Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Knightmare inspired creations from the community.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by Eyeshield »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 2
Original Release Date: 3rd August 2010
Throwback Review Date: 11th March 2016
Score: 2 out of 5 (nearly there)

The Good: I've always been a fan of Jacob Ward's teenaged voice as a very petulant Dylan. Andy Marshall demonstrates how to play an advisor in a fun and engaging way for those who have the vocal skills to do it. I still like the use of the DREAMS spell as a nice bit of book homage, and Merlin's associated dialogue (“Now it's time for me to return to my own dreams” etc) is good.

The McGrew scene still stands up quite well. I like the chessboard simple starter (even though there's at least one line too many of the team discussing it) as it's just the sort of thing that might have been used (but wasn't) on the real show.

The Bad: I've always said that the Audio Series is at its best when it manages to evoke the original Knightmare in some way, perhaps atmospherically or by successfully paying homage to a particular scene or team. By the same token, when the events of the Audio Series do not match up with what might happen on the real show and thus fail to evoke Knightmare in my mind, I can't help feeling a bit disappointed. The whole thing with Merlin giving one vital spell for one correct answer and a bonus, non-essential spell for a second correct answer therefore does not sit very well with me, as on Knightmare you either need a spell or you don't.

I don't like the pitching down on Hansel because it interferes with my comedy German voice. Treguard jumps to a wild conclusion about where the catacombite came from for no reason. The Mogdred scene has potential but the end result is not quite there. The background music on the opening poem is too loud.

Conclusion: This episode is definitely an improvement on the first, so it does its job!
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by Eyeshield »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 3
Original Release Date: 11th September 2010
Throwback Review Date: 12th March 2016
Score: 1 out of 5 (not bad)

The Good: The background music on the opening poem is at a better volume. There's a coherent attempt to present Dylan as an overly anxious dunegoneer who doesn't trust his advisors. The voices of Hansel and Gretel are now uncorrupted by effects. Andy Marshall puts a great spin on “You've got a lovely singing voice” that I was not expecting, but it turns out to be very appropriate!

The Bad: This episode is rather short (which I don't think is necessarily a bad thing in itself) because we did not have enough material recorded to fill the time. Consequently there are several scenes of Rosey and me (as Daisy and Treguard) frantically trying to pad the episode with impromptu dwarf tunnels and bomb rooms, and I find that these stick out like sore thumbs.

This taught us the valuable lesson that the series should be recorded one whole quest at a time and then divided into episodes, rather than trying to guess how much material we would need for each episode and just recording that. (Yes, it's obvious really, but hindsight is twenty-twenty!)

Dylan's journey to the end of Level 1 seems a bit rushed to me. As for Level 2, the Hansel and Gretel scene has potential but the end result is not quite there, although I did smile at “Why are you speaking with that ridiculous accent?” I'm afraid! After Merlin, the episode limps towards its premature end with shameless filler and a few recycled lines.

Conclusion: I suppose we needed an episode like this before things could get very much better, so thankfully it happened quite early!
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by Eyeshield »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 4
Original Release Date: 14th October 2010
Throwback Review Date: 13th March 2016
Score: 2 out of 5 (nearly there)

The Good: This is undoubtedly Greg Ford's best performance as Cedric, and it's good to hear the SHOVEL spell being used successfully in some version of Knightmare! My Merlin voice is finally just about right, and I like some of the stuff he says about Morghanna.

I still enjoying listening to Abdul's quest. It's quite a good first attempt to create an amusingly rubbish team, and I love the gorgeous voice of John Liu at the fore. The scene with Folly and the cards is well conceived and successfully pulled off.

The Bad: Dylan's 'clue room' is obviously shoehorned in and is a clear sign of improper planning. I dislike the deepening effect on Morgahnna's voice and I know that Rosey hates it, as it interferes with her interpretation of the character and in no way makes her sound more evil or threatening. (It sounds exactly like one of our aunts, incidentally.)

