We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 8 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!
Episode: Specials 2, Episode 1
Original Release Date: 24th June 2016
Throwback Review Date: 19th February 2018
Score: 5 out of 5 (brilliant)
The Good: I stand by all the praise I heaped on this episode in my original review, including the brilliance of the voice work on Gary, Eric, Colin and Eamon, the effectiveness of the first appearances of Pixel and the Oracle, the carefully judged inclusion of a whole load of stuff from the Knightmare books, and the smooth transition from Pickle to Majida. Also, it's particularly amusing to hear the Oracle's ramblings after not having listened to the episode for a while, and the same is true of the whole pestle and mortar mispronunciation sequence.
The (Not Really) Bad: As Gary bothers to answer Dooris after she's said her closing words, it would have been good to delay the drawbridge sound effect until after Gary's reply, so we could imagine that Dooris might have heard it before she disappeared. Of course it's very obliging of Aesandre and Calliban not to speak to each other until Gary and his advisors have quite finished their exchange at the start of the first spyglass sequence, but I still feel that this small contrivance is fully justified artistically.
Conclusion: Excellent stuff, well conceived and skilfully realised.
