 Kb |
 Challenge Documentary | [Knightmare Documentary on Challenge (Dec 2002)] | 9641 Kb |
| ChallengeAd1.avi | [Trailer for Knightmare on Challenge (Spring 2003). Thanks to Pete. Requires XVid] | 1576 Kb |
| ChallengeAd2.avi | [Trailer for Knightmare on Challenge (Summer 2003). Thanks to Pete. Requires Xvid] | 4750 Kb |