Team 3: Nathan, Karen, Steven and Catherine from Southampton.
The third quest of Series 8 was for the Cup and lasted 41 minutes.
Level 1
The team avoid early snapdragon attacks but Stiletta lies in wait at the end of the corridor. She warns Nathan about Honesty Bartram.
Stiletta: "He'll flog you anything - usually for gold or silver. Make sure you get a guarantee."
Into the Level 1 clue room. The scroll reads: "Look out for fire-balls. Reach for RUNES".
The clues are: gold, a crossbow and a bottle labelled 'Invisibility'.
Spyglass: Lord Fear bribes Honesty Bartram to sell Nathan the wrong charm. He mocks Bartram's indecision.
Lord Fear: "I am a vastly misunderstood person. I offer a simple and fair trade, and immediately the whole world takes me for a conniving, evil megalomaniac. It's so unjust, it's so unfair..."
Nathan takes the gold and the Invisibility potion.
Next, Fireball Alley, which they tackle easily.
The exit from the next chamber is rune-locked. Before they can do anything, Honesty Bartram trundles in with his wares.
The team don't waste any time. Nathan asks for the 'Risky' potion, which Lord Fear had explicitly told the tradesman not to sell.
Bartram offers a 'Trapdoor' charm instead, but Nathan waves the gold at him and his resistance gives way.
The team work out that Nathan should use the Reach wand to unlock the runes. Without a combination, they attempt numerical order, which is successful.
Next, the trapdoor room at the end of Level 1, which is patrolled by a Skeletron. They use the Invisibility potion to help Nathan cross its path without being seen.
Without any other options, they use the Risky potion which opens the trapdoor to Level 2.
Level 2
Nathan emerges at the Sewers of Goth, where Snapper-Jack appears to ask his riddles. This time, it's clearer the team was treading a fine line.
Snapper-Jack: "Well, guessy, guessy, guessy. Two gets you through..."
With no boat, this is the first time a dungeoneer exits the sewer without travelling across it first.
Into the Level 2 clue room. The scroll reads: "Travel Light - fall slowly."
They choose a Sight potion and a feather, leaving a dagger.
Spyglass: Lord Fear has transformed a Skeletron into a replica of Sidriss. We see him ordering it around, to Lissard's amusement.
Lord Fear: "I sometimes wonder why men go through this courtship and marriage business, when for a few bits of silver, you can have something like this that costs nothing to feed and doesn't give you any lip!"
Fear intends to use his 'bimboid' to attack Hordriss the Confuser.
Onto the formidable 'Play Your Cards Right' puzzle (with new beat SFX).
Majida hints that they need something to improve their vision, so they use the Sight potion.
When the sequence changes from suite to number, this is the only time we hear the thought process discussed in full.
The advisors disagree over how to proceed, but the majority vote carries. Nathan becomes only the third (and the youngest) dungeoneer to survive it.
A large black cat is sat in the next room, which everybody understands to be Hordriss in disguise.
Treguard: "Be careful, team. Try talking to him without letting on that you know it's - him."
Nathan makes a breakthrough by asking the cat if it knows a person called Sidriss. Hordriss then reveals himself with his usual pomp and ceremony.
When he learns of Lord Fear's 'bimboid', he offers to accompany Nathan until they encounter it.
They find it in the trapdoor chamber. Hordriss believes nothing is amiss but the advisors see the dagger outside his line of sight.
They prompt Nathan to warn him until he changes his mind.
Hordriss uses a charm of true-seeing, and promptly destroys the Skeletron.
Since Nathan is carrying the 'feather of falling', Hordriss opens the trapdoor to send him down to Level 3.
Level 3
Miremen are guarding the corridors of Linghorm.
Nathan meets Maldame on the watch tower. She orders Nathan to kneel before her.
Young people today! No manners, no courtesy! One blames it on the breakdown of family values, of course.
Eager to please, Nathan agrees to undertake a task for her: to board the Golden Galleon, find a glass globe, and place it down when it changes colour.
The jetty is guarded by a mireman, so they get Nathan on board quickly.
- Majida: "Treguard, was it right to accept task from Maldame without getting some kind of reward?"
- Treguard: "Within the circumstances, it seems extremely generous. But it's done now..."
Below decks are Level 3 clues: a golden globe, a bar of gold and a helmet.
Spyglass: Bhal-Shebah is arguing with itself. Lord Fear gets fed up and dismisses it. He asks Lissard to arrange for Snapper-Jack to guard the Cup with difficult riddles.
Nathan takes the globe (to fulfil his pledge) and the gold.
They emerge outside of Marblehead, where Honesty Bartram appears. Nathan is bemused.
Honesty Bartram: "You were on a quest for... a saucer!?"
Bartram is very interested in the amber globe. He offers a talking book which will answer questions on any subject - including Greek Mythology.
As the team know he also likes gold, Nathan keeps tempting him with it. Eventually, they persuade him to exchange for the gold instead.
Good to do dealing with you. Don't tell yer dad!
As Nathan approaches Marblehead, the globe begins to glow. He places it down as instructed and runs off.
Progressing through the corridors of Marblehead...
Death
...to the Fireball Chamber.
A fireball blasts a hole just in front of Nathan. As they try to navigate around it, someone orders Nathan to side-step left.
Down he goes. Oops!
Treguard: "Some extra magic would have helped you with this very difficult puzzle, team. You could have got that magic from Maldame. But you didn't, did you?"
Notice that the food disappears and the colour balance changes as Nathan falls. The Series 8 Outtakes show Nathan working with the stage team to film his death sequence.
Hear from the team
In December 2000, Nathan Coppen wrote for the Bring Back Knightmare petition.
I was on the programme. As a child it was the most entertaining and graphically impressive programme on. There's nothing I would like to see more than another series!!!
In August 2002, Karen signed the Guestbook.
Hurrah, a website that means my friends can see me as a scary-looking 12-year-old!
Filming Knightmare was great fun (except for the hideous coach journey - damn train strikes). The stories that came from our real-life adventure still keep us laughing!
In June 2007, Cat also signed it:
It was an amazing experience and really good fun to see how the show was made!
Did you know?
Karen was really hoping they would meet Sidriss. We can't imagine she was expecting a version made from semi-conductors!
