Series 5: 1991

 

Treguard: "I hope you've brought your bravest and your best, for they are going to be sorely tested.

In fact, they just won't believe what's waiting for them.

But why wait? Please, step inside,

If you dare..."

Summary

Transmission: Friday 6th September - Friday 20th December 1991 - 16 episodes

Teams: 9

Quests: Sword: 1; Shield: 2; Cup: 3; Crown: 3

Winning Quests: Team 4: Ben, John, Ray and Jonathan from Exeter. Winners Page

The Quest for the Shield (also the Longest Quest : 62mins)

Longest Quest: Team 4 at 62 mins

Shortest Quest: Team 5 at 19 mins

New Characters:

• Powers That Be: Sir Hugh de Wittless, Gwendoline (the Greenwarden), Elita, Pixel (the pixie).

• Opposition/Neutral: Lord Fear, Aesandre, Skarkill (with goblins Grippa & Rhark), Sylvester Hands, Elita, Julius Scaramonger, the Gatemaster.

Old Characters:

• Powers that Be: Treguard, Pickle, Brother Mace, Hordriss, Motley, Oakley.

• Opposition/Neutral: the Boatman.

Other Additions: The Blockers on each level (replacing the Weeping Doors); the spyglass (to see what the Opposition was up to); the Descender (a lift replacing the wellways); the various puzzle causeways; and Smirkenorff to transport dungeoneers across and between levels.

Overview

Series 5 was transmitted at 4.30pm from 6th September 1991 for 16 weeks until 20th December. On the 4th and 11th October, it went out at 4.40pm because of ITV's rugby coverage. On both of these Fridays, Children's ITV also started later and Knightmare was the first programme of the afternoon.

In this series there was a major change of characters which gave the show a better distinction between the Powers That Be and the Opposition. A main 'baddie', Lord Fear, was introduced as the leader of the Opposition. Characters who were not clearly aligned are known as Neutral.

 

The old format of having to answer three riddles or questions for passage or information was removed, which helped speed up quests a little. The Blockers were the main obstacle to completing a level, and teams would need to earn a password before reaching one. Clue scrolls were introduced, and the status bar and magic mirror remained.

 

Treguard started asking dungeoneers if they had second thoughts before he placed the helmet. There was no 'Place of Choice' room; instead, Treguard asked the team which object they wanted to retrieve before the quest started. Also, the eyeshield was presented to the dungeoneer in the antechamber, and not in the early stages of the quest as in the previous series. There was no longer any need for Treguard to keep telling dungeoneers to hold up the eyeshield.

Did you know?: The first 40 seconds of Episode 3 (mostly the opening titles) were never broadcast on ITV because of technical problems. Children's ITV presenter Tommy Boyd filled in for that time. Visit the Children's ITV 1991 page for more details. Also, the end credits to Episode 6 and a bit of Episode 7 were cut because the broadcasters were running short on time.

 

The Children's ITV competition was featured during Episode 10, where the question 'Another name for Hordriss?' appeared as a scroll during a quest (but was unnoticed by the team in progress). The answer was Harris.

The Life Force sequence was the same as used in Series 1-4, although it wasn't used for all deaths.

Summary of the start of the series:

Treguard: "Dragon's breath! But someone's let the fire burn low, and if it should burn out, you wouldn't believe what would crawl in here and make itself comfortable. Pickle! Where are you, you pesky elf?"

Treguard: "This is a strange land, and getting stranger than you can ever imagine. To conquer it, you must pledge to redeem one of four objects."

Treguard: "You can, of course, refuse the quest now if you wish."

"Step forward now, and into your adventure."

Pickle continued to be the keeper of the Book of Quests, and read out the team's progress at the start of each episode.

Treguard cleaning a shield (left), and some clue objects (right).

Some pictures used in the end titles here. The one on the right was shown at the end of the last episode, but never appeared in an actual quest.

Series Credits

Treguard was played by Hugo Myatt
Pickle was played by David Learner
Elita and Pixel were played by Stephanie Hesp
Motley and Sylvester Hands were played by Paul Valentine
Brother Mace and the Gatemaster were played by Michael Cule
Gwendoline and Aesandre were played by Juliet Henry-Massy
Lord Fear and Sir Hugh de Wittless were played by Mark Knight
Skarkill and Julius Scaramonger were played by Rayner Bourton
Hordriss and Oakley were played by Clifford Norgate

Production Co-ordinator: Sue Child
Illustrations by David Rowe
Puppetry by TALISMEN
Computer Animation Design by The Travelling Matte Company
Directed by Jimmy McKinney

Produced by Tim Child

A new Broadsword logo animation was introduced this year: