Televirtual has secured a £40,000 National Lottery funded media development grant to help relaunch its classic children's TV adventure game, Knightmare.

The grant investment by SCREEN EAST means that the Norwich based company will be able to build a Virtual Reality demonstrator or real time pilot for the new version of the cult dungeon exploration show.

A dramatised adventure game in which real children explored a compelling fantasy world, Knightmare regularly attracted audiences in excess of 5 million in the UK and spawned foreign language versions across Europe.

It was the most successful children's programme ever produced in the East of England. The show pioneered what are now called 'Virtual Studio' techniques, mixing real characters with computer hosted scenes via a Cromakey or blue-screen production.

For the new show, it's expected that the production will make the full transition into Virtual Reality, with actors and players appearing as 3D avatars or virtual humans.

Knightmare creator and Televirtual founder Tim Child explained:

Whilst the new show will be retro, and hopefully recapture the atmosphere of its predecessor, these proposed virtual production techniques are so radical that people will not really understand what to expect until they see the show. That's why we need to build the demonstrator to show potential broadcasters and distributors what we're planning. The investment by SCREEN EAST has now made this possible.

Screen East: http://www.screeneast.co.uk