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Okay, 24th/25th Sept should work for me!

Realistically, I’ll probably only be able to do two days. Even that will involve bribing my wife with a lot of gold bars and rubies!

Looks like we’ve all found ourselves in Level 3.

Take care in these unsettling times. We will beat the challenge!

Merry Christmas all!

Haven’t been around much recently but KM is never far from my thoughts.

Hope you all have a few days of peace if not outright merriment.

Would love be to be there if I can make it work logistically!

Would be fun to play test if I can make the date!

Sad to see a new poll of the best 50 kids TV shows in this week's Radio Times doesn't actually include the best kids TV show of all time.

Finders Keepers is in there but no Knightmare. Seriously?!

Panel of experts indeed...

The one chink in Knightmare’s format is its occasional slow pace. However, if new episodes were made the following could/should be done:

1). Selective editing: yes, absolutely. I was watching the Crystal Maze the other day - a pretty fast paced show - and it occurred to me that Knightmare wasn't that different. People go into rooms, complete puzzles, navigate obstacles, solve riddles. The main difference is that in TCM the time limit is always ticking away and rooms can only last up to three minutes. Any thinking time is done with the time limit not only on screen but very real for the contestants. With KM a lot of thinking/dithering was on screen with only a hypothetical danger of life force running out. A sense of urgency was sometimes lost.

I don't know how heavily quests were edited before broadcast but I get the feeling that editing out shots of teams ‘thinking’ could easily speed things up. Because there is no formal time limit this could be done without the viewer realising. However, I don't think a past tense, ‘highlights’ style narration would work - events need to be ostensibly in real time or tension will be lost - we need to feel as if we're following a live quest, not dipping in and out (similarly, live sport is more exciting than highlights). But editing can nonetheless definitely be used to increase pace. (Going further - IMHO too far - life force could reset for each room and be an animation the advisors could actually see. This would give an ever present time limit - though it would probably be a very different show then. That said, perhaps causeway style timers could be used more extensively without too many issues).

2). Employ a non-linear distribution model: streaming, in other words. Netflix shows don't have fixed running times because there's no schedule to follow - episodes can be as long/short as the content requires. This means no padding to get to 16 x 25 mins (or whatever). KM in the internet age could zip along nicely.

3). Removal of eyeshield sequences (and other passive paths) - or at least use sparingly. They are boring, repetitive and prolong room exits unnecessarily!

I imagine these phrases were used because they sound good - trying to decipher them is probably a dangerous rabbit hole to climb into. However...

Perhaps worth noting that Akram means 'most generous' in Arabic. Makes sense when Hordriss is giving something - be it the eye shield, trophies, life etc. It could be used sarcastically when he's tricked...

Tom has just turned up in the "Steele Wars" Star Wars podcast. This is a podcast in which Australian comedian Steele Saunders chats to fans/people involved with SW.

I hadn't realised (living mainly in a bubble of parental responsibility ) that Tom was in The Force Awakens but despite his small role he provides some interesting info about the making of the film.

Probably only of real interest to those who enjoy a SW geek-out but if you want to listen then search iTunes for Steele Wars - Tom's in episode 97.

As far as I’m concerned, the goblins will always remain one of the most iconic aspects of Knightmare. I know in practice they were largely a hurry-up mechanism but their scuttling little runs implied a real threat back when I was a child (and I think speak to our deep animalistic fears about being hunted; ever had a dream in which you’re being chased? That was the goblins a nutshell).

However, it’s the chilling blast of the goblin horn that’s the masterstroke. Sound design is so important and the producers just got this one spot on. It just says ‘Knightmare’ to me in the same way as the electronic pulse of the TARDIS says ‘Dr Who’ or the thrum of a lightsaber says ‘Star Wars’. I suppose this is the reason why people complained about the new horn sound in KMGW.

So many heart-stopping moments associated with something that at first appears to be only a minor detail…

I vaguely remember this. Federation of Lost International Property does ring a bell...?

Thought it was about time I introduced Hobgoblin Jr (also known as Henry).

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Wow, these are fantastic! Thanks for posting.

Although this doesn’t necessarily have to ‘lead to’ anything (it’s a joyous piece of fandom in its own right) it does get me very excited about VR and the possible future of Knightmare.

The buzz coming out of E3 seems to say that VR which actually works (as opposed to the awful 90s version) has arrived on the high-street and is going to revolutionise gaming and story-telling. As KM straddles both these strands surely there’s some kind of future application?

As far as gaming is concerned, being able to be a dungeoneer in a fully immersive 3d world would be the ultimate gaming experience for a KM fan? This moves the brand away from TV but I for one would still be very interested in such an idea. The recent announcement that the Crystal Maze is coming back as a live experience suggests that retro shows might have a future that’s more ‘doing’ than ‘viewing’ and a well-written Knightmare VR (!) with great puzzles, stories and characters could be a great success.

That’s not to say consumption of KM has to be so active though. The sort of 360 degree film-making that Google have been exploring – whereby action happens all around and the viewer chooses where/when to look – could also be used by the Watchers as a quest is in progress. No two viewers would have the exact same experience and quests could be viewed repeatedly from different angles (this is far more interesting than the viewer simply following the dungeoneer’s POV exactly as this actually removes the drama of seeing them in relation to hazards – which is what creates tension in the KM viewing experience).

