Series 7 & 8

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JamesA
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Series 7 & 8

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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by JamesA »

I think that picture is most fitting  ;D

But seriously, my favourite memories of the two series are Barry's winning quest (of course!), the other winning quest, in fact the all the quests in Series 7 as a whole were generally very good, albeit some quite clearly lasted longer than others!

The introductions of Lissard and Majida (oh, and Rothberry!) worked well, although I think Pickle and Skarkill (LOVELY!) were generally more popular and better performed. Plus Skarkill wasn't afraid to give dungeoneers a hard time....  ;)

Other parts of Series 7 I liked were the trolls, the Play Your Cards right, Grimaldine (must mention him!) and Goth, which was quite simply, brilliant devised. So all in all, Series 7 was very much outstanding.

The reason why I've paired it with Series 8 though is because, well, for some reason, I can't find anything worth shouting about Series 8....
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by Velda »

2-4-6-8, who do we appreciate?  B-A-R-R-Y. Barry!  

Hehe, you might have guessed from that that I'm another fan of Barry.  His quest was my absolute favourite in Series 7 (a fantastic series!), not to mention in the whole of the time I watched Knightmare.  Every time I watched his quest (I had it taped but it got mould on it, so I can't watch it now :( ), I laughed at the bit where he was in the dark room with his torch and he bumped into the wall!

I loved the rest of the series too, with Julie's team coming a close second to Barry's.  That was absolutely hilarious when Sly Hands jumped out of the mural, then got drunk and sung "Ten Dead Goblins Sittin' On The Wall"!  

Lord Fear was excellent in this series two and some of his conversations with Lissard and Sly were really funny.  I loved his Black Tower with its stinky sewers too, not forgetting those flickering torches which added to the atmosphere.

I love Series 7 - it's one of my favourites.  There were a lot of extremely funny moments in it (as mentioned above, plus Hordriss turning green!) and the characters were good.  I liked Majida but she can't replace Pickle (no-one can!).

My only moans about this series were the fact that every journey on Smirky was the exact same.  Why did they have to get rid of all that nice scenery from Series 5/6?

I'll get back to you on Series 8.  I need to think a bit about it.
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by JamesA »

Not a problem Velda - thanks  :)

I suppose one concern about Series 7 is that the format of the quests were all generally the same
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by GrimaldineGrimwold »

Grimaldine (must mention him!)
Anyone who doesn't gets the lovely green staff whacked across their head. ;)
"Sometimes of the Grey, but always of the Green, dearie. Shurrup Brollachan! Have you seen Festus, my dear? I need to take him back to Cornwall. " [cackle]
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by GrimaldineGrimwold »

Righties, start with Series 7. I know I'll end up ranting a little about this season, but not because I think it's no good. I think it's great. It just annoys me because I think it could easily have been a lot better with a few changes.

My likes this year:

- The character list is by now really taking shape.
- Lissard is wonderful, lots of comedy to be had there. Great make-up too. At least I hope it's make-up.
- Rothberry. As I've said before, I think he's easily the best of the various trader type people.
- Majida. I know lots of people don't think much of her, but I thought she was superbly acted, and the banter over the next two seasons with Treguard was just great.
- Grimaldine. Just brilliant.
- The Brollachan. A great idea, the technology is used well, and the voice is just spot on.
- Some great floor puzzles- especially the Trial by Spikes and Play Your Cards Right.
- Goth. I really enjoyed it- a hugely atmospheric environment worthy of the Opposition. I really liked the idea of sneaking into the tower via the sewers.
- Some decent stories this year. Green Hordriss has to be my favourite.
 