Dylan's death scene is not as effective a piece of homage to Ross's death from the real show as it might be with a few tweaks to the dialogue, which is quite annoying. Abdul's advisors don't have any individual characteristics. The door in the bomb room unlocks too early, as Abdul has not approached it yet.

Conclusion: Overall, it's nearly good. Undoubtedly it's the best episode so far, even though it's not quite good enough to earn a higher score than Episode 2 from me.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by Eyeshield »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 5
Original Release Date: 20th November 2010
Throwback Review Date: 14th March 2016
Score: 3 out of 5 (good)

The Good: I like Abdul's death scene. The fatal sound effect is the first one I ever found for the series and I think it works well.

Rosey taught us a valuable lesson with Mel's quest, namely how to give a team just the right amount of character. All four team members are written consistently and with humour, both individually and in their roles within the group, which can easily be imagined as having crossed over from their real lives.

Rosey also demonstrated the kind of character scenes we should be aiming for with her peek into the life of the Grimwold family. (I like the dog sound effects in that scene, which I also found!) Mel's laughably bad attempt to make friends with Cedric is totally on-point, thanks to Juliet Thompson.

The Bad: The one scene of Mel's quest that Rosey did not write seems stylistically out of place to me, and if you don't know which one it is then just listen for the scene in which Mel does not introduce herself (or fail to) in her usual way. (I don't think it's a bad scene as such; I just don't think it sits too well in this particular quest.)

There is an issue with interruptions – they sometimes aren't where they were supposed to be, which means that, at times, the interplay between Darren and the girls (including some of Treguard's associated dialogue) is not quite creating the feel that Rosey was going for.

Conclusion: This episode is a beacon of hope in the first half of the first series, and an important signpost to take the production in the right direction.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by Eyeshield »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 6
Original Release Date: 22nd December 2010
Throwback Review Date: 15th March 2016
Score: 3 out of 5 (good)

The Good:
The quality of Mel's quest remains high to the end, building to a nice crescendo with Darren finally expressing his true feelings when things go to pot. I feel that Treguard's assessment of the girls as “foolish children” falls just the right side of the line of what works. I think Aden's Level 1 is fairly well conceived and pulled off.

The Bad: I wish to God I hadn't mentioned Hollyoaks in the opening poem. The trapdoor sound effect should have come in as Gretel was saying “ something's going” rather than just after she said “to”. The Lillith scene could have done with a few tweaks to the dialogue. McGrew goes slightly Welsh at times.

Conclusion: Undoubtedly it's not quite up to the standard of the previous episode, but I think it stands up surprisingly well.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 7
Original Release Date: 19th January 2011
Throwback Review Date: 16th March 2016
Score: 2 out of 5 (nearly there)

The Good: My Treguard voice is getting there, and some of his dialogue is almost where I think it should be. I'm quite pleased with the Merlin and Lenny ENERGY cast sequence, which I seem to remember recording 'live' using both voices.

The debut of Hordriss still stands up rather well, although I could have injected a bit more affronted haughtiness into a couple of his lines. I like the Velda scene – her unexpected entrance works well and Gemma Dwarwood is on good form.

The Bad: Aden's Level 2 suffers from a lack of co-ordinated planning. The dark cave scene in particular is rather ill judged, because it's a last minute compromise between two differing approaches to the whole concept of the series.

I'm not sure if it's quite right to have the GHOST spell do something different from the GHOST spell on the real show – I think another name should have been chosen, on the whole. I still think the confrontation between McGrew and Cedric is a good idea, but the scene as it stands is not quite there.

It seems very strange now to have two and a half minutes of music and introduction before we get back into the action, and I think it was certainly the right decision to cut down the preamble at the start of each episode for the second series.

Conclusion: This episode has a lot of potential and should at least be up to the standard of the previous episode, but it's not quite there.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 8
Original Release Date: 11th February 2011
Throwback Review Date: 17th March 2016
Score: 1 out of 5 (not bad)

The Good: This episode received quite a bit of fan praise for creating the kind of climactic scene for our first winning quest that Knightmare's own first winning quest deserved but missed out on, namely Gretel actually being present for her rescue at the end. It has also been applauded for presenting a wall monster death, something that the original show clearly always shied away from. I agree that these are both positive aspects of the episode.

