Actor and director (born circa 1945) who is most well known for playing Treguard for the entire eight series of the original run of Knightmare. His hobbies include motorbikes, sailing, painting, and woodcarving, and he's a talented swimmer, archer and baritone.

Tim Child, the show's creator and producer, first came into contact with him when working as line producer on Anglia Television's regional news programme About Anglia, as he was the husband of then-presenter Christine Webber. Thinking him ideal for a dungeon master, one day he approached him while he was fixing his boat at a boatyard, and explained how he had this new idea for a TV show and wanted him to help with a pilot, which would become Dungeon Doom. A few months later, he also appeared in the second pilot, titled simply Knightmare, and went on to appear in all 112 episodes of the TV show's run, and even in a digitised form in the KMVR pilot. It's safe to say that if people remember Knightmare, they remember Treguard - Hugo's magnificent portrayal of the dungeon master is remembered fondly by millions of viewers, and even after the show ended he was still recognised in the street for the role. He also coined the phrase "Ooooooh Naaasty!" as an ad-lib, probably the most memorable catchphrase that the show produced. His favourite character on the show was Mrs. Grimwold's unseen beast Festus, and he also appeared as the dungeon master in a stage play, as well as appearing in costume for public appearances.
You'd think such a major part in a well-loved TV series would kill someone's career, but Hugo's still acting today. TV wise, in late 1996 he played Stephanos in two episodes of the BBC Schools series 'Zig Zag', and has been especially busy in the 2000s, appearing in a February 2000 episode of the BBC series ChuckleVision (pictured), a vicar in a July 2001 episode of the Richard Wilson sitcom Life As We Know It, and he reprised his role as Treguard for the first time in ten years in a February 2004 episode of the Saturday morning BBC series Dick and Dom in da Bungalow. (KMVR followed a few months later). Film wise he appeared as Leon Bank in 2005's 'Snuff-Movie' Bob Snatcher in the short film 'Snatching Time' in the same year, and Mr Aston in 'The House on Straw Hill', due to be released in 2007. One ambition, as yet unfulfilled (to the author's knowledge, anyway) is to play Captain Haddock, the seafaring captain in the 'Tintin' books by Hergé. He has also put his distinctive voice to use in things like video games and audio plays, and has been very active in pantomimes, such as starring as Igor in Jack and the Beanstalk (1992 season), Abanazar in Aladdin (2000 season), and King Rat in Dick Whittington (2001 and 2002 seasons, pictured) a play which he also directed.

But he still hasn't forgotten the role which made him famous to millions of youngsters. After being interviewed in The Quest in 1993, he was also interviewed in The Eye Shield in 1996, and on Knightmare.com in 2002, as well as appearing in the short documentary made by Challenge in the same year (pictured).

[Addendum by Lexicon Moderator:

Hugo Myatt has also spoken about Knightmare in numerous TV, print and online interviews, including BBC documentary series Children's TV on Trial (in which the narrator named him as "Hugo Wyatt"), Ellie Gibson's Gameological Society article (see: Gatwick), ITV's 30 Years of CITV documentary (followed a week later by the CITV channel's Old Skool Weekend in which Hugo was one of the contributors of birthday messages), The Guardian's How We Made Knightmare feature and James Aukett's 25th Anniversary Knightmare documentary.

Hugo has also lent his support to Knightmare fan projects, including Back to the Broom Cupboard and Knightmare Live (in which he made a guest appearance as Treguard in 2014). Fans have been thrilled to hear him providing continuity announcements for Challenge's repeats of Knightmare Series 1 and 2 in 2013. He followed this up by playing his 1987 self in trailers for Challenge's First Ever Eps season in December 2013, with accompanying interviews.

Yet the Challenge work had been eclipsed in July 2013 with the immense news that Hugo Myatt would be reprising his role as Treguard for a new one-off episode of Knightmare that would form part of YouTube's Geek Week the following month. The episode was filmed on 25th-26th July in Norwich, with cast and crew old and new, and was released on 5th August. The photo below shows Hugo at the filming with Alan Boyd.


A Knightmare.com interview with Hugo about Knightmare's return can be read here.

Hugo Myatt was a guest at the Knightmare Convention in Norwich in May 2014.

Hugo Myatt was interviewed on BBC Radio Norfolk, as a guest on Matthew Gudgin's programme on 27 November 2018. Some notes of the details he shared:

- Has done 38 pantomimes
- Met Arthur Ransome
- Went to the Lower School of John Lyon, Harrow
