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A second Christmas Special for the audio series is on its way, to be released on Monday (Christmas Eve).

The 2012 Christmas Special is now available to download at http://knightmareaudioseries.webs.com.

Enjoy!

Yay, great to hear Amy in this - I knew she'd be good! Thanks for another festive treat, guys!

Hope everyone on the forum has had a pleasant Christmas. :)

Great work peeps! Loved it! Will have to listen to the earlier one's as i've not heard them all. Hope everyone had a great Christmas, little bit hungover at mo!

This is probably my favourite special so far, and not just because I'm in it XDDD

Massive thanks and congrats to everyone who helped to bring this episode to life, especially the newest member of the Audio Series family, Amy, whose stunning performance as Lindsay really does elevate the finished product to a whole new level.

Every time a new script is brought to life, there are some parts that sound exactly like they were supposed to, some parts that fall a bit flat and sounded much better written down, and some parts that become unexpected gems when read out by our actors. Here are three exchanges that I think turned out particularly well this time:

Pickle: Well, do you think Merlin will ever tire of disguising himself to test our dungeoneers, Master? Surely he has better things to do with his time.
Treguard: Apparently he doesn’t, Pickle - I have talked to him about it, I assure you. Onwards now, team.

Lindsay: Um… what kind of favour?
Hands: Well, I’m about to get me magic rope out, right?
Lindsay: You’re about to get your what out?
Hands: Me magic rope.

Lindsay: How do you know you’ll be safe? Have you got, like, an underground bunker or something?
Maldame: Now look… dear… I know the capabilities of this stronghold better than you. We are not afraid of Lord Fear.

Eyeshield wrote:Lindsay: You’re about to get your what out?
Hands: Me magic rope.

Yes, that was a very funny bit!

I feel so happy that I was invited to do this in the first place. Thanks guys. You were all brilliant

Eyeshield wrote: Lindsay: Um… what kind of favour?
Hands: Well, I’m about to get me magic rope out, right?
Lindsay: You’re about to get your what out?
Hands: Me magic rope.

Definitely a funny part. When I read that on the script I almost died of laughter

Amusing stuff again. I've nattered about this with shadow and canadanne in KMChat this evening.

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Specials 1, Episode 3
Original Release Date: 24th December 2012
Throwback Review Date: 31st March 2016
Score: 4 out of 5 (very good)

The Good: While the previous two specials had a vibe from Knightmare's middle series, this one moves on to mostly feeling like the final few series. I think it evokes the flavour of them very well indeed, especially with the spyglass sequences. The long overdue debut of Amy Davies adds a great deal of fresh spirit to the team.

The door monsters work really well in audio (it's almost like they were specially designed for this format!) and I think they add a huge amount to the series as a whole. I like the succession of characters with different bits of help on Level 1, amongst them Oakley sounding the best we've heard him.

The scene with Merlin and Gundrada is a nice spin on some of the stocks scenes from Knightmare's fourth series. The conveyer belt grinding to a halt is one of the best sound effects we've ever had. Lindsay and Sylvester Hands have a wonderful exchange.

The Maldame scene (with added Margaret Thatcher) is utterly inspired. Dooreen's “first bird” question always makes me smile. Lindsay's surprise demise is a pleasing parody of one of Knightmare's latest and dodgiest deaths.

The Bad: I think the attempt to recreate Pickle's first appearance in Knightmare's sixth series is only partially successful. The scene with the assassin really needs some background ambiance in the same style as the real show. I'd like to give my reading of the Jack Frost riddle a bit more expression.

I'm not sure Smirkenorff should find dragon mints “stimulating” as such. I don't think it was a good idea to reuse Sylvester Hands' “posh girl's name” line from the previous Christmas special with Gundrada, and it doesn't come across nearly so well here. Some of the fireball sound effects are a bit too loud and interfere with the dialogue slightly.

Conclusion: This episode certainly maintains the high standard of the specials compared to the first series; it would only need a few tweaks to make it brilliant.