We tried for about 3 minutes before we concluded it was a waste of time.

Incidentally, I kind of had the feeling this topic would be split from the other, it was starting to deviate slightly off-topic. Interesting that there would have been a green room, and also presumably a 'blue room', where the bluescreen filming would have taken place..

Out of interest, did you practise going through Corridor of Blades sequences with your dungeoneer in the garage?

No, but we did try to practice it in the green room when we knew we were about to face it.

We tried for about 3 minutes before we concluded it was a waste of time.

I don't recall being given any advice, except for the beginning of what turned out to be Lord Fear's room.

Prior to that room, we were asked what we planned to do with the Paladin bottle, and we said we were saving it for Lord Fear. The response was something like "good, because Maldame is only a <such and such> level sorceress and she won't be able to protect you from him".

From this comment, I presume you were actually part of the season 8 winning team, which I just so happened to be watching last night. Since we have it from the horse's mouth (not calling you a horse or anything, like, in fact it's a pleasant surprise to be conversing with one of the actual victorious Knightmare contestants) this affirms my suspicion that I am indeed way too cynical for my own good.

The very fact that the advice you were given, from the sounds of things, was totally "in character" with the quest (level so-and-so sorceresses and that jargon), so to speak, confirms to me that it'd be unlikely the dungeoneer would have been given hints.

I've been watching the odd episode again recently, and I find myself thinking it looks harder than it used to. The communication required between advisors and dungeoneers is immense, and the puzzles are designed to make you jump and rush rather than take your time and give clear instructions. For example, ignoring the difficulty of getting your lefts and rights correct (and reversed, in the case of the corridor of blades) and on time, you occasionally have the difficulty of multiple people shouting possibly conflicting directions simultaneously. Add on the grief of a direction like "go forwards" without any concept of speed/direction/urgency/distance and it's a disaster waiting to happen.

When I originally watched the series back in the early nineties it seemed damn near impossible, and to an eight year old it seemed every single room could be a potential killer. When I consider it, I can understand how hard it must be when you can't see anything and people are screaming different at you simultaneously, but you never really think about it when watching the show, especially not when you're eight.

Out of interest, did you practise going through Corridor of Blades sequences with your dungeoneer in the garage?

I'm wondering if the producers had more direct input than we like to think, especially in the later series to hurry things along a bit.

I don't recall being given any advice, except for the beginning of what turned out to be Lord Fear's room.

Prior to that room, we were asked what we planned to do with the Paladin bottle, and we said we were saving it for Lord Fear. The response was something like "good, because Maldame is only a <such and such> level sorceress and she won't be able to protect you from him".

Currently watching some bits of series 8, and a couple of times I've thought "I wonder if the guy under the helmet is being given the odd hint through his earpiece?"

Not to my knowledge. I've never heard of such a thing from our dungeoneer.

I dunno, maybe I'm not giving these kids the credit they deserve here - it's likely they'd have watched some of the earlier series and know what's going on, hence the knowledgeable banter between quester and advisers. Or maybe it was always like that and I never noticed until now. Perhaps I'm just a cynical old fool.

Actually, you'd be surprised how disorienting it was having not seen the earlier episodes of the season. Many many things were new and unknown to us. We had no foreknowledge of whether an NPC was a bad guy or not.

I've been watching the odd episode again recently, and I find myself thinking it looks harder than it used to. The communication required between advisors and dungeoneers is immense, and the puzzles are designed to make you jump and rush rather than take your time and give clear instructions. For example, ignoring the difficulty of getting your lefts and rights correct (and reversed, in the case of the corridor of blades) and on time, you occasionally have the difficulty of multiple people shouting possibly conflicting directions simultaneously. Add on the grief of a direction like "go forwards" without any concept of speed/direction/urgency/distance and it's a disaster waiting to happen.