MYTH: The Short Cut was invented at the last minute and pushed the last few teams through to Level 3.

TRUTH: I recall hearing somewhere that all teams in Series 8 were told of a potential shortcut (although that may be a urban myth too - clarify, Alan?) before play. In any case, it wasn't "the last few teams" - only Dunstan and Oliver actually used it, and they were both forced.

Ye have summoned me!

From memory (I really have to see if I can dig all this out, it'd probably be of interest to people), our adventurer's code that we received at the beginning of filming told us about a rumoured shortcut. I would assume that all teams were given the same sheet of paper containing the same information.

I should also clarify the term "forced". It was implied, if not outright stated, that we had to take the shortcut or "run for fun", i.e. have no chance of winning. However, we were asked whether we wanted to take the shortcut or not, before the relevant room appeared.

It could be that previous teams had a more realistic choice, but elected not to take the shortcut. For us, it was a no-brainer.

The printed rules/advice slip we received ahead of travelling to Norwich 100% included that a shortcut was rumoured to feature in the dungeon. I can't, sadly, lay my hands on the document (honestly, one of these days, I swear I'm going to empty my parents' attic in military fashion) but I am certain the document references a 'rumour' about the shortcut. I nearly think it mentioned that it would be heavily guarded, but I'm less certain about that aspect.

As for the shortcut itself and the question of whether or not to take it – it made total sense for your team, and therefore made even more sense for mine.

As I've said elsewhere before, at the time of filming, nobody could be certain whether or not my team would have enough time to finish the dungeon. This goes for us as much as the production team. I think, by the time we were mid-filming, the production team was able to make a bit more of an educated guess (that there wasn't going to be enough time), but when we were on standby for Dunston et al to finish, obviously nobody knew.

I do remember Tim asking my team and I in the Green Room if we wanted to take the shortcut or not. At the time, I wasn't concerned with filming schedules, or studio times and budgets. When we were told that getting the shortcut would involve the Corridor of Blades, that was all the information I needed to say yes. I had been clear with my team from the moment we first auditioned that if we got on the show, I really hoped we'd get to experience the Corridor of Blades. The shortcut guaranteed us a go at that trap room, so that's what we did.

You see '37 years ago' and it halts you in your tracks. It's wild that can be possible.

Thinking back to those times; seeing the community that still survives all this time later, and learning that all those special memories of care-free childhood, glued to the TV watching the latest Dungeoneer taking on the dungeon; and you realise all those memories aren't just your own. Many, many others up and down the country have the same memories.

Cheers to Knightmare; to Tim, Hugo and indeed every single person involved in the show, in front of and behind the camera.

I said to Hugo today when I met him at Fan X Live that Knightmare is one of a kind. There was nothing else like it at the time, and there's been nothing quite like it since, either.

Please get a photo of yourself with Hugo so that we can do a then-versus-now comparison!

Well, I went!

It was a near-three-hour drive south for me, but the weather couldn't have been kinder for October's early autumn.

Once there, at the Farnborough International Exhibition & Conference Centre, I immediately sought out Hugo, only to find he'd gone walkies around the event. I got chatting to Jackie, who was there with Hugo, and informed her that I'd made the trip especially to see Hugo. I let her in on the secret that I'd met Hugo exactly 30 years prior as a contestant on Knightmare. She said he'd be thrilled to learn that.

Hugo returned a few moments later and like the true gent he is, he extended his hand and said it was great to meet me.

'Again,' I added. A curious eyebrow raise later from Hugo, and I unzipped my hoodie to reveal my Knightmare 1994 contestant tee shirt (no idea how it still fits me; I'm a lot bigger than I was as a freshly-minted 13-year-old).

Anyway, I spent the best part of an hour chatting away with Hugo, reminiscing and such. I had a wander around the rest of the exhibition (walking away, eventually, with an Anduril replica, no less, and a few other bits and pieces) and then returned to speak with Hugo again. It struck me that despite filming on the show across 1 and a bit days, I probably spoke more with Hugo today than I did as a Dungeoneer, which is wild.

It was wonderful to meet Hugo again. He was super accommodating with his time and anecdotes and in a surreal kind of way, it felt like chatting with an old friend, despite only having met once before – so long ago that it nearly feels like it happened to a different person. Hugo is witty, benevolently mischievous, and just a downright brilliant man.

