Knightmare - Series 1 : 1987

Transmission

Monday 7th September - Monday 26th October 1987 - 8 episodes

Teams

Quests

Quest objects were not specified

Winning Quests

None

Longest Quest

Team 6: 44mins

Shortest Quest

Team 2 and Team 5: 12mins

First Characters

Treguard, Folly, Merlin, Casper (the Key), Cedric, Gibbet, Lillith, Gumboil, The Knight, Olgarth & Granitas (walls).

Knightmare went out for the first time in 1987, with a short series of 8 episodes. Jonathan Morley recalls that filming finished after the first episode was broadcast and remembers that filming took also place during the first two weeks of the new school term!. Jonathan was one of the advisors in the last team of series 1 (episodes 6-8).

Many thanks also to Peter Lee, Danny Reeves, Nick Gates, John Burkhart and Neil Jones for their help with this section. This page has pictures and clips from the very first episode. Treguard introduces us to the dungeon:

"Welcome watchers of illusion, to the castle of confusion. Phase with us now, for this is the time of adventure. I, Treguard issue the challenge. Beyond that portal is the dungeon of deceit, which I alone have mastered."

"But for those of you who cross the boundaries of time must master it also.
The first is now without, so enter, stranger."

Sound Clip (124KB)

The following taken from 'Knightmare In 1987' sent in by Jim:

Mary Whitehouse (a well-known moralist) led a campaign to stop Knightmare, she felt that the program could damage young minds. The 'popular press' picked up on it and there were a few unfavorable stories in the press about Knightmare. The 'moral minority' felt that Knightmare was too violent and scary for young children. They also felt that the contestants shouldn't 'die' when they lose.

The following taken from 'The Quest' Issue 1-3 -
An interview with Knightmare's Producer Tim Child:

The programme has had its critics. Notably Mary Whitehouse in 1987, who described it as "damaging." What do you say to the critics?

"Well, Mary Whitehouse did actually apologise after she saw the programme. The newspapers ambush poor old Mary, and they say, "There's this new television show coming out and they're killing children on it. What do you say to that?" And she's got no choice! She says, "I think that's terrible," and the next thing that happens is there's a headline saying "This Thing Must Stop" She's caught betwixt and between - once she's put herself up as having had an opinion she's openly abused by certain elements of the press. Mary had in fact never seen the show. I know that in that area we are fireproof, because right from the beginning we took so much trouble making sure that we did not behave in an irresponsible way.""

This could explain why Treguard always said something along the lines of:

"...will our dungeoneer come to a sticky end, and if so, why should you care, for here nothing is real, and everything surely is an illusion. Join us again for Knightmare, and remember, it's only a game, isn't it?"

Also the fact that dungeoneers are always shown alive at the end of their quest, after perishing in the dungeon:

"...although he perished in the dungeon, has survived in what you call your time."

Treguard was played by Hugo Myatt
Merlin was played by John Woodnutt
Lillith was played by Mary Miller
Folly and Gibbet was played by Alec Westwood
Olgarth and Granitas was played by Guy Standeven
Cedric and Casper was played by Lawrence Werber
Gumboil and The Knight was played by Edmund Dehn

Devised and Written by Tim Child
Illustrations by David Rowe
Computer Animation by Robert Harris
Produced by Tim Child
Directed by Sally Freeman

Continue to the First Quest

As of November 2005 this section was restructured as follows...
- Team 1: covers the first quest (13 mins)
- Team 2: covers the (very short) second quest (4 rooms, 12 mins)
- Team 3: covers the third quest (34 mins)
- Team 4: covers the fourth quest (38 mins)
- Team 5: covers the entire (short) fifth quest (8 rooms, 12 mins)
- Team 6: covers the sixth quest (44 mins)