TheOldenDays

That's my violent side coming back out after many years.

I've just been to take another look at that scene in the Smirky vestibule, and Nat certainly seems to get into a proper worry after Treguard's comment. He checks his notes too, to see if they do have anything they could possibly give him for the ride, but of course they don't. Smirky just admires Ben's "natural skill", I guess.

There's an uninformed comment on YouTube that says something like "well, there ARE free Smirky rides in other episodes, you know!", i.e. claiming there's nothing suspect or unusual about this situation. However, this really is unique as the only time Smirky gives a totally free ride BETWEEN LEVELS without some form of incentive, be it a physical fare, a set of questions answered correctly with Brother Mace, a token presented to the Gatemaster, a piece of flattery, a warning about the Brollachan, or a direct instruction from Elita or Romahna.

Shame the one we see with Sumayya can't seem to decide on dismembering or beheading, so apparently does neither. Latest score is 8-4 in favour of a single Dreadnort.

I think it IS Clifford Norgate, even though they're doing something weird with the effect on his voice. For the end of the same scene in Episode 9, Clifford Norgate is credited as Smirkenorff so that's probably not a direct lie. Maybe they did it specially to match the Bhal-Shebah "dragon" voice, having forgotten to try it out in Episode 7, then realised it was a rubbish idea and abandoned it for Episode 10.

They do put a similarly weird, slowing effect on Smirky's voice (though not nearly so extreme as this one) when he first speaks to Simon in S7E2, which I think provides a traceable bridge between his normal voice and his "Dunstan" voice. There is no sign of this effect after he actually takes off in that episode, however.

I've just finished making and uploading a regular episode of Temporal Discussion that's going to release (on Spotify etc) at 4pm on Christmas Day, so don't forget to factor that in to your festive plans!

Thanks for your detailed thoughts as spurred by the episode, Annie - it makes me glad I spent so much time slogging over this marathon offering. (Though Episode 12, with Paul McIntosh, is a bit longer still!)

I've already noted down a Big Issue vote from Spotify, to add to the poll result and the ones cast on the actual podcast, and I'll also make a note of your vote from here, unless you've put it in the poll.

I've almost but not quite got round to mentioning out loud Skarkill's "one of them" comment from Episode 1, and I tend to think it's just his way of phrasing things, as he corrects it to "THAT ruddy great metal warrior" but it could indeed support the idea that the first one is just a prototype.

I tend to think Clifford Norgate is usually doing Dreadnort live, particularly when Smirkenorff also speaks during the same sequence of play, which of course backs up the idea that he's not live with January, as there's no Smirky. There's more discussion on this subject to come during Sophia's quest.

I've actually just finished editing Episode 13, where the stormgeist in the Descender is dubbed a wasted opportunity to do something better, and stormgeists as a whole are given an overall massive thumbs-down. I think there have been some very mixed feelings expressed about the rented geists, but the common thread running through this season of Temporal Discussion is that they're not nearly as good as the things they replaced, the skull ghosts. Also, whether they look like aliens or plastic bottle characters, they look rubbish!

Watch out particularly for Julius limping in Episode 1 - I think Rayner regretted trying that and so didn't really walk-and-talk with a dungeoneer again until Episode 8.

It does look rather like the bridge/castle entrance where Fidjit first appeared (with Simon in the first episode of S7) but I believe that location (like so many in this season) is actually in Spain.

How is Rothberry supposed to set up his table with all those chairs in the way?

Wow, from Norman dormitory chamber to Airbnb.

If I forget to refer to this on Temporal Discussion S8E2, I'll be furious with myself.

The continuing quest for knowledge eventually leads to something you'd rather not know.

I certainly think Peggatty's laughter was done by a man. If it was Tom Karol, I wonder if they'd had it on tape for three years, unused, or if it was newly recorded as an uncredited contribution.

I've always loved that "warts" exchange. The Heggatty scene sums up Sumayya's team perfectly, really - having a great deal of fun and making pretty engaging Knightmare, but not really knowing what they're doing with the actual quest content.

I'm going to have to listen out for sounds of Scots in Dreadnort's voice while making future episodes.

