Series 8 is, I think, the most divisive of the eight series - I know some people who think it's great, ranging to some people who think it's the worst. It's certainly stylistically different - with a redesigned antechamber, entirely CGI dungeon and a new slew of characters. I've also seen some people complain that it's a 'dumbed-down' series, aimed at a younger audience (and, indeed, it features some relatively young teams), but I'm not sure I agree with that analysis.
It's a very unique series and very much unlike anything else we've seen (barring perhaps KMGW!), so you certainly can't say there isn't much to talk about.
I actually love Series 8; I'd rate it higher than a lot of other series (including 3!), although initially I thought of it as a bit of a weak series, I've come round to it now, and I have very affectionate memories of playing Knightmare in the playground at school including Marblehead, so there's that too. Some bits I like are:
- The fireball graphic. I've often thought of this series as the "Fireball Series" - we've rarely seen them before and this one had at least one fireball in every quest, with tricks and traps featuring fireballs and a couple of fireball deaths too, not to mention the spyglasses. To be fair, there is a lot of over-reliance on fireballs here and I'd have preferred to see some more evil magic than this, but it's still a cool graphic!
- In fact, all the graphics. Series 8 looks gorgeous and still stands out today. Some people don't like all the CGI, preferring the hand-drawn style of the earlier series, but I love the way all this looks - and it's certainly not realistic, contributing more to the fantasy element of the programme. The staircase downwards through the levels is astounding.
- The deaths! There are seven teams in the series and the five that die all die in a different way - dragon, blades, pit, fireball, Miremen - and they're all funny and unexpected deaths. I don't think any other series had this amount of variety in how they killed off Dungeoneers - brilliant.
- Characters I like. Hands (one from the old school but still good value), Lissard (as ever), Fear (his Dungeon Monopoly sketch is a classic), Rothberry (thankfully) and with great relief, Motley back again.
- I like some of the new characters. I like Stiletta (for a number of reasons), Maldame (although not as brilliant as some of the older sorceresses, still chilling in her first appearance), Honesty Bartram (although I'm in a minority here, I feel!) and Bhal-Shebah.
- Creatures. Gone at skull ghosts, pookas, stormgeists and trolls. Here we have a fantastic array of monsters, though - the ubiquitous Skeletrons, Snapdragons and even Miretrogs make appearances, although only to scare. But Miremen - repugnant, disturbing creatures causing one death - are a great addition. And Red Dragons are terrifying, causing the first death in the series (and a spectacular one at that!); their shadows and screeches appearing is always a shock.
- Linghorm and Marblehead are great new locations and I love the idea of a fortress to assail being the end goal! I like the Great Mire too - another obstacle to cross, and there's only one way to do so!
- And teams I like. I like Daniel's team - they're a lot of fun and very skilled, Nathan's team - quite unlucky but it's a fair death, Rebecca's TEEEEEEEEEAM!, and Dunstan's winning quest.
Bits I don't like are:
- Fireballs. I know that I said I like them above, but they are used a little too much for my liking.
- The life force pie. By this point, the life force had become much less of a Thing, so they really didn't need a great life force graphic (or food at all, but you may as well keep it in). The pie is a bit pointless, though - they could've kept the walking skeleton in, at least! - or use it for death sequences. I'd've liked to see the final slice of pie dissolve and the empty plate morphing into a skull or something - no? Just me, then?
- Trapdoors. Meh...
- Snapper-Jack. Meh...
- The short cut. I genuinely don't mind this existing, really - but we missed out on a Level 2 for Dunstan. I've seen Mystara saying in several places that his team were told that if they didn't take it, they may not have been able to finish Level 3 in time, so they kind of had to. I'd have liked to see this team take on all three levels (and, unlike many people, I still think they would have won had they done so!).
- Oliver's quest. One of the reasons I would have liked to see Dunstan take on Level 2. It's a tiny quest right at the end of the series' run, and it's put in - why? For fun? Worst of all, we get a whole duplicate Shield plot and the team dumped into Level 3 in about five minutes! They seem like a great team, actually - but it's a colossal waste of time!
- Smirkenorff stable in his own pit. I suppose we don't see him flying at all (apart from at the very end) because in this enclosed dungeon there's nowhere to fly to, but still, I feel he's not used too well in this series.
- Reach. This is a great concept but it's so badly used - with a mouse pointer, no less! - that it's pretty unglorious. I don't mind a magic wand as one of the things to be used; it just could have looked cooler!
One thing which I'm still on the fence about is the concept of "Tregod". Treguard is as grizzled as ever and Majida is still a good foil for him, but he appears here to have hitherto-unexplored power, with him raising his hands to start game on and a sparkly effect, and the very bizarre death sequence where he raises his hands and an angelic choir plays. It's not bad, as such; it's just a little strange - he's gone from magical to divine somewhere along the line! Very odd.
No seating either - everyone including Treguard stands throughout the series - must've gotten tiring, actually.
So, yeah. I really like this series, despite (or probably because of) its unique feeling. I know some people are going to disagree, but I reserve my right to have a lot of affection for this period in Knightmare's history.
PS - DUNSTAN DIDN'T CHEAT!