"Sometimes of the Grey, but always of the Green, dearie. Shurrup Brollachan! Have you seen Festus, my dear? I need to take him back to Cornwall. " [cackle]
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by Emii »

Goth was absolutely brillig, and I have to say Barry's team cracked me up. I love smartarses...they make me laugh! I cracked up in one of my exams last year because I had this random memory of Barry meeting Brother Strange in the dwarf tunnels and trying to run in the other direction - damn boy nearly got me disqualified!
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by GrimaldineGrimwold »

Yeh, there's quite a lot I didn't like about Series 7. Some it's specific to this year, but some has been annoying me since about Series 5:

- The Brollachan. Yes, in a way it was brilliant. But with a little story-rewriting it could have been able to tell the difference between correct and incorrect answers to questions. I don't like the "confidently guess and get away with it" formula one bit, as I've said so often.
- Hordriss. Clifford Norgate is still fantastic, but the stories for him this season really involve a shift in his character. This year he seems less Hordriss the Confuser than Hordriss the Confused. Hordriss the Hapless, Hordriss the Hopeless. He's turned into Sidriss! I know that character integrity isn't all important in a show like this, but he was just so interesting before Series 7 came along and he had to repeatedly rely on a blindfolded 13 year old who can only carry two objects at a time for survival. The specific stories about him are very mixed: getting green fireballed is great, and his imprisonment is nicely handed, with an excellently directed spyglass scene between Fear and Lissard with Hordriss in the background. The rest, for me, are pretty silly, and I really dislike the Lissard disguised as Marta story, even if Lord Fear gets a few good gags out of it. I mean, if you want to kill Hordriss why disguise Lissard as Marta?
- There's some pretty dull characters introduced for The Powers That Be, and I guess that's one reason why so many of the stories have to be centred around Hordriss and Sidriss.  Why invent Fidjit when Motley was just infinitely superior? Romahna is okay, even if she's not as good as some of her predecessors and her name is stolen. I found Marta dull too- writing her into that last Hordriss story for me just shows how limited she was. And Brother Strange: well, he's acted well enough, but the possibilities are hardly endless.

Okay, rant over for now. That's just the stuff specific to Series 7. I'll leave the more general stuff because, believe it or not, I really don't like ranting too much. ;)

   
"Sometimes of the Grey, but always of the Green, dearie. Shurrup Brollachan! Have you seen Festus, my dear? I need to take him back to Cornwall. " [cackle]
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by Emii »

I didn't like the green lighting and cheesy smoke in series 8  >:( That sucked almost as much as Pickle's departure, and ten times worse than Majida - and that's suckworthy.
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by GrimaldineGrimwold »

I didn't like the green lighting and cheesy smoke in series 8  >:( That sucked almost as much as Pickle's departure, and ten times worse than Majida - and that's suckworthy.
"Eee's too deefeecult to invent beeelieeevable characters. I preferred eeet eeen bottle anyway."

That reminds me of something else I forgot to mention about Series 7- The shift toward sight potions and such. And, of course, Majida would have to recite a line like the above to hint to use it. Hints about as subtle as a bull in a china shop- it just made it too linear and obvious for my taste. I know there had always been hints: even unpredictable Treguard of the early seasons had given clues sometimes, but I think for the sight things it was just too blatant.
 
"Sometimes of the Grey, but always of the Green, dearie. Shurrup Brollachan! Have you seen Festus, my dear? I need to take him back to Cornwall. " [cackle]
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by Emii »

I know. I've seen explosions more discrete.
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by JamesA »


Anyone who doesn't gets the lovely green staff whacked across their head. ;)
And believe me, it's not pleasant either.
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by JamesA »

That reminds me of something else I forgot to mention about Series 7- The shift toward sight potions and such. And, of course, Majida would have to recite a line like the above to hint to use it. Hints about as subtle as a bull in a china shop- it just made it too linear and obvious for my taste. I know there had always been hints: even unpredictable Treguard of the early seasons had given clues sometimes, but I think for the sight things it was just too blatant.
Indeed, it become of a necessity, just look what happened to Team 2's quest when they didn't take it
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by JamesA »

Actually, one bit I liked about Series 8 were the Miremen  :)
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Re: Series 7 & 8

Post by GrimaldineGrimwold »

Indeed, it become of a necessity, just look what happened to Team 2's quest when they didn't take it
Yes. I wouldn't mind if the sight potions and such gave them an advantage in the floor puzzles. But speeding them up etc. so that doing them without the extra vision is impossible was just a bit cruel, I thought. It also adds to the view that success in the dungeon was becoming about surviving one or two difficult chambers per level.
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