I like to think I kept things cool enough as we whiled away part of the afternoon discussing what is almost a mutual friend of the past, but I still don't think Hugo has any idea how much of a pivotal part he played in not only my favourite TV show, but also the highlight of my childhood. To him, no doubt he was just doing his job as a professional actor in a very unusual type of show; but to me – as indeed to millions of other people my age – he was the face of Knightmare and therefore, a pretty big deal of my school age years.

Hugo signed a lovely portrait of himself as Treguard, and I was also fortunate enough to get some photographs...in our (nearly) matching Knightmare apparel.

@Drassil – I'll DM you to discuss how to get the photos over to you. The trickiest part of the photos is trying to decide which of us has aged more – I think it's me. Hugo looks wonderfully well.

What a surreal day. They always say, 'Don't meet your heroes.' That's cool. I'd already met mine.

I shall certainly plan to get a photo. I'm riding a fast-moving wave of nostalgia right now, and I'm totally here for it!

The GW Knightmare show was a fun watch – I nearly see it as fan service – but in the end, as fun as the one-off that it was, I feel it kind of sits in a parallel reality to the televised series that ran in my youth.

Hello there!

I thought I'd share this in case there's interest: our dear Treguard himself will be at FanX LIVE on Saturday 5th October 2024. I hope to be making the pilgrimage there, because a reunion with Hugo is well overdue. If anyone else is planning on attending, shout and maybe we can meet!

Fun fact: It's 8th August (in my head; technically 9th now, as it's 01:17) which means it is precisely 30 years since my team and I arrived in Norwich. We filmed (a little) on 9th August and through the whole of 10th August 1994. Mad that it happened – and even more so that 30 years have been and gone since then.

I hope everybody is keeping well!

Great question. Unfortunately, I don’t think we had much more interaction with Duston, Alan, Oliver and Alex than we did with the team that followed us (obviously there wasn’t one of those).

I vaguely recall chatting with the guys by the window in the Green Room (the window was on the far wall from where you entered the room). But I couldn’t tell you about what. Someone did mention they’d survived the CoB but the guys were well behaved in not divulging much and we were well behaved in not asking them to.

I don’t recall where abouts team 6 was at in the dungeon when we arrived. I do remember we arrived Monday 8th August. We filmed our entrance scene late in the day on Tuesday (the only scene we filmed that day) and then filmed all day Wednesday 10th August and then went home. It was a long and tiring day. I presume team 6 went home Tuesday 9th - I don’t think there was much overlap as we went swimming and out for lunch on the Tuesday so weren’t even in the Green Room much that day, at least not for the first half.

Thanks for filling in the gaps there. Your experience sounds very similar to my own - although I don't recall getting information about the edit time, I suspect it was more relevant to your team

No problem at all, it was a pleasure. I still don’t think any of us on the team were ever aware of just how little time left there was. Filming seemed to take long enough (time creeps when you’re a kid and flies when you’re not) and certainly at the time it felt like we travelled through plenty of rooms. I suppose the average for a full quests is around 25; we like you took the short cut so at best we’d have had around 16. I don’t recall how many made the final cut; it’s been too long. (I have it recorded from the time on VHS - still have the cassette, just no means of playing it ). I do have a sense that at least two, possibly three rooms were cut however.

The only rooms I well-remember filming aside from the entrance was a clue room (I was told via the mic to press my shoulder against the far wall [i.e. the door] and I was doing - causing me to say aloud quite crossly, ‘I am!’) and the CoB.

Hey Mashibinbin

I hadn’t thought of the article idea; I’ll check it out. Sadly I am not sure I have photographs. I will ask my mum when I next speak with her but our chaperone was David’s father - and clearly long, long before smartphones with cameras. Can you imagine if today’s tech - in and out of th game - were around at the time... After leaving school, I lost contact with my advisors and as I’m a social media sceptic (no accounts on any of them) I’ve never re-connected.

I still have my black Knightmare mug (in red writing) and astonishingly, the white Knightmare t-shirt we were given. I vowed I’d never throw either away. The mug annoyingly has a chip in the rim but the t-shirt is in remarkably good nick. Mostly because I was so worried about damaging it I barely ever wore it; in spite of the fact I’ve moved about a lot with work, it’s always safely followed me. I doubt of course it fits now - I gym and train a lot I am also fairly certain the big ‘scroll’ we got that was signed by Treguard is somewhere tucked away in the depths of my parents’ attic. One of these days I am going on that treasure hunt, as daunting as it is.

I am more than happy to answer any questions - fire away as many as you like. I’ll do my best. There are other snippets I still recall that weren’t necessarily relevant to this thread so I skipped them. I presume there is a means to contact me via my profile here that’ll whizz across an email? Let me know if you need me to privately share my address.

I am also very keen to try and rewatch the show, so if there’s any mechanic that can alert to repeats on Challenge etc. then I’d be grateful. I don’t watch TV - with the exception of Arrow and Game of Thrones - so I’m well out of the loop with the best or most likely way to catch repeats.

I'm glad you enjoyed your experience and do keep your ears to the ground for future projects to get involved in such as the Midnight Hunt. For the time being Knightmare Chat is primarily open from 8pm on Sundays if you want to come along, you'd be highly welcome.

I certainly shall bear that in mind. I like the idea of meeting up with the community in real life so at the risk of sounding lazy (I have precious little spare time, alas) do keep me posted. I will of course keep an eye open for updates on here.

Hey Drassil, thank you.

It’s a funny thing, the memory. You kind of know you know things, but it isn’t after such a length of time that you sit down and start replaying the memories in your head that you recall other bits.

I’ll check out the threat shortly. Before I do - helmets off to you, Mystara and anyone else involved in running this website. Without a doubt the best place online for any Knightmare fan.

Speaking of forgotten memories, it stands to reason that Alan and I met all those summers ago - even though I can’t recall it.

Hey everyone

I appreciate it's been many, many years - not just since this episode but even since the last replies. How time flies and now we're into 2019.

Lately I've been enjoying some nostalgia - returning to much of the great stuff that happened in my younger years. Let's call it pre-middleage crisis.

Anyway, I have read through this thread numerous times and it seems I might be able to fill in a bit of detail in the gaps Mystara hasn't been able to, as well as share my own take on events. At this stage I should probably introduce myself as Oliver, the final dungeoneer.

The issue of the shortcut is pervasive on here and Mystara has done a great job at explaining his understanding - I'd like to add a few points, too. In doing this, I will quote parts of others' posts and respond as I go. This might take us via the scenic route, so I apologise if this becomes an essay, but well. What else is there to do on New Year's Day!

STRIKE said: *Dont understand the Dunstan cheat comments they only did what Knightmare crew set them to do, would have been better to see them do more challenges at the end, rather than chuck on a team that would only be on for about 5 minutes or so! *

We had earned the right to contest. I honestly do not mean to blow any trumpets but we were told our audition was one of the best Tim had come across since they first beefed up the process back in Series 5. An unfortunate schedule clash (more on this below) meant that we filmed last and I'm not sure how fair it would've been on a team of excited 12/13 year-olds to have come all that way, only to be told, Sorry kids, no deal. Safe home. Remember - when a team was in play, the following team HAD to be called in on standby as there was no way of knowing whether the team in play, in this case Dunstan's, would last or lose, and when.

NAITCH said:I have no feelings of annoyance towards Dunstan or Oliver and their teams as some have over the last 11 years, though I do wonder what the point of having the final quest (Oliver) was if it only lasted 8 minutes and had no chance of being a winning quest.

Harbouring annoyance at either Dunstan's team or my own would be unfair. As others have already noted, the production crew laid out our options, just like they always do. It is the team's decision as to how to proceed. The real injustice was that Series 8 had only 10 episodes as opposed to the usual 15 or 16. Still, if anything was not so much unfair, but unfortunate, it's events in the background that played out re: the teams' scheduling (as above, more on this below).

OLDBOY said: *The teams got off way too easy and very obviously too. I don't know why they skipped level two with the previous team when they could have ended the series with a winning team. The next team again should have been fire balled or died in the corridor of blades. It's a far cry from the earlier seasons that showed little mercy for annoying teams giving poor directions. *

I am not sure either Dunstan's team or mine were guilty of giving poor directions. There was one moment where Matthew (one of my advisors) tried telling me to take the wrong thing, but I had no intention of listening to him. Otherwise, my advisors did a good job at navigating me, especially Anthony in the Corridor of Blades. I'm not sure why my team (or any) should have been killed off when we were doing alright.

Neither of the final two teams were forced to take the shortcut, but the option was there. As Mystara points out, the production team were never entirely sure how much game time was remaining (this is largely dependent on editing of the filmed episodes) and we were repeatedly told that we might only be running for fun (playing without having a chance of winning)...the shortcut was there because they wanted the idea of a gamble. It wasn't (AFAIK) there to enable a series finale to take place.

At this stage, regarding my team's short tenure - a little history might help understanding. When we passed the audition, we were advised the approximate weeks (across a couple of months, July and August I recall) that we may be called upon. We were also told we would hear back sooner than that as to what order we would film in. When we got that call, we were advised that our team was scheduled to film second (out of the seven in all). Unfortunately, Matthew (advisor in the middle on the show) was booked to be abroad on holiday at the time we got the call. Tim was cool about it, but said we'd have to go to the back of the queue as a result. We'd still feature, but we'd go last. There wasn't a lot to be done about it and in the end, that's what happened. By the time Dunstan's team completed, we were left with what amounted to about 18 minutes' screen time as I recall. Nobody's fault, but an unfortunate circumstance that meant my team never had an unrestricted crack at the whip, but that's life.

As a side note, the shows' durations vary between 22 and 25 minutes; in the end, my 18 minutes of screen time was cut to around 14 minutes.

Anyway, back to the shortcut. Tim advised us like he had Alan and the rest of Dunstan's team that we may not get to complete, but that there would be too much time spare to not start another quest. That is as much as they could tell before editing took place. Hence, the short cut was introduced, but discretionary. The sole reason I was keen to take it was because it guaranteed a crack at the Corridor of Blades - my favourite trap of all Knightmare's traps and if I had the chance to have a go at it, I wasn't going to turn it down.

POOKA said: I've previously said that I would have preferred a longer Dunstan quest as opposed to having Oliver's team start. I now think completely differently; Oliver's team are bright and original (I like the compass points directions, as long as you know where they're going). It's fairly clear that they were never going to win - they didn't have time; they probably could've - but, unlike earlier final-quest teams, they weren't given a task to do in lieu of a win...at least Oliver got through all of Level 1 and into Level 3; that takes some doing!

Thank you for your kind words (and to Kieron, as well). We always knew our compass point system would be different, but it worked for us when it came to practising. In between rooms, Tim and a lady (I forget who) repeatedly advised us of their approximations as to how run times etc. were shaping up, noting they were only able to guess. There was a belief that we had a chance - very small, but still a chance - at completing (an admittedly shorter than usual quest), if we took the shortcut. In that sense, we all got the impression that's what the production team wanted, as well. Perhaps, in hindsight, Pooka's idea of a shorter side quest would've been better but that obviously wasn't our call to make.

A couple more points before I wrap up (promise).

CANADANNE said: *I'm guessing they did the whole spellcasting routine, but then the incident with Oliver running through the side wall happened (as seen in Slow Hand and mentioned in Paul Boland's report), and when they refilmed the Corridor of Blades, they forgot or couldn't be bothered to do the spellcasting again. Although it's equally possible that they forgot all about it in the first place. *

We did indeed film the Spellcasting sequence; David (the advisor nearest Treguard) performed the honours (that was his allocated task on the team). I also believe a decision was made to excise it from the show to buy us a little more time. As I said, I think our total screen time was 18 minutes - we 'lost' 4 along the way, on the editor's floor

As for the running through the wall sequence - in spite of the fact the COB is one of the areas I recall best, I don't remember that happening clearly. What I do recall is that after we filmed the scene where the dowsing stick revealed the shortcut, as we were returning to the green room, one of the production crew (can't recall who) whispered to me that the COB was coming next. Now, as a team we'd practised this at home long before we got to Norwich. It was agreed of all advisors, Anthony had the clearest head and instructions, so he'd issue the guidance.

When it came to filming the sequence, I had obviously been told it was coming (not a massive spoiler, given the Spyglass reveal about the shortcut and the quicker blades), and as I'd been practising, I was pretty keen at leaping left and right. I got a bit carried away and knocked the portable wall that served as the right hand wall of the corridor so that it wobbled and shunted sideways (the left wall was the usual, more permanent left wall of the studio, so running through that wouldn't have been possible ).

After that happened, filming was paused briefly and the floor manager (who was my favourite member of the entire crew, Ian Craig) came up to me laughing and with mock incredulity, 'accused' me of knowing in advance the COB was my next room. Fond memories of not having the deceit in me to lie and deny it.

Anyway, that's my experience of filming and some of the behind the scenes explanations for what happened in the end. I've always thought, on the one hand, it is a shame that my team didn't get the chance to have a proper go and either win or die - as we would have had Matthew not been on holiday - but on the other hand, though we didn't win, we didn't die and I do at least get the unique achievement of being able to say I was Knightmare's very final dungeoneer (I am not counting the rather excellent more recent one-off from a few years back).

If anyone has any questions they'd like to ask and think I might be able to help, go ahead, albeit I appreciate it's been some years since activity on this thread and many may have moved on. In any event, a very Happy New Year to one and all.