Ok, I'm going to admit something.... (Knightmare)

Member Name: Sarah_Louise

Product:	Knightmare
Date:	10/03/03 (292 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: It was an excellent programme, Pretty good graphics, Quite scary which really had me engrossed in the programmes

Disadvantages: Its not shown any more (well, not after March 30th on Sky anyway), They should make a new series!

....I, Sarah_Louise, watched Challenge TV on Sunday morning!

There, now thats off my chest I'll continue....

I’ve been meaning to write about this for aaaages! It was on Sunday morning, whilst waiting for Hollyoaks to start, that I decided to do a bit of channel hopping on Sky. So, there I was, randomly flicking through the “Entertainment” section when I stumbled across the word “Knightmare” in the menu under the Challenge TV channel. I pondered for a few seconds. Was this the Knightmare I remembered? Surely not. Surely it was another Knightmare? Well. There was one way to find out for sure. I clicked the oh-so important Select button. There it was. It was the Knightmare I remembered. It was really weird to see it on the TV again. I never thought I’d see it again but there it was, in full colour.

For those of you who’re currently wondering what on earth Knightmare actually is.... just read what it says up there under the title! Alternatively, continue reading this....

It’s a kids TV programme that was shown on CITV between 1987 and 1994. It was described as an ‘interactive adventure game show’ but personally I’m not sure how I’d explain it. It wasn’t in the style of ‘normal’ adventure game shows of the time and in fact there hasn’t been anything quite like it since (or not that I’ve noticed anyway!)

The general gist involved 4 children (they were usually boys for some reason or another). One child were to don a headpiece that completely covered their head (so they couldn’t see where they were going). It had horns on it too for some reason or another (a bit like an oversized Viking helmet!). He (or she on occasion!) were to make their way around the Knightmare virtual set by the guidance of their 3 fellow contestants who watched the progress on a screen in a back room.

The tea
m had to lead their fellow friend in the hat around rooms to collect objects (and clues). Clues could consist of things like scrolls or a spy glass. More information could be earned by answering riddles/questions set by a character they met on their travels or a wall monster. Rewards included passwords to get in to the next level, a key to open doors or a spell to cast magic. Magic could reveal other clues, doors, kill characters or maybe make something invisible. You could only carry two items at any one time though.

Much like with other ‘game shows’ and computer games, the dungeoner's energy status was known as the 'Life Force' - it had to be constantly restored by picking up food scattered all over the dungeon, and then placed it in their rucksack.

On their quest they’d have to avoid dangerous things like fireballs, circular saws, spears, bombs, scorpions and snakes. Also, they’d have to guide their friend around well in some levels due to holes in the floor, water, cliffs, moving floors, etc. It was quite scary at times (well, for a kids programme) and the graphics were pretty good, I really got engrossed in each episode and often wondered what happened to the people that didn’t make it to the end (some were ‘killed’ by flying circular saws, falling down holes in the floor, etc). I really wanted to go on the show myself though but never had the guts to apply!

It wasn’t just me that thought this programme was great though. They used to get between 4 and 5 million viewers per episode on average which, for a children’s programme, it quite an achievement.

It easily makes its way into my top 10 children’s TV programmes. I’m not sure where it came in the top 100 programme the other year. Can anyone remember if it made it onto the list? I’m sure it did, I just can’t remember what number it made it to.

For those with Sky
you can watch an episode on Saturday’s and Sunday’s at 10am on Challenge TV until the 30th March. After that date I’m afraid you won’t find it on any other channels. And can you all please sign the petition on the website found below?

You’ll find the petition near the bottom of the homepage under “Sign the BBK Petition!” In fact, to save time you can go straight to this website:
http://www.bringbackknightmare.co.uk/

For more info and loads of screenshots about the programme you can go here:

http://www.knightmare.com/

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