I like the panicked way in which I cast the BLAST spell. I thought it was okay for Lenny to call Gretel “Milady” as he is obviously young and naïve, although I rejected any suggestion of Treguard calling Gretel “Madam” (as he does with Lillith) as this would have been extremely rude of him! Searching for Festus by listening for his growl is a nice spin on listening for Folly's laughter from the real show.

The Bad: I've always found this episode quite difficult to listen to overall. Aden never turns back round after Medusa's chamber, creating an image in my mind of him completing the rest of his quest while walking backwards. Clearly the wax seal on the scroll was magic as it needed to be melted rather than simply broken or sliced in the usual way, but this should have been explained to the team and the audience.

I'm still not quite convinced by Gretel's “sneaking up behind me” comment. We know that she fell down a trapdoor and while it's easy to envision Mogdred sneaking up behind her after she landed, I think it would've been better if she'd referenced the part we actually heard 'on-screen' – “I'll be sure to watch where I'm standing in future” sort of thing.

Pleasant and young as Luke Thompson's voice is, he is so obviously struggling to read out loud that I really wish I'd modelled the lines verbally, as I did with him for later episodes. Is it too obvious that Cordy's second dwarf tunnel is all me doing filler? I think it might be.

Some of the dialogue is over-embellished and/or unnatural-sounding in my opinion. This is exacerbated by the fact that I foolishly recorded most of the Treguard lines without having read the script beforehand, and was trying to come to terms with some bits that didn't strike the right note for me as I went along. This makes many of Treguard's lines sound terribly awkward and a bit stumbly.

Conclusion: I do like this episode more than Episodes 1 and 3, but for me its potential remains largely unrealised, rather like the previous episode.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 9
Original Release Date: 7th March 2011
Throwback Review Date: 18th March 2016
Score: 3 out of 5 (good)

The Good: I think the opening speech from Treguard has more value than usual, as it's an in-character look back to the events of the previous episode rather than a generic welcome adapted from the real show.

Abby's team sounds (mostly) good; the fresh and pleasant voice of Ellie Marshall at the fore is very welcome. I like the Gumboil scene, as the interplay between Ellie and me is clearly brilliant. I think the confrontation between Hansel and Folly does its job pretty well.

The Bad: Hansel's departure is sudden and rather rushed; I may have been rather premature in my desperation to get rid of him! I was never completely happy with “Small One” as a form of address to a dungeoneer. A piece of Abby's dialogue contains a slight misconception about wax rubbings.

Conclusion: It's a solid episode and I enjoy listening to it.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 10
Original Release Date: 4th April 2011
Throwback Review Date: 19th March 2016
Score: 2 out of 5 (nearly there)

The Good: The opening poem is rather fun in places and comes across quite well as a whole, I feel. “We'll look it up on Wikipedia when we get home” hits the right note, as does “Ah, Milton Keynes, a lovely part of the world!” in my opinion.

The extreme suitability of the voice of Becs Houghton-Berry as a young and naïve dungeoneer cannot be denied. Rosey's spin on the Australian advisor (with added Australianisms!) allows the idea to reach its potential.

The Bad: The trouble with Hordriss's 'bonus clue' is that it utterly nullifies the rest of the riddle, rather than just whittling down the remaining choices. “Resting on your laurel” has no real meaning as an expression; I think it's a shame that the final “s” got lost somewhere along the way.

Abby's death is not very well thought out, or easy to imagine happening on the real show, as it was a quick and lazy conclusion to a quest that had reached the end of its plan. A more convincing death scene would have lifted the episode quite a bit, I feel.

Selena's quest contains a few bits of 'dead air' where the mind's eye might be asked to fill in the gaps a bit too much during lengthy periods of intricate directing and/or unexplained sound effects. In a not unrelated point, canny listeners will quickly realise that Selena has been written to die before she gets to use her step clues as they are actions rather than sounds.

