What makes a 'good' episode of Knightmare?

[HStorm]

A subject that is a staple of many a fandom, but which rarely gets touched upon by KM fans, is what you would say is the 'best' episode of the series, and what makes it stand out from the crowd? Which episodes in the history of the series would you say are the 'classic' episodes?

This leads on to other questions. For instance, what are the crucial ingredients that an episode of Knightmare requires to make it work? By the same measure, what episodes do you think are really bad, and what features do they have that make you dislike them? Are there elements common to all episodes you don't like?

[Bumptious]

Hmmm, that's a tough one. With Knightmare, it was always a case of "so many of the little things". A question i've recently begun to ponder is, is it more enjoyable to watch a talented team intelligently and logically sweeping through the dungeon, or is it more entertaining to watch four bunglers lolloping towards a hopefully entertaining death? We all know what makes the latter; advisors hollering over each other, dungeoneers relying on advisors for answers to the simplest of questions or both advisors and dungeoneer repeatedly failing to differentiate between left and right. I think i'll go with the former, as it was much less common. One of the things that makes Series Seven stick out, is that the final two quests of the series were possibly the greatest of the whole eight series'.

A perfect episode of Knightmare would, for me, contain a useful team. Advisors would allocate their respective roles amongst themselves beforehand, and would rarely deviate from them. The dungeoneer would be sharp enough to answer some riddles, have good footwork and, most importantly, be able to "roleplay" and really be able to enter the spirit of the game. The challenges would be tough and thought-provoking, but always fair and set up to favour the talented. Oh, and the characters would come from my "Dungeon Dream Team" thread. I would have a few scenarios, such as Lord Fear bickering with Mogdred in a spyglass scene, and the dungeoneer would come up trumps in a life or death sequence with Grimaldine, who would be a neutral in every sense of the word. That's another thing I would add, clearly defined heroes and villains, and highly dangerous, yet potentially critically important, neutrals. None of this "I am sort of neutral, but I hate Lord Fear, so i'll help you anyway" nonsense.

[hindleyite]

I think my 'dream episode' of Knightmare would have to have a comedy death in it, preferably following a series of silly errors the production team let them get away with. I think I was more entertained by some of the poorer teams by many of the winning ones, though I have to admit I wouldn't like seeing Level 1 over and over a bit like what Series 3 became at one point.

I did like Mrs. Grimwold though. I think she'd have to be in it as well.

[Fidjit]

A good episode of Knightmare? Well every episode had an entertainment factor in its own way. Especially when I'm watching a team getting quite someway in, then the episode ends (which was a bummer) but it made me get home from school the following Friday to watch the rest. That was one of Knightmares' gems I believe; everyone came back to watch the teams progress further. Unlike gameshows like Fun House or Crazy Cottge where there is a set of new teams per episode. At times I felt somewhat disheartened when a team cops it, but these feelings usually pass. Sorry, I do kind of blabber on a bit. So you'll have to decrypt my English, if it doesn't make much sense

[Rich]

A good episode is made up of dramatic storylines, and not comprised of a team whose Dungeon person (to quote Sly Hands) dies after the advisors miss a blitheringly obvious clue. Also, IMO the best episodes wee from season 4 onwards, the comedy interaction between Lord Fear and his "Minions", to be honest I found Mogdred boring.