In Terry Pratchett's first book The Colour of Magic, the people of the Wyrmberg could actually call dragons into being by the power of the imagination. Now, while I'm not proposing this is what's meant to happen in KM, I think you can probably allow for the dragon species working in a slightly different way from other species. Then there's the fact that those behind the programme liked the idea of introducing more dragons (after all, who wouldn't?)

I'll vote for Martin and his "gritty lads from York" - they were endlessly entertaining! Martin telling his advisors to speak up, Martin in slightly-dazed mode emerging from the mining cart in Level 3 (although I heard somewhere that they genuinely had tipped him out a bit suddenly and there was actual concern for him not being too bruised). Oh - also Martin making a pained sound and shaking his hands after picking up the draining talisman - brilliant!

One more thing that's probably worth mentioning about this lot is that they're quite a mature team and perhaps because of this the difficulty level was subtly altered for them. Ways of doing this could simply be such things as letting them take the initiative in whether or not to help people rather than being prompted to do so. It is also right on the threshhold of Level 3, so it seems correct for the team to be tested before proceeding. And with that proximity to Level 3 in mind, Cliff and his advisors might have been disappointed at not making it, but they certainly wouldn't have anything to be ashamed of - it was a better quest than most people manage.

Sorry Turaga - it keeps timing out before I can view your wallpaper. I'll try again later.

I like the collage wallpaper Steve - it'd be nice to see specifically-themed wallpapers as well. You could choose one particular character image and then surround it with a collage of other pics of that character. Maybe I'll have a go at that one myself sometime.

Hordriss' face starting to appear in the wall over the clue table (Simon's team, season 3), the sinister music and Treguard saying something like "Warning team, a presence is making itself felt and I fear it's not a pleasant one..."

Greetings once more... after a long absence.

It's the old 'left' taboo coming into play here (left = 'sinister'; geddit?) On the odd occasion when you were supposed to go left it was made VERY clear with some clue or other because occasions like that were the exception:

"When faced with death, you must go left

Or you from life will be bereft" (The Oracle to Leo, series 3)

I always imagine though, that there's a kind of code they worked with in the programme - going left/making some other minor mistake in Level 1 sets you up for a shock, such as a particularly nasty floor puzzle to solve - something you probably wouldn't have had to encounter otherwise. Going left/making a mistake in Levels 2 or 3, on the other hand, equals messy death.

I do seem to remember Barry and one of the other dungeoneers being scratched by a blade - which in the older series would have lost them life force. Like in series 3 when Leo gets a clunk of the hovering axe on his head. Injuries like that gave the dungeon a greater sense of menace.

Treguard: "Oooh - life force damage..."

and told her

I think there may well have been a change in how they saw their potential audience throughout the entire run of Knightmare, ie. they were shooting for a younger age-group at the end than at the beginning. This idea seems to show in the lighter, more comic atmosphere KM had latterly, with serious characters like Lord Fear becoming humorous (although I don't actually mind that in the case of Mark Knight - there was a really good rapport with Cliff Barry, who played Lissard). But he wasn't the only one - Sylvester Hands was definitely a semi-threatening character when he was first introduced and then gradually just became comical. Also, Treguard in the first 2 or 3 series was on the side of the Dungeon and they certainly weren't providing any helpers for the teams, whereas later there was Pickle, then Majida. Perhaps after a win-free season (series 3) someone on the production team thought that extra assistance was a good idea. Not all of these changes were a bad thing, but it's certainly hard to compare series 1 or 2 with series 8 - and of course, the changes didn't actually create any more winners in the end anyway. So it probably looked easier (and sometimes less interesting) for us, but was no easier for the teams involved.

What a question! Thay shoved the little wretches into a bona fide deep pit of course - at least you managed to avoid that sorry fate...

Seriously though - tough luck at not getting on the programme. I'm sure you'll enjoy the madness here on the forum.

It's so frustrating when a team throws away their chance of winning like this! It was obvious they were supposed to get help from someone (Level 3 might have got easier over the years, but it was never a walkover) and the only person around to help them was Elita. Of course, in theory any advisers who can keep their cool should be able to guide a dungeoneer through the COB without magic, but I suppose some other nasty would have been set up for them at the other end even if they had survived. By slipping up they gave themselves automatic fail conditions.

So basically - don't vacillate and get Elita to help. Pretty simple, really...

I'm biased because series 3 (with Motley) was the first one I started watching in earnest, but Motley did seem to me to have more staying power. The best episode in series 2 with Folly was probably the one where he lost his laugh... Still, Dark Descender is right in saying Folly seemed braver. A dungeoneer could rely on getting some proper help from him - see how he faces up to and tricks Gumboil with the 'invisible philosopher's stone'!

Welcome! We'll get there with the KM DVD petition (eventually). In the meantime, I'm sure someone here can help you locate video copies. Don't call off the search in your own home either - I went through my old vids from the early nineties for a bit of fun one day and I couldn't believe the number of old Knightmare episodes there were mixed in.

Happy hunting!

Series 3 had the best Level 1 (love that giant dice at the start!) and series 2 had the best Level 2. I think I'd try to splice those together with some of the wilderness stuff from the later seasons - that gives you an excuse for having Smirkenorrf. For Level 3 it'd be great to have Lord Fear as the villain.

MERLIN: "What is the name of the bird that is reborn when it burns?"

We won't put you through the trial by fire, though! Welcome, Phoenix. I'm the sporadically-posting Willowherb from the far north (well, Scotland) and I know exactly what you mean about the cherished Friday afternoon ritual of Knightmare. Enjoy posting!

I was really happy to find that I've still got all my old KM novels . It's interesting to see how the first four are actually quite teen-adult orientated - what with all the snatches of gritty mediaeval history mixed in with some of the darker aspects of the Arthurian legends. Treguard's boyhood tragedy is actually quite like the story of Hereward the Wake; a Saxon lord whose family was killed and lands confiscated by the Normans. Of course, the later KM books are a lot more child-focused and the adventures seem a lot easier.

What do people think of the novels in general and what are your favourites? I know one or two people who've said they actually got quite interested in history by reading the early ones. I just wish there were more of them!

Something like this might have been talked about before, but this gives the knewbies a chance to talk about it.

Like it! Funnily enough, despite the fact that the violin is a more obviously 'classical' instrument, I always preferred the KM theme played on guitar (like in the early series).

Pickle: I will remember and get a pair of toasty slippers to wear because this antechamber is flippin' freezing!

Ross (series 3, team 6): choose the right-hand door and avoid both Morghanna and a nasty plummet!

"And I think I can see who's going to do the suffering!"

Majida turns up very suddenly, but you certainly know why she's there; with Pickle they never do explain. I reckon that the win-free series 3 got those in charge worried that they'd made Knightmare too difficult, and so an extra helper was brought in. There should have been a better explanation for the sake of the story though.

Actually, in the end having Pickle there didn't make it any easier for the teams (apart from series 1 and 3, KM had an average of one winner per series, sometimes with an extra win right at the end), so it goes to show that the game never got too simple.