I had a great time recording with Amy and I think she made some wonderful content, just like last time. That death scene was the specific part of Series 6 she nominated when I asked her what she'd like to talk about, and I'm really glad we got to do so. I have ambitions to record with her again.

I do enjoy fishing out bits of other Knightmare episodes when I get reminded of them while making Temporal Discussion, so I'm really pleased you appreciated that one so much. Thanks a lot for posting your upbeat response to this episode, Annie - it's made me look forward to making more.

The puppet's very busy being digitally recoloured in Series 6, of course - first greener for Smirkenorff, then red (looks kinda purple, though!) for Red Death.

I think the new, head-and-neck-only animatronic puppet for Series 8 was made to be greener than the original, thinking about the photo of Clifford Norgate sitting next to and operating it. They managed to recolour that a much more convincing red, for Bhal-Shebah.

I hope there'll be some more about Elita's costume on future episodes - I think Rosey wants to mention it. Here's a sudden thought I've just had - maybe the new costume was to help Stephanie do her gymnastics more comfortably, as it's basically just a leotard with leaves glued onto it. (Good news for Dad either way, of course!)

This episode of Temporal Discussion was very much on my mind while we were recording Episode 5 (because I'd been editing it during the week leading up to that recording) so you'll hear me there referring back to Sumayya sidestepping the issue of categorising dragons by colour. I wouldn't have been at all sure (at the time) whether to tell Smirky "green ones" or "blue ones", but perhaps that was because of the colour settings on my family's TV.

Cool, I'll definitely get that into Episode 8, then maybe someday one of the Listeners of Illusion will come back with a breakthrough observation.

Pookas and stormgeists are among the "superficial changes" (as I call them on this episode of the podcast) that I thought "Oh, I wish they'd just kept that the same as in S4/5" when I first watched S6, but the moments of threat and tension they provide can still be pretty tense - I must remember to mention that sometime.

If Farthing Wood had done that, they'd have worn out the sound effect in Series 2. Rosey and I managed to think of (at least) thirteen named characters who snuffed it in the first sequel series, making an average of (at least) one death per episode.

Thanks for the stuff about the Hall of Choice - I'll definitely include some of that in a future episode. What do you think about the Scarborough Castle room (level 3 clue room) where the floor is taken from? The bricks in the walls seem to be packed together in the same way.

When I first visited the Chiltern Open Air Museum and took photos of the roundhouse for TES, I was absolutely flabbergasted to see that dirty great thing dominating Holmgarth in real life. Upon returning home and taking another look at my sixteen-year-old video of S6E1, I could see what a great job had been done to hide the pylon from us. You can tell how striking I found this because I put it in the script (or podcast outline, as I like to call them) for this episode of Temporal Discussion, all these years later.

You know, I was seriously wondering whether I should include that thing about Smirkenorff going in a circle because I wasn't sure it ever really happened as a single continuous flight except for that one sequence in Series 5, but I'd already junked so much material that I knew to be inaccurate, I thought I'd better give this one the benefit of the (my) doubt. I'll make sure this gets mentioned on a future episode.

In the next episode I appeal to you specifically for your thoughts on something, Annie, so I hope you'll have some insights that can also be mentioned on the podcast in the near future. (I won't spoil the surprise now.)

I must admit to feeling a twinge of disappointment at how much Series 6 has been absolutely savaged on the recordings so far, but perhaps this will encourage me not to speak too scathingly about Series 7 and 8 when the time comes. Listen out for Amy on Episode 4 if you're looking forward to a touch of sunshine in the forecast.

This may sound strange coming from a long-time superfan of Knightmare Series 4, but I was a bit disappointed that the first three rooms were exactly the same as last time. There were three new ones later, though, so that was good. The watering can fixation was funny. The Harry Potter reference in the chess scene was seamlessly slipped in.

Why didn't they at least consider abandoning the knife? I was yelling at them to do that, and take the potion and the key instead. I wonder if in the third episode, they will finally take the key and then that will turn out to be the only time they didn't actually need it.

I like how he keeps trying to drink the poison - judged just right not to become too repetitive or predictable.

I'm glad we're back to "normal" episodes now, and I have the first five episodes of Series 6 ready and scheduled for release. I'm currently editing a new TimeBusters special that will come directly after those.