THE KNIGHTMARE WINNERS' GALLERY
As suggested by Steven Webberley, here is a section of TES to compare Knightmare's eight winning teams. I am starting the ball rolling today with some facts and my personal opinions about them, but if you have something to add or argue then please do send it in for this section. A red asterisk (*) signifies a sibling team. Here are the marks out of five details:
Intelligence: Did the team know what they were doing all the way to victory?
Character: How much of a card was the dungeoneer, or even the advisors?
Luck and help: A low rating is good here - how deserving was the victory?
Shelf Life: Do they stand out in our memories, or fade into the background?
Team: Mark, Jonathan, Matthew and Daniel.
Home town: Witney, Oxfordshire.
Quest: To free Gretel.
Time on Knightmare: Series 2, episodes 3, 4 and 5.
Details: They won a game of cards and bribed Gumboil in level one, charmed Cedric and froze a catacombite in level two, and cheered up a depressed gargoyle and put a dragon to sleep in level three.
Intelligence: 3 Certainly the best up to that point in series 2.
Character: 2 A bit wooden and boring.
Luck and help: 4 They had no riddles from Cedric, and no level three objects.
Shelf Life: 4 Mainly because they were the first ever winners.
Team: Julian, Vaughn, Becca and Mary.
Home town: Banbury, Oxfordshire.
Quest: The Talisman.
Time on Knightmare: Series 2, episodes 11, 12 and 13.
Details: They cast a spell against Mildread and evaded the Automatum in level one, solved a riddle from Gretel and bamboozled Gumboil and Olaf in level two, and blocked Medusa's stare and turned out the lights in level three.
Intelligence: 4 They seemed to know what they were doing, particularly Julian.
Character: 3 Julian was quite animated, and Becca stood out from the advisors.
Luck and help: 3 They only had to use two objects during the entire quest.
Shelf Life: 4 Mainly because of Becca's hat, and Julian's subsequent association with TES.
Team: Dickon, Dominic, Tim and Pravine. *
Home town: Torquay, Devon.
Quest: The Crown.
Time on Knightmare: Series 4, episodes 10, 11, 12 and 13.
Details: They agreed to deliver a potion for Hordriss and bribed Fatilla with a horn in level one, grew smaller with a downer pill and turned Brother Mace into a giant lizard in level two, and defied Malice and beat the Corridor of Blades in level three.
Intelligence: 5 Faultless, including nine correct door monster questions.
Character: 5 Dickon was a real breath of fresh air, and Tim was very good.
Luck and help: 3 They had no riddles from Oakley, a free ride through Ariadne’s lair, and no Block and Tackle in level two, which had killed the previous two teams.
Shelf Life: 5 Perhaps because they were the first winners I ever recorded.
Team: Ben, Jonathan, Ray and John.
Home town: Exeter, Devon.
Quest: The Shield.
Time on Knightmare: Series 5, episodes 6, 7, 8 and 9.
Details: They solved a dispute between Motley and Elita in level one, pleased Gwendoline and foiled Skarkill in level two, and gave Hordriss a sphinx bone and froze Aesandre in level three.
Intelligence: 2 Somewhat haphazard and disorganised.
Character: 2 Again, a bit wooden.
Luck and help: 1 They had no extra help that I can see.
Shelf Life: 3 The photos on the website certainly help.
Team: Ben, James, Alan and Nat. *
Home town: Salisbury, Wiltshire.
Quest: The Crown.
Time on Knightmare: Series 6, episodes 8, 9, 10 and 11.
Details: They saved Sidriss from falling in love with Sylvester Hands in level one, bartered with Greystagg and scared Skarkill with a pooka in level two, and evaded Ariadne and made a tricky magical choice in level three.
Intelligence: 4 They were all very much on the ball.
Character: 3 They were all a certain early '90s laddish type.
Luck and help: 3 They needed only one object each in levels one and three, and were not given a dud third object in the level two clue room.
Shelf Life: 4 Stood out more than the previous year's winning Ben.
Team: Julie, Helen, Sam and Helen.
Home town: Leek, Staffordshire.
Quest: The Sword.
Time on Knightmare: Series 7, episodes 10, 11 and 12.
Details: They saved Romahna from the clutches of Raptor in level one, got Sylvester Hands drunk and saved Hordriss from being frozen in level two, and collected the parts of Grimaldine's arken shield and set up Greystagg's revenge on Lord Fear in level three.
Intelligence: 5 They mastered some tricky brainwork.
Character: 5 Julie's scene with Sylvester Hands is worthy of Dickon and Brother Mace.
Luck and help: 1 All on their own merit.
Shelf Life: 4 Knightmare's only all-girl winning team.
Team: Barry, Simon, Derek and Daniel. *
Home town: Unknown, Worcestershire.
Quest: The Shield.
Time on Knightmare: Series 7, episodes 12, 13, 14 and 15.
Details: They pieced together Grimaldine's staff in level one, saved Hordriss from Lissard in disguise as Marta in level two, and saved the Dungeon from a troll in level three.
Intelligence: 4 They knew pretty well what was going on.
Character: 5 Some find Barry's particular style of dungeoneering endearing and funny. As for me, I'm not saying.
Luck and help: 2 The short cut they used wasn't really that much of one.
Shelf Life: 5 All thanks to Barry and his antics.
Team: Dunston, Oliver, Alan and Alex. *
Home town: St. Albans, Hertfordshire.
Quest: The Crown.
Time on Knightmare: Series 8, episodes 8, 9 and 10.
Details: They returned Stiletta's knife and found the Short Cut in level one, and rescued Hordriss from Lord Fear in level three.
Intelligence: 2 Very average, really.
Character: 2 Nothing remarkable.
Luck and help: 5 Don't get me started.
Shelf Life: 4 Although not necessarily in a warm and fuzzy way.