Series 3 Appreciation Week
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Ah, series 3. I'm always a bit surprised whenever anyone says they're lukewarm about it because as far as I'm concerned it poos and wees over everything that followed. It's like the archetypal third album where a really exciting, innovative band finally manages to harness all its ingredients to maximum effect and produces an absolute classic.
It's true that series 3 coincides with what I think of as the golden period of my childhood when everything was fun and exciting and there was nothing to worry about. But then, the same could be said for series 4 or 5 so I don't just think it's nostalgia - there's a reason some KM memories ring louder than others.
I've written elsewhere, at tedious length, how I prefer the pre-eye shield dungeon so I won't repeat myself here. But IMHO the series three atmosphere IS Knightmare in many ways.
If I ever write the script for Knightmare: The Movie (which I won't, obviously) then many set pieces will be inspired by series 3; the minecart, the hobgoblin, morghanna's causeway to name just a few of the best ever KM moments.
As for repetition, this is an issue that always dogged the show and here it's less of a problem than in most other series.
I think I actually respect series 3 for sticking to its principles and being extremely hard and unforgiving. I feel other series sometimes buckled under the weight of expectation and greased the wheels of success a little... I also think the fact that no teams won this series helped establish the mythos of KM as an impossible challenge which no one ever completed - something which I'm sure helps rather than hinders its legacy.
I could write more about this important piece of television but I'll shut up now.
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I really sorry for the team who fell of the ledge while being chased by an Axe! That room was almost impossible as it was without making the team panic even more.
Another lowlight for me. The room was impossible to navigate. Plus the fact it was only used once makes me think that the producers felt it didn't work.
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I thought they gave the team that room deliberately to try and kill them off.
Had they survived they deserved to win. Haven't seen series 3 since it first arid on Challenge ten years ago, I really hope they show it again soon.
I think all series were quite repetitive, but it's something kids never notice too much, kids seems to like watching the same things over and over, lol
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I thought they gave the team that room deliberately to try and kill them off.
It seems to me that they decided to kill them off while the room was in progress. The art, while pretty, doesn't really define where the path is, and their final, fatal fall - one step from the exit! - seems completely harsh. The section of track they're on at that point is 2D from the watchers' point of view - how were they meant to know?
Also, what could they have done? Sidestep slightly to the left? From the angle we saw, the path could just as well have been a sheer drop to that direction as well...
Man on wire.
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Part of me wonders if the nigh-impossible difficulty in Series 3 is a reaction to not one, but two teams winning in Series 2 - a number that was perhaps seen as too many, teams figuring out the show quickly enough so that appearances in Level 3 were becoming much more regular. If another two teams were to win in Series 3, the show wouldn't be seen as difficult at all and viewers may have lost interest.
For no one to win perhaps was too much, and led to the standard one-team-per-series wins that lasted for the rest of the show's run - not completely engineered that way, but teams seen as particularly good and watchable given something of a helping hand as they approached victory.
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Series 3 is my favourite by a mile so I feel obliged to add my tuppeny worth.
It was the first series as I saw as a child and I was entranced from the off so it holds a lot of sentimental value, however I can see this doesn't represent a coherent arguement so here are some more reasons:
It contains the original (and best) life force sequence.
That pointless eyeshield thingamyjig hasn't yet been introduced.
There are no wooden glades, market squares or dragon rides which start appearing after Series 3. Er, I'm sorry fans of later series but Knightmare is set in a dungeon. Dungeons tend to be very much an indoor affair.
Treguard doesn't have an irritating sidekick.
Goblins. And that terrifying horn. DER NEEEER, DER NEEEER.
I liked Motley.
The team of wallies he failed to tell Motley about the snake behind him and who had a very short quest.
The spindizzy at the start of level two, the three steps to Merlin and the minecart ride.
Scary floating swords and axes.
Morghanna. She makes Lord Fear look like a Butlins holiday rep.
And in particular I like it because it was so very difficult. I feel that Hobgoblin's post sums this up very well. After Series 3 teams never failed to get through level one. If everyone is going to get through level one then why not just have two levels instead of three?
My one sore point - the killing of Cliff. I've written a long and rambling post about this on the episode thread but basically I believe they were a very strong team who didn't actually do anything wrong, and were the team who should have gone down in the history books as the only Series 3 winners.
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After Series 3 teams never failed to get through level one.
Sorry to be an irritating pedant, but Richard from Series 8 died in level one.
Pedantry isn't always irritating, but can be considered so when it seeks to correct without seeking to fully inform. In Series 4-8, there were 3 teams out of 38 who failed to reach Level 2: Team 5 of Series 5 (dungeoneer Jenna - causeway), Team 8 of Series 5 (Duncan - Corridor of Blades, somewhere that wasn't Level 2 but did follow completion of Level 1), Team 1 of Series 8 as mentioned (Richard - dragon fire).
Ironically, because Series 3 had more quests than any later phase, we saw more S3 teams complete Level 1 (9 by my count) than in Series 4, 5, 6, 7 or 8.
There are no wooden glades, market squares or dragon rides which start appearing after Series 3. Er, I'm sorry fans of later series but Knightmare is set in a dungeon. Dungeons tend to be very much an indoor affair.
While all the Series 3 (and Series 2) locations were hand painted and therefore might have had a similar dungeon feel, several were meant to be outside the castle walls. I wrote about this in one of my articles for the website so I won't retread old ground (so to speak) here.
If everyone is going to get through level one then why not just have two levels instead of three?
Eventually they did. It proved somewhat controversial.
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Pooka and Drassil,
I've no doubt you are correct about the teams who died in level one after series three (I still have a long way to go on my quest to re-watch every episode on Challenge and youtube).
I guess my point is that post series 3, level one just seems a bit too breezy.
Lots of eyeshield scenes, so no need to actually guide the dungeoneer.
Information given out for free.
Questions answered incorrectly.
Wrong clue items picked up.
Never mind, we'll take you into level two anyway.
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