I think that considering this technology as a ‘sight’ potion equivalent misses the point slightly. Aside from the fact this breaks a core gameplay mechanic, this headset isn’t for the dungeoneer – it’s for the player/viewer!

If I had time I’d think about all this in a bit more depth – it’s exciting!

I don’t think I have much to say about Geek Week that I haven’t said already. It’s a very watchable quest and, viewed in the context of how and why it was produced, does a great job of capturing the feel of the early series. The extended version is much improved with an additional floor puzzle and wall monster (shame no riddles though). I do still think the first five minutes are weak and it’s a shame to think this was many people's first sight of KM. Similarly, although it’s harsh to criticise the pacing/editing, such technical issues probably didn’t enhance the first impression it was making on younger viewers. That said, YouTube comments were pretty favourable…

As to the thorny issue of using YouTubers, I can absolutely understand why this was done and was a much better way of raising the show’s profile than using forum members. You need teams with a bit of personality and even in the normal run of things I suspect the producers would have tried to pick teams who were both competent and entertaining. However…

I suppose my main beef is that, for something which intended to capture the spirit of early KM, the team themselves (or at least the advisors) weren’t very KM; they just didn’t seem nerdy enough to me (it was called Geek Week for a reason!).

Of course, I’m basing this on not very much at all; I don’t really know them and they’re obviously very intelligent. I just felt some…cognitive dissonance or something I suppose…whereby these cool kids – who probably enjoy weird things like going out and talking to people - had been dropped into an alien world. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with trendy haircuts and skinny jeans but I didn’t see many of them at the KM Convention.

I always thought that KM gave kids who never got picked for the school football team a chance to be heroes; the use of wildly popular contestants jarred slightly.

Ok, I’m exaggerating slightly (and generalising appallingly) for comic effect – but at the same time this is sort of how I feel. Many apologies to all the KM fans who don’t consider themselves nerdy – this is just my personal perspective and says more about me than anything.

Just opened mine and it looks absolutely awesome. I'm just so pleased (and still kind of amazed) that this exists!

I look forward to poring over at my leisure.

The most interesting thing about KMVR is that it demonstrates the concept Tim Child had in mind back in the mid-eighties. It was only technical limitations that forced him to develop 'a glorified version of blind man's buff ' instead. At least, that's my reading of it...

Interesting that he was still pushing in this direction years later despite the huge success of his happy accident. Fortunately he seems to now accept the strength of the original format.

As for KMVR appreciation...I appreciate the effort to bring KM back! SMDM has a lot of potential but looks almost impossible in its current form. A few tweaks and it could be another lethal grand challenge in the spirit of the CoB.

A few brief thoughts:

Also my least favourite series. I'm one of those who feel it was aimed at a younger audience than previous series, though the differences are possibly in tone and style rather than content. I was 13 when it was first broadcast and it was the first time I felt 'maybe I'm getting a little old for this.' It just 'feels' more like a kids show than the other series.

For example, I cannot stand the cringe inducing Snapper-Jack - even though he was bringing riddling back to the show he's basically the Jar Jar binks of the KM universe! Just one of several editorial decisions which were pitched a tad too young. The kid-friendly pie lifeforce being another main culprit.

The reach wand was an appalling idea - the rune lock was tedious viewing (I'm always reminded of team 5 who were so useless trying to get out of the rune lock room that the pursuing goblins were 'forced' to stand staring at the dungeoneer for 5 minutes before she made it to the door).

For a very successful, established programme the series has a terrible, rushed, 'piloty' feel to it. The environments lack personality (though I appreciate the return to dungeon roots) and it's a great shame that gameplay mechanics break down badly at the end of the series - not sure this was necessary.

The best thing I can say for S8 is that is makes me slightly less sad the show was cancelled when it was! It could have turned out to be a transitional series but it could also have been a fatal step on a slippery slope towards KMVR style content. Guess we'll never know...

The best ‘post eyeshield’ series - consistently entertaining, likeable teams and characters, varied quests etc. I only have a few minutes so I’ll focus on the things I don’t like (cos that’s more interesting!).

There’s a subtle stylistic shift in this series which makes the visuals particularly unsatisfactory to me - a lot of the real world photography often seems to be almost completely untreated. Although S4’s purple skies looked horrible, I think S6 actually goes too far the other way; it’s almost as if the line is crossed from the real world standing in as dungeon locations to the locations simply being the real world. It sometimes feels as if the dungeoneers are largely just wandering around historic sites meeting cosplayers! The lack of floor puzzles/trap rooms (apart from the causeways of course) doesn’t help. [S7 does try to address some of these issues but unfortunately gets other things horribly wrong.]

The stormgeists, pookas and dreadnought aren’t a patch on their early series counterparts imho. To me they mainly feel like hurry-ups rather than suggesting a constant possibility of death. You don’t really feel a team is in imminent danger unless they find themselves on a causeway (and favourites like the CoB and Ariadne barely get a look in).

I also hate the whole ship at sea thing simply because the ‘dungeon’ really is now a distant memory. The final underground stages offer a partial redemption and the great causeway brings a much needed ‘end of game boss’ feel to proceedings. I also like the fact it was allowed to claim a victim so close to victory (although another team had just won of course…).

But I would definitely agree that it’s an excellent series overall. Oh, I should also say that I do like the new title sequence – shame the actual series didn’t really reflect this trap-filled dungeon!