Knightmare (1987–94)

Knightmare (1987–94)

8 Seasons, 112 episodes, approx 25 mins each.

As a young Faustus I loved all things fantasy and supernatural: HeroQuest gaming sessions; Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone's Fighting Fantasy books; the many Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms novels; etc, so it's no surprise that Knightmare fit perfectly into my life.

Four adventurers (kids under sixteen) entered the Castle of Confusion in the hope of conquering its dungeon. One wore the Helmet of Justice, which limited what he/she could see, and entered the dungeon proper. The remaining three stayed behind to act as guides, able to see on a screen where their Dungeoneer friend was, to direct and attempt to keep them from falling into imaginary pits of doom and suchlike.

The rules of the game were overseen by a Dungeon Master named Treguard of Dunshelm (pictured right), a noble(ish) born Saxon knight, he would give occasional clues and hints to either encourage a train of thought, help solve a puzzle or feed the team's nervousness. Among Knightmare fans, Treguard rocks!

Even though it was for the children, the adults were the real stars. They treated the chroma key (blue screen) locations as a kind of stage, treading boards that weren't there as enthusiastically as they would if they actually did exist. In short, they were a theatre troupe doing what they do best: bringing theatrical life to an otherwise empty space. In addition, they had to ad lib when the kids turned out to be more stupid than they'd anticipated for, which was often. It's not unfair to say that some of the contestants hit every branch on the stupid tree when they fell.

- The original Helmet of Justice looked like that. -

Each year the dungeon set-up would shift, offering new challenges and introducing new recurring characters. Even Trequard (Hugo Myatt) got himself an aide or two. The most notable of which was an elf named Pickle (David Learner). The character was something of an annoyance at first, but he grew into a truly memorable part of the show in his second year.

Rules were unevenly enforced; overly-harsh one minute and too forgiving the next, depending on how thick the kids were. It started out pandering to them, but soon got bored with that approach. In S3 the cast toyed with humiliating them, successfully, and in S4 the level design almost sent a few of the clumsier ones to the casualty ward. When a team who knew what they were doing featured, the show became the thing that it was envisioned to be: magical.

NOTE: Because the series isn't currently or ever likely to be available on DVD, it has no official cover artwork, so the first image on this page is a modified version of the cover for the book Knightmare: The Dragon's Lair (1993) written by Dave Morris, published by Yearling Books.

Seven tie-in books written by Dave Morris were published during the show's run. I've searched auction sites but all are now difficult to find in a state that I'd actually want to own.

An Amiga + Atari ST video game that unfortunately I've not played was released in 1991, developed by Mindscape International Ltd.

A tie-in board game was published by Milton Bradley (MB Games) in 1991, for 2-4 players, ages 8 years and up. Sadly, I've not played it either.

A series revival was attempted in 2004, titled Knightmare VR, for which a 13 minute pilot was made. It attempted to bring the format up to date, but the result isn't good and it didn't go to series. You can find it on YouTube if you search.

And then, amazingly, in 2013 a one-off special featuring some of the original cast was made as part of YouTube's 'Geek Week'. You can find it on YouTube, too, but be prepared to have some links blocked by ITV. I don't understand why they do it. Limiting anything that keeps a love of their property alive is counterproductive to any future commercial ventures in that area.