Some of the dialogue in Selena's quest is not to my taste, particularly in the Velda scene. The Gretel swimming scene is very weird in my opinion (not in a good way in this case) and she seems to have changed her mind about going back to Germany very quickly and without explanation.

Conclusion: I find this episode rather weak overall, but it's not quite as bad as the 'not bad' episodes so it just scrapes a score of 2 from me!
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 11
Original Release Date: 3rd May 2011
Throwback Review Date: 20th March 2016
Score: 2 out of 5 (nearly there)

The Good: “Someone got out the wrong side of the bed” – Ellie Marshall on good form there. I like Tom's quest quite a lot, not least because Andy Marshall always has something special to bring to a role. (Ellie and Andy are not related in any way, at least as far as I know, in case you were wondering!)

Again, Folly with the simple starter works very well. I like his dialogue in this scene, including his interplay with Treguard. The scene between Tom and Gumboil works particularly well and is the highlight of the episode, I feel.

The Bad: You can hear Ross's mum putting crockery away during the opening section. I was never sure about the effectiveness of the Spindizzy in audio, and as it appears here without any interesting dialogue or door choices to back it up, I don't think it really adds anything to the quest.

The situation with the Giant and the boulder could never have been realised on the real show, so it doesn't quite ring true in my mind's eye. The Giant also does something that annoys me immensely – saying “is” twice in a row! (“The problem with humans is, is that they make me sneeze.”)

Treguard should have said “neither/nor” instead of “neither/or” which indicates a lack of concentration on my part. I'd have preferred to hear Mogdred just say the old “play awhile” bit from the real show (or something a lot more like it than what he actually says) for Selena's death scene.

You can hear from Treguard's dwarf tunnel spiel how extremely bored I was by then of thinking of things to say for these rather pointless scenes. Not all the stars we can see from Earth are already dead, of course, as Granitas seems to imply. My faulty microphone is starting to spoil some lines.

Conclusion: Whether to give this episode 2 or 3 out of 5 is one of the hardest decisions I've ever had to make. I believe that parts of Tom's quest could sit very nicely in a 4 out of 5 episode, but other parts couldn't and as the episode as a whole seems to have garnered more bad points than good points from me, I've had to go for the lower mark of the two I was considering.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 12
Original Release Date: 4th June 2011
Throwback Review Date: 21st March 2016
Score: 3 out of 5 (good)

The Good: I really like the sound of Scott's team. The pact format slots very well into the series and adds a nice bit of variety; the exchange with Hordriss may be a tiny bit slow but I like it a lot. Rosey has made us another excellent Grimwold family scene.

The Bad: I feel that the second Igneous riddle should have made more overt reference to the fact that a kelpie is a horse – as it stands, it could be referring to any animal water spirit. You can hear Lillith's washing machine in the background at the start of her appearance.

Conclusion: Hooray, we're very much back on track! This episode is definitely solid and promises even greater things to come...
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 13
Original Release Date: 3rd July 2011
Throwback Review Date: 22nd March 2016
Score: 4 out of 5 (very good)

The Good: As I've said before, I love the Knightmare atmosphere that's evoked by the passage of play during the first thirteen minutes where Scott doesn't meet any characters – it's just the four team members pitted against the Dungeon, with only an ambivalent Treguard to offer them help and reassurance.

I'm rather pleased with most of Treguard's dialogue in this one. The team members are all on good form and there's a compelling group dynamic coming through. Merlin's patter about the CHARM spell pleases me. There's a nice chunk of late Level 2 tension to enjoy during the final third of the episode.

The Bad: I should have put slightly different emphases on “just as with all spells” in the wellway room. My microphone problems have come to a head – many of my lines needed completely redoing, instead of filling in the bare minimum of gaps.

