Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1
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Episode 13 is, quite simply, stupendous! It has that late level 2 tension that I love so much, and I think the voice work and editing are top-notch. What I think works particularly well is that 10+ minute period at the end of level 1 and start of level 2 where they don't meet any characters - it's just the four team members pitted against the hostile and inhospitable environment of the Dungeon, with only Treguard to offer them help and reassurance, and he's making it perfectly clear that he'd just as well like to see the dungeoneer die horribly as get through the next chamber alive. This kind of situation, I think, was when Knightmare was at its best, and I think we do a bang-up job of paying homage to that here!
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Episode 14 available at http://knightmareaudioseries.webs.com.
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Episode 15 is now available at http://knightmareaudioseries.webs.com.
The final episode of the series will be released in early October.
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Some funny lines in this episode:
"It's a half-digested potato, actually."
"Do you understand all that I have said?" "Do I, Steph?" Haha! Such a dungeoneer-like response.
I'm enjoying Rosey's bossy advisor that keeps talking over everyone else. The one with the dreary monotonous voice reminds me of Father Fitzgerald from the Father Ted Christmas Special.
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Some funny lines in this episode:
"It's a half-digested potato, actually."
"Do you understand all that I have said?" "Do I, Steph?" Haha! Such a dungeoneer-like response.
I'm enjoying Rosey's bossy advisor that keeps talking over everyone else. The one with the dreary monotonous voice reminds me of Father Fitzgerald from the Father Ted Christmas Special.
That guy with the monotone voice is me.
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Just to let you know that the final episode of the series will be released in a week - on the 8th of October.
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Can't wait
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umm i've been waiting all day are you uploading it or what?
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I'm glad you've been eagerly waiting for its release - Mediafire has been playing up. It's now up though - Episode 16 - the last in the series - at http://knightmareaudioseries.webs.com
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yay! i'll enjoy this one
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"It's a Womble!"
"It's not a Womble."
You won't believe how much I laughed upon hearing that
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This is my breakdown of scriptwriters for the Audio Series. Here are a few notes to bear in mind when digesting the data I have collated:
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The entire Audio Series was produced/edited (whichever you prefer) by Ross Thompson, with a few bits of "help" from Jake Collins (which Ross could undoubtedly have done without!) for Episodes 11-14.
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Scott's advisors (Episodes 12-14) were created by Gemma Dwarwood.
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Finn's quest (Episodes 15-16) was adapted by Jake Collins from a quest outline by Ross Thompson, incorporating some ideas (including the names and personalities of the whole team) from Gemma Dwarwood.
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Opening and closing music is not included in any Runtime.
EPISODE 1:
Total Runtime - 26:37
Jake Collins - 19:12 - 72%
Ross Thompson - 7:25 - 28%
EPISODE 2:
Total Runtime - 26:30
Jake Collins - 17:04 - 65%
Ross Thompson - 9:26 - 35%
EPISODE 3:
Total Runtime - 25:17
Jake Collins - 16:33 - 65%
Ross Thompson - 8:44 - 35%
EPISODE 4:
Total Runtime - 26:28
Jake Collins - 26:28 - 100%
EPISODE 5:
Total Runtime - 26:30
Rosey Collins - 19:43 - 75%
Jake Collins - 4:03 - 15%
Ross Thompson - 2:44 - 10%
EPISODE 6:
Total Runtime - 26:29
Jake Collins - 16:17 - 61%
Ross Thompson - 5:15 - 20%
Rosey Collins - 4:57 - 19%
EPISODE 7:
Total Runtime - 26:27
Jake Collins - 24:50 - 94%
Ross Thompson - 1:37 - 6%
EPISODE 8:
Total Runtime - 26:02
Ross Thompson - 22:55 - 88%
Jake Collins - 3:07 - 12%
EPISODE 9:
Total Runtime - 26:20
Jake Collins - 26:20 - 100%
EPISODE 10:
Total Runtime - 26:29
Ross Thompson - 15:20 - 58%
Jake Collins - 11:09 - 42%
EPISODE 11:
Total Runtime - 26:30
Jake Collins - 15:39 - 59%
Ross Thompson - 10:51 - 41%
EPISODE 12:
Total Runtime - 26:30
Jake Collins - 12:49 - 48%
Ross Thompson - 8:24 - 32%
Rosey Collins - 5:17 - 20%
EPISODE 13:
Total Runtime - 26:32
Jake Collins - 25:04 - 94%
Ross Thompson - 1:28 - 6%
EPISODE 14:
Total Runtime - 28:29
Jake Collins - 25:53 - 91%
Ross Thompson - 2:36 - 9%
EPISODE 15:
Total Runtime - 26:48
Jake Collins - 25:47 - 96%
Gemma Dwarwood - 1:01 - 4%
EPISODE 16:
Total Runtime - 27:51
Jake Collins - 27:51 - 100%
WHOLE SERIES:
Total Runtime - 425:29
Jake Collins - 298:06 - 70%
Ross Thompson - 105:45 - 23.8%
Rosey Collins - 29:57 - 6%
Gemma Dwarwood - 1:01 - 0.2%
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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: Series 1, Episode 1
Original Release Date: 12th July 2010
Throwback Review Date: 10th March 2016
Score: 1 out of 5 (not bad)
The Good: The main thing this episode has going for it is that it convinced me (and others, I'm sure) that the whole idea of a Knightmare Audio Series could be made to work, which I had never really believed before I heard the finished product. Aspects of Knightmare such as Treguard interacting with the Dungeon-bound characters, and having the teams answer riddles with characters such as Merlin and the wall monsters, were obviously going to translate well into audio.
This episode even has a few quotable lines that were able to reach something like their full potential, mainly from Rosey as Gretel. Additionally, I always thought that calling Merlin's steps with noises rather than actions for this series was a very good idea, and I still do. A particular treat in this episode is Gemma Dwarwood's frighteningly accurate horse impression!
The Bad: Like all pilot episodes (even in the world of professional radio and TV) it is a very long way from being perfect. The script is largely terrible. Some of the Treguard spiel near the beginning was made up off the top of my head, which taught me always to have everything written down first in future for this particular project.
Many of the voices are not quite there yet (my impression of Merlin keeps going too low, for example) and some of the pitching that Ross did on many of the lines is absolutely crazy and sounds pretty bad. The main example in this particular episode is that Gretel is slightly pitched down from the impression Rosey did of her – yes, Gretel! Treguard, of course, sounds quite awful, partly because I haven't at all got to grips with playing him yet and partly because he, too, has been pitched down. (As one comment on Youtube for a slightly later episode rather astutely puts it, Treguard sounds much too “mournful” in these early episodes.)
There are lots of other small niggles too, such as the fact that Granitas does not have his echo yet, and that having the advisors “rhubarb” to represent discussion sounds like utter rubbish. However, it was important to be able to identify all these issues and deal with them at various points in the future, which is a big part of the purpose of a pilot episode.
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Conclusion:** This episode is a clear demonstration that the format can work successfully, which is all anyone should really ask of it at this stage! Thankfully it's not quite as bad as I'm always expecting when I re-listen to it.
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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: Series 1, Episode 2
Original Release Date: 3rd August 2010
Throwback Review Date: 11th March 2016
Score: 2 out of 5 (nearly there)
The Good: I've always been a fan of Jacob Ward's teenaged voice as a very petulant Dylan. Andy Marshall demonstrates how to play an advisor in a fun and engaging way for those who have the vocal skills to do it. I still like the use of the DREAMS spell as a nice bit of book homage, and Merlin's associated dialogue (“Now it's time for me to return to my own dreams” etc) is good.
The McGrew scene still stands up quite well. I like the chessboard simple starter (even though there's at least one line too many of the team discussing it) as it's just the sort of thing that might have been used (but wasn't) on the real show.
The Bad: I've always said that the Audio Series is at its best when it manages to evoke the original Knightmare in some way, perhaps atmospherically or by successfully paying homage to a particular scene or team. By the same token, when the events of the Audio Series do not match up with what might happen on the real show and thus fail to evoke Knightmare in my mind, I can't help feeling a bit disappointed. The whole thing with Merlin giving one vital spell for one correct answer and a bonus, non-essential spell for a second correct answer therefore does not sit very well with me, as on Knightmare you either need a spell or you don't.
I don't like the pitching down on Hansel because it interferes with my comedy German voice. Treguard jumps to a wild conclusion about where the catacombite came from for no reason. The Mogdred scene has potential but the end result is not quite there. The background music on the opening poem is too loud.
Conclusion: This episode is definitely an improvement on the first, so it does its job!
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