The winning team from Series 4 have written their account of what it's like to beat the Opposition.
Read on - you may find some useful hints...
We arrived in Norwich on a Sunday evening and, carting all our bags and suitcases, we checked our map (as all adventurers should) and walked up the road until we came to the hotel which was to become our home for the next few days. We woke on Monday morning feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world (let alone the Opposition).
In the reception at the Studios we were met by Jane Chettleburgh, the stage manager, and we then had to be escorted through the corridor where the dressing rooms were. The stage manager shouted "Team coming through" to give the actors enough warning so that they could keep out of sight. We were then ushered through to the green room where we changed into our studio clothes. A Polaroid photo was taken for continuity to work with, and then we were in the studio, saying hello to the Dungeon Master and his assistant, Pickle.
Although the final television time was about three episodes it took four days to film all the scenes. The most nervous person must have been our chaperone, who always had the sneaking suspicion that we would die in the next scene. Fortunately we survived through eight rooms on the first day.
Each morning and afternoon we had a long microphone taped to our chests on the end of a long cable and at the beginning of each scene we had to be plugged into a black box which was kept at our feet during filming. The sound crew had a huge jigsaw at the side of the set which they would ponder over whilst we all sweated over the next problem on our quest (cheek!).
On the second day filming carried on until lunch time when one of the team spotted that there was duck a l'orange on the menu on Thursday. We now knew that we had to stay alive until then. After lunch we were rewired and proceeded in the dungeon. By this time we had completed the first level. We were feeling quite a bit more relaxed when the standby team arrived but they were in for a long wait!
The next day we entered level three and the atmosphere in the studios became more tense as people sensed that we might do it. We studied tapes to try to learn from other teams' mistakes. Later in the day we were almost destroyed by an evil sorceress, but we lived to tell the tale and now we only had a few more puzzles to solve until we had completed the quest.
We knew that this was to be our last night as we had been told that the next day we would either complete the dungeon or get killed. We went into the studio at about midday on our last day and we could hardly believe it when we actually reached the ultimate puzzle and the object of our quest was in sight. When our Dungeoneer picked up the crown the whole studio erupted with a cheer.
After filming we were given a tour of the studios, seeing the mixing, sound and video equipment that is used and also meeting all the actors who had played the characters in the show. We saw the designs for some of the costumes and the computers used to generate the graphics. Finally we had the long awaited duck a l'orange before leaving just in time to catch our train.
We were treated like stars whilst we were there and we will never forget it. We are all eager for an invitation back again!
(For the second year running the South West has produced Knightmare Champions. The cream can't be that clotted...! - Ed.)
Your Letters...
Wayne Mullane from Herschel Grammar School:
I have had an interest in adventure game books since I was about eleven. It would be fair to say that Knightmare got me started. Whenever we can, my friends, Tony Barnham, Jamie Jackson and Paul Bone play Fighting Fantasy games. We have our own system of playing Knightmare. We take it in turns to wear a motor cycle helmet backwards and, with other friends who act as advisers and enemies, we play our own game.
(I hope that your crash helmet has horns like the helmet of Justice! - Ed.)
We have had lots of letters asking what sort of computer we use to draw the status boards at the top of the screen. We use the Commodore Amiga 2000 - now you know! (What's a computer? - Ed.)
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