Conclusion: This episode is almost brilliant. With a few tweaks to the script and a few redone lines, I would have no hesitation in giving it full marks. (This will never happen, of course, as going back and messing around with existing pieces of artistic expression is deplorable and immoral!)
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 14
Original Release Date: 3rd August 2011
Throwback Review Date: 23rd March 2016
Score: 4 out of 5 (very good)

The Good: The scene with the CHARM spell is a nice bit of book homage, and works very well in audio. It's good to hear Rosey's Morghanna impression untainted by effects. I find Scott's Level 3 far more pleasing than Aden's in both its structure and its realisation; the Merlin scene, the Glum scene and the Medusa scene are particular favourites of mine.

The Bad: I'm no longer entirely convinced by the use of the BUT spell, nor by the use of the DOOR spell in the dwarf tunnel. The scenes with Morghanna are not quite as well written as they should be. Glum should have specified screen left or Scott's left when giving his instruction.

Conclusion: I don't think this episode is quite up to the standard of the previous one, but it's still very good!
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 15
Original Release Date: 5th September 2011
Throwback Review Date: 24th March 2016
Score: 4 out of 5 (very good)

The Good: Unlike most other quests in this series, Finn's has been meticulously planned and carefully thought out, which I think leads to a huge improvement in coherence and overall quality.

I like the 'luck of the Irish' theme which runs through Level 1; said luck will eventually catch up with Finn on Level 3, of course. I find the casual but extreme blaspheming from the team members very amusing. Finn's over-reliance on Steph rings true, bringing to mind several dungeoneers from the real show.

The Lillith scene has a nice spin and is the most successful outing for the character in this series, I feel. Velda, too, I think hits something of a peak in this quest, with plenty of suspicion and ambiguity in evidence. On a related note, I rather like Treguard's overriding distrust of the elf race (which has already featured in the series a couple of times) as it is a nice link back to book continuity.

The Spindizzy with an actual 'spin' on it (the choice of chess pieces) and some nice dialogue from Treguard is much better to listen to than the obstacle's first appearance a few episodes ago. Finn and Merlin have a very nice exchange.

The Bad: There's quite a bit of horrible 'white noise' from microphones in this one – it's the first time I've found it really distracting! I wish I'd said the “person-allergy” line better. It's a shame that Finn has accidentally been pitched down instead of up for the first few rooms of Level 2. (I think Treguard has suffered the opposite fate in places, going up instead of down!)

Conclusion: In many ways (though not all) this episode is the best so far. It would need quite a bit of tidying up to make it brilliant, but the actual content is all in there somewhere.
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Re: Knightmare Audio Series: Series 1

Post by TheOldenDays »

We've had a lot of fun making the series over the past 6 years, but what do I really think of it? Find out now in Jake's Throwback Reviews!

Episode: Series 1, Episode 16
Original Release Date: 8th October 2011
Throwback Review Date: 25th March 2016
Score: 4 out of 5 (very good)

The Good: All the positive things I said in my previous review about the team, Velda and Treguard hold true in this episode. A couple of bits of last-minute variety from Ariadne and the minecart ride ensure that the series does not end on too predictable a note. I laughed when Treguard started quoting Strictly Come Dancing at the start of Level 3.

I feel that this is the closest we ever came to getting Mogdred right. Having heard it said that his dialogue on the real show comes straight from the mouths of '80s cartoon villains, I went back to the '80s in my mind (as I often like to, for various reasons) and pillaged dialogue straight from the mouths of some of my favourite '80s cartoon villains! There is inspiration from Skeletor (He-Man and the Masters of Universe), Stampede (Bravestarr) and Ming the Merciless (Flash Gordon/Defenders of the Earth) for those who are old and/or nerdy enough to spot it! I think it works, on the whole.

The Bad: The episode does suffer slightly in places from over-long team discussion that was designed to be cut down for time if necessary, which it obviously wasn't in the end! I'm not entirely convinced by the use of the RETREAT spell. A few sound effects when Finn was climbing into the minecart would have been a good idea.

Conclusion: This episode is very nearly brilliant, like the last one. Finn's quest really is the peak of the first series for me.
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