They encountered Sidriss-the-confused, who had bungled again and inadvertently turned Marta into a cat. They returned her the wand and received a firestone in exchange. (The wand then turned Marta from a cat to a dog. Oops. )

Cornered by Raptor in the next room before Smirky scorched him and then flew them to level 2. (Level 1 seemed very short in this quest.)

The dragon flight scene was excessively long and they still never got round to warning him about the brollachan.

Dashed past Hordriss and Grimaldine who were sparring. (Nice quip about test-matches going on for days. Howzat? )

Met by a weakened Hordriss in the undercroft, who asked them to find a health potion for him.

Next-up was the level 2 clue-room. Took a divining-rod and some silver. *Think the "nightsight" would have been better than the silver. Hope that doesn't prove costly. *

Used the divining-rod (Aka that twiggy-thing. Is there an emoticon for ROFLMAO?) to find a spyglass and learned the combo for the trap, which they then entered. This looked dangerous! Collected some gold on the first row, then made very efficient progress thru the puzzle.

Reached Rothbury's stall and used the gold to buy a potion. Summoned Hordriss and gave him the potion and received a key for the descender in thanks.

one of the advisors does mutter "Have we got to shout Malefact three times or something?" as Nicola is leaving the room. I suppose she might already have been familiar with his calling name from watching previous series?

Was it the same advisor who wanted to summon Hordriss to the hidden spyglass room for no apparent reason? If so, I don't think she had grasped why he gave them his contact details in the first place!

The person who was being served by Rothberry was Young Grimwold.

It doesn't look like the same actor to me. Also, Rothberry doesn't name the ogre, whereas Julius Scaramonger specified "young Grimwold" in Series 6. This may simply have been an ogre joke rather than a Knightmare in-joke.

I'm not averse to the odd bit of prompting, but it just seems to me like it's occuring far too often thus far this series

Agreed. At various points in this episode, Treguard deserves to be credited as the fourth advisor! In my opinion, a team on Level 2 should not be getting as much guidance as he gives them. Having said that, the team was in losing status as soon as Nicola left the Level 2 clue table, so in fact, Treguard's help ensured that they carried on until their mistake caught up with them. And yet not all this series' teams were aided so generously by Treguard. If Team 5 had had as many hints about using the Darkness Powder as this team did about using the "rod thingy", the outcome could have been very different.

Hordriss actually admitted that he needed someone else to help him. That has to be a first

You're overlooking Hordriss' pact with Chris at the end of Series 3, and with dungeoneers throughout Series 4 and 5. It was these bargains that added such neutrality and intrigue to his character.

FIRE EXTINGUISHER! If only an advisor had spotted it and told the dungeoneer to take it!

It would have been a more useful find before the fireball encounters!

The trial by spikes... shouldn't they have gone to the side before they went forward? Technically, it would have been possible to complete the puzzle without knowing the combination if the spikes are going to pop up as you pass over the correct square. Also technically, it would mean they stood on about 15 incorrect squares in the process. OK, it would have been evil to kill them as soon as they went forward, but Treguard, seeing as he interrupts so much anyway, could easily have let them know that they should find the right square first.

This team seems smart, very confident (especially the advisor in the middle, Diane, is it?) and genuinely seem to be enjoying their quest.

A few points though...

1. Smirkenorf... how many legs does a Dragon have? I ask because as Smirkenorf takes off, he lifts his legs up to push off, where technically he should fall over.

2. FIRE EXTINGUISHER! If only an advisor had spotted it and told the dungeoneer to take it! For those who didn't notice, it was bang-slap in the middle (after the room where they take the divining rod) in the eye-shield scene.

3. LOVED the expression on Diane's face when she says "Sidestep left", Nicola sidesteps right, and she says "That's your right", it was almost in the style of Chandler from Friends!

4. The clue wasn't very clear about the second object to take. I mean, the divining rod was an obvious choice, but the choice between silver and nightsight was tough, although my instant reaction was to leave the silver behind. Let the records show that it was the blonde advisor who said "I think the silver will be more useful." Our survey said.... uh errrrr!

More loose change before we kick off with Sackless and a big cat. Team gave Sackless her wand which Sackless uses to reveal Marta as the dog she really is. Sorry Marta, but you are. into some tunnels with Reprobate the slimy sneaky moron. Reprobate pursues dungeoneer before Smirky introduces the first episode of can cook, will cook. Smirky goes to level 2 where Hordriss is having a test match with Grim Oldie. Hordriss is hit with a green fireball and asks for succour. That's help for anyone who's not sure. Clue room. Took silver and divining rod. Beardovision leads to a courtyard where the "twiggy thing" reveals a spyglass. Fear is frustrated while Lissard is sssmugnesss. Fear gives out the mandatory vital clues before we move to Trial by Spikes. Found gold and survived to meet Rothberry the dubious chemist and a depressed Grimwold. Bought a potion and summoned Hordriss with an oriental accent. I.E. "Marifat". Hordriss is revived! Rewarded with key before Time out in Beardovision. Majida worries. Then the men in white coats come to take her away.

On a side note, I'm really looking forward to reviewing Barry's quest. Heh...

It was a good episode,

Um Hordiss not as powerful as he believes to be..

I hate that Goblin master.. he is really bad at it.

At least i can keep upto date thanks to this little place.

Probably to do with the fact that, over the last few seasons, his family has been reduced from having a major role to being nothing more than an occasional bit part.

Money must be tight in the Grimwold household these days, with the only income (so far as I can tell) being the appearance fees from his occasional (non-speaking, which pushes the fee down) roles over the last 2 Series'.

With those kind of money worries, and Festus to feed, I think you'd feel miserable too.

Fear

Lord Fear annoyed as ever.

Introduction to Trail By Spikes.

But I have a sinking feeling about whats going to happen next.

That said though, I think Treguard and Majida giving the teams far too much help this Series, straying into making things blatantly obvious at times and therefore (in my opinion) taking some of the fun away from the show, where success or failur is supposed to depend on the teams making the right selections and using the spells at the appropriate time, without any outside help (I mean, I'm not averse to the odd bit of prompting, but it just seems to me like it's occuring far too often thus far this series).

Fear

PS: Alert the world's media, Hordriss actually admitted that he needed someone else to help him. That has to be a first (and a last, knowing that pompous old fool)

The Indian Girl team from Series 6 called Hordriss with "MARIFACT" and he didnt appear, todays team did and he appeared.. DOUBLE STANDARDS!

My little outburst out of the way. An enjoyable episode with more action. Trial By Spikes was good, but nothing compares to the causeways...

But did they choose correctly?