Still remember the very first episode, I'd have been 7 years old. Soon as that epic animated intro started, I knew I was in for something special. It just totally absorbed my attention,. I loved Knightmare, from that day onwards, it was a bit special.
Thank you for this great video. Knightmare came along during the golden era of kids TV, when vast amounts of creativity and resources were poured into producing the most innovative and diverse range of shows to entertain and inspire young minds. I'm so glad to have lived through such a time.
Absolutely. Digital TV and the rise of the Internet have changed things forever, and not for the better, in my view. But thank you for reminding us of these little treasures from the past.
Great video, thank you. I hold Knightmare very dear as ot one of the things which keeps me in perpetual youth, and takes me away from some of the strainsxand stress and cynicism of life
Fantastic episode as usual, like all your Retrospectives! :) Seeing Readingeffigy's comment about wanting to appear on both this show and Funhouse reminded me of the time people to do with Funhouse came to my school looking for potential contestants for the show (Funhouse was filmed in Glasgow where I live). Nobody I knew from school ended up on the programme though, and neither did I. 🙃 Your vids always bring the nostalgic goodness Steve, love them! Dunno about this show being too cheesy for me, I was always a bit of a geek and still am. lol 😊
Same here, really. I was never into D&D & comic books, just the computer gamey stuff, which I guess is a sub-culture of geekiness. As for TV shows, the only one I've ever really wanted to go on is Catchphrase. Still do. I did get a letter read out on an ITV/Central "points of view" programme once. I'd written in praising the new theme tune for the Krypton Factor.
@@RetroSpectives It was mainly computer games for me too, but back then there weren't many female gamers, so I was certainly considered a geek, not that I minded. lol Oh, The Krypton Factor! I loved that as a kid too...I guess being into that show as a kid might be classed as nerdy as well, but I always wished I could have been a contestant on there! And Catchphrase... is there anyone who didn't love that show in the mid-80's - mid--90's? I loved that growing up, Roy Walker, Mr. Chips, and prizes that were holidays on Concorde and to the "Magical Island of Bali!"...ah good times! 😊
Thanks for uploading, I was 15 when this came out and I remember it being on TV. I never saw a full episode because I may have been watching something else or at my friend's house, at that time I was also getting ready to be one of the first to take my GCSE's, so I may have also been revising! The programme did intrigue me though, as I was into all that type of stuff at the time - so I'm guessing it must have been homework or revision! 👍🏻
Being around the same age as yourself, i too remember this being on after school. I remember getting frustrated when the poor team mate was given wrong instructions and directions 😅 Would've had a Spectrum 128+ and cassette games at this time so the graphics in the show were then very good. Thanks for memories and nostalgia 🙂👍
I used to get frustrated about that too. I always felt I could have done a better job. In reality I suspect I wouldn't have been much better under the pressure of studio cameras.
I think the show was at its best with the hand drawn backgrounds used in the first couple of series. Looked better than the more computer fx based look of later series.
definitely agreed. I was an avid player of video games and tabletop RPG's at the time, and felt that the hand painted scenes placed the show more firmly in the real of tabletop RPG, rather than the increasing popularity of computer games.. Understandable from a corporate point of view I guess, but it lessened the charm of the show, and frankly just made things far less terrifying...
I loved Knightmare as a kid, I started watching during the 6th season but season 7 was always my favourite. The last team & ending always made it specially great. Still bitter how it got screwed over at the end.
I always liked _Knightmare_ - I think it was a fairly equal mix of entertainment, frustration at the contestants ("Spellcasting, T..." etc. while I was creaming "hurry up!" at the screen) and schadenfreude when they fell off a ledge or were munched by some beastie. And while catchphrases and slogans do tend to stick in my mind, I don't think any have quite so successfully lodged as Treguard's legendary, "Oooooh, nasty" - I genuinely still, regularly, use that to this day.
Strangely, that one never stayed with me but I've seen it mentioned so many times since doing the video. Here's a little treat: ua-cam.com/video/hg9komiRNVw/v-deo.html
@@judyhopps9380 Being blown away by the "advanced" graphics, mainly because I was used to playing on basic home computer games. It all seemed like magic.
I'm surprised you didn't mention some of the parody creations - in particular the Owen Stephens video has become mixed up with my genuine memories of the show!
I absolutely loved Knightmare! Sadly I was a proper Billy Nomates so my dream of going on it never came true (same for the original Crystal Maze!), but I always enjoyed watching other kids bugger it up! 😂 Had no idea about merchandise, although I only had a ZX Spectrum Plus (ooh, fancy!), so wouldn't have been able to play the games anyway. I'll be sure to check out the new one though as I did get another Speccy about a decade ago. I know the graphics look silly now, but at the time they were ground-breaking. Name another show that had such good CGI and interactive elements. They just didn't exist back then! Even CGI from a decade ago can look a bit janky now, so for something thirty-odd years ago, I think it's held up relatively well. Kids falling off of things and walking into walls always made me laugh! I know I shouldn't but hearing their "screams" when falling into a well or such like was just too funny! Thanks for the video and I wish you and your family a blessed Samhain!
Thanks. I had a 48k rubber key Speccy but eventually was allowed to upgrade to a Plus 2. There days I still play the odd Speccy game, either in emulation or on the recently released ZX Spectrum Next.
Looked Awesome, Unfortunately I'm American and never knew about this till a few years back a UA-camr named Spoony did a review of the program. Being the child of parents that played Dungeons and Dragons, and continue to play RPGs. This would have been something I would have been able to watch if it had come out when I was young. Now grown up (Pushing 50) my father passed away and my mom still loves her Might and Magic. I've find myself getting nostalgic looking back at my Old Dungeons and Dragons action figures, my fathers 1st and 3rd addition D&D ruleset, and playing his favorite games. I wonder how much this will be to people who have Never had the childhood I had. Or (With like All Old Media) be pushed back to the realm of relics that our Great Grand Parents used to like. Media like Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, or W.C. Fields.
Some great old classics there. I've always loved Laurel & Hardy. Thanks for sharing about your parents. I have to admit, pushing 50 is now gone for me. I pushed 50 over the hill last year! 👴
@@RetroSpectives ahhh i was still in primary school when it was airrred friday kids tv was always a good experience with knightmare, fun house and bad influence
@@seany84uk There's a good chance you've already seen them, but the Rose Tinted Spectrum channel has done some great Bad Influence videos called Breaking Bad Influence. Worth looking up.
@@RetroSpectives About 20 years ago, a friend used to host virtual TV nights via livestream, including UK Game Show Night. Among the series he showed us were Bullseye, The Crystal Maze, Cluedo (specifically the series with Tom Baker as Professor Plum), and Knightmare. Knightmare was definitely my favorite, and "You're in a room" and "Ooooh, nasty!" quickly entered my vocabulary. As an American, I wonder if Knightmare in any way inspired Nick Arcade's greenscreen action sequences.
I like the idea of a reboot, but I'm not sure how much impact it would have on modern kids; they're so used to hyper-realistic graphics. We had that element of surprise back in the 80s when those CG effects looked so amazing. Sorry to have to ask this, but woke is such a meaningless buzzword now - is there any particular thing you'd want excluded from a reboot if it was remade?
Still remember the very first episode, I'd have been 7 years old. Soon as that epic animated intro started, I knew I was in for something special. It just totally absorbed my attention,. I loved Knightmare, from that day onwards, it was a bit special.
I remember the episodes feeling very short. Always a sign that you're enjoying something, I suppose.
The only way is onwards
Thank you for this great video. Knightmare came along during the golden era of kids TV, when vast amounts of creativity and resources were poured into producing the most innovative and diverse range of shows to entertain and inspire young minds. I'm so glad to have lived through such a time.
I think there was more incentive to be creative back then. With only 3 or 4 channels, they had a much bigger audience.
Absolutely. Digital TV and the rise of the Internet have changed things forever, and not for the better, in my view. But thank you for reminding us of these little treasures from the past.
Great footage great adverts moving into shorter days and longer nights.
Great video, thank you. I hold Knightmare very dear as ot one of the things which keeps me in perpetual youth, and takes me away from some of the strainsxand stress and cynicism of life
Looking back often helps with that sort of thing. Thanks for watching.
Fantastic episode as usual, like all your Retrospectives! :) Seeing Readingeffigy's comment about wanting to appear on both this show and Funhouse reminded me of the time people to do with Funhouse came to my school looking for potential contestants for the show (Funhouse was filmed in Glasgow where I live). Nobody I knew from school ended up on the programme though, and neither did I. 🙃
Your vids always bring the nostalgic goodness Steve, love them! Dunno about this show being too cheesy for me, I was always a bit of a geek and still am. lol 😊
Same here, really. I was never into D&D & comic books, just the computer gamey stuff, which I guess is a sub-culture of geekiness. As for TV shows, the only one I've ever really wanted to go on is Catchphrase. Still do. I did get a letter read out on an ITV/Central "points of view" programme once. I'd written in praising the new theme tune for the Krypton Factor.
@@RetroSpectives It was mainly computer games for me too, but back then there weren't many female gamers, so I was certainly considered a geek, not that I minded. lol Oh, The Krypton Factor! I loved that as a kid too...I guess being into that show as a kid might be classed as nerdy as well, but I always wished I could have been a contestant on there! And Catchphrase... is there anyone who didn't love that show in the mid-80's - mid--90's? I loved that growing up, Roy Walker, Mr. Chips, and prizes that were holidays on Concorde and to the "Magical Island of Bali!"...ah good times! 😊
@@Sara_Kane As a female gamer, you might enjoy www.youtube.com/@TheGebs24 .. on the assumption you haven't already found that channel.
Thanks for uploading, I was 15 when this came out and I remember it being on TV. I never saw a full episode because I may have been watching something else or at my friend's house, at that time I was also getting ready to be one of the first to take my GCSE's, so I may have also been revising! The programme did intrigue me though, as I was into all that type of stuff at the time - so I'm guessing it must have been homework or revision! 👍🏻
I never watched every episode, but the ones I did see had quite an impact on me. I'd like to rewatch at least some of them at some point.
I was going to say I absolutely loved this as a kid but then realised I was 17 when it first started. Either way I thought it was great.
Being around the same age as yourself, i too remember this being on after school.
I remember getting frustrated when the poor team mate was given wrong instructions and directions 😅 Would've had a Spectrum 128+ and cassette games at this time so the graphics in the show were then very good. Thanks for memories and nostalgia 🙂👍
I used to get frustrated about that too. I always felt I could have done a better job. In reality I suspect I wouldn't have been much better under the pressure of studio cameras.
Wow a Spectrum GAME 🎮... maybe I have to pick up the new spectrum.. great info great video :-)
I must admit, that new Spectrum looks pretty good. I would get one, but I have a Spectrum Next, so that kind of does everything Speccy for me.
I loved this show! And I still do!
Same 😀
I think the show was at its best with the hand drawn backgrounds used in the first couple of series. Looked better than the more computer fx based look of later series.
I had a similar thought; I quite liked the mix of the two styles. Gives more flexibility.
definitely agreed. I was an avid player of video games and tabletop RPG's at the time, and felt that the hand painted scenes placed the show more firmly in the real of tabletop RPG, rather than the increasing popularity of computer games.. Understandable from a corporate point of view I guess, but it lessened the charm of the show, and frankly just made things far less terrifying...
I loved Knightmare as a kid, I started watching during the 6th season but season 7 was always my favourite. The last team & ending always made it specially great. Still bitter how it got screwed over at the end.
I was a bit too old for it by the time it ended, but I was an avid watcher of the earlier sessions.
I always liked _Knightmare_ - I think it was a fairly equal mix of entertainment, frustration at the contestants ("Spellcasting, T..." etc. while I was creaming "hurry up!" at the screen) and schadenfreude when they fell off a ledge or were munched by some beastie. And while catchphrases and slogans do tend to stick in my mind, I don't think any have quite so successfully lodged as Treguard's legendary, "Oooooh, nasty" - I genuinely still, regularly, use that to this day.
Strangely, that one never stayed with me but I've seen it mentioned so many times since doing the video. Here's a little treat: ua-cam.com/video/hg9komiRNVw/v-deo.html
OOOOO NASTY!
... and just for old times' sake: ua-cam.com/video/hg9komiRNVw/v-deo.html
Before my time, but my older brother has told me the hall of blades triggered panic attacks for him... he still never missed an episode.
Knightmare was almost AFTER my time. Although I was 13 when it started, I was about 20 when it finished.
@@RetroSpectives what were your favourite memories, Retro?
@@judyhopps9380 Being blown away by the "advanced" graphics, mainly because I was used to playing on basic home computer games. It all seemed like magic.
I'm surprised you didn't mention some of the parody creations - in particular the Owen Stephens video has become mixed up with my genuine memories of the show!
Those have somehow passed me by, but thanks for the pointer - I'll look those up.
It was a dream for me and my dungeons and dragons obsessed friends that one day we'd get accepted to be on this show.. never happened :(
The ache of lost opportunity. 😞
I absolutely loved Knightmare! Sadly I was a proper Billy Nomates so my dream of going on it never came true (same for the original Crystal Maze!), but I always enjoyed watching other kids bugger it up! 😂 Had no idea about merchandise, although I only had a ZX Spectrum Plus (ooh, fancy!), so wouldn't have been able to play the games anyway. I'll be sure to check out the new one though as I did get another Speccy about a decade ago.
I know the graphics look silly now, but at the time they were ground-breaking. Name another show that had such good CGI and interactive elements. They just didn't exist back then! Even CGI from a decade ago can look a bit janky now, so for something thirty-odd years ago, I think it's held up relatively well.
Kids falling off of things and walking into walls always made me laugh! I know I shouldn't but hearing their "screams" when falling into a well or such like was just too funny!
Thanks for the video and I wish you and your family a blessed Samhain!
Thanks. I had a 48k rubber key Speccy but eventually was allowed to upgrade to a Plus 2. There days I still play the odd Speccy game, either in emulation or on the recently released ZX Spectrum Next.
Looked Awesome, Unfortunately I'm American and never knew about this till a few years back a UA-camr named Spoony did a review of the program.
Being the child of parents that played Dungeons and Dragons, and continue to play RPGs. This would have been something I would have been able to watch if it had come out when I was young.
Now grown up (Pushing 50) my father passed away and my mom still loves her Might and Magic.
I've find myself getting nostalgic looking back at my Old Dungeons and Dragons action figures, my fathers 1st and 3rd addition D&D ruleset, and playing his favorite games. I wonder how much this will be to people who have Never had the childhood I had.
Or (With like All Old Media) be pushed back to the realm of relics that our Great Grand Parents used to like. Media like Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, or W.C. Fields.
Some great old classics there. I've always loved Laurel & Hardy. Thanks for sharing about your parents. I have to admit, pushing 50 is now gone for me. I pushed 50 over the hill last year! 👴
I used to love this show and was gutted when it was cancelled with no announcement.
I kind of missed that, as I mainly watched it in the early years. By the time it finished I was 20!
@@RetroSpectives ahhh i was still in primary school when it was airrred friday kids tv was always a good experience with knightmare, fun house and bad influence
@@seany84uk There's a good chance you've already seen them, but the Rose Tinted Spectrum channel has done some great Bad Influence videos called Breaking Bad Influence. Worth looking up.
Bring back Knightmare with modern CGI.
Could work, if the format was kept the same - with the helmet and the blind contestant.
Where am i ?
You're in a room
Pretty much covers every base, that. 😂
You're in a room...
Currently, yes. 😆
@@RetroSpectives About 20 years ago, a friend used to host virtual TV nights via livestream, including UK Game Show Night. Among the series he showed us were Bullseye, The Crystal Maze, Cluedo (specifically the series with Tom Baker as Professor Plum), and Knightmare. Knightmare was definitely my favorite, and "You're in a room" and "Ooooh, nasty!" quickly entered my vocabulary. As an American, I wonder if Knightmare in any way inspired Nick Arcade's greenscreen action sequences.
Criticizing the kids' performances seems bizarre to me, given the series was a game show and not a drama.
You'rr right there. I did try to keep that balanced, but it may have come across a little over-critical.
I wish they did a proper reboot of this (ideally without any forced wokery). I loved it back then.
I like the idea of a reboot, but I'm not sure how much impact it would have on modern kids; they're so used to hyper-realistic graphics. We had that element of surprise back in the 80s when those CG effects looked so amazing.
Sorry to have to ask this, but woke is such a meaningless buzzword now - is there any particular thing you'd want excluded from a reboot if it was remade?
Hello Steve. I did drop a fairly decent comment but it appears to have been buried by Yotube's bed-wetting luddite bots.
I've just scanned down the comments area of my UA-cam Studio admin page and I can't see your other comment. I assume it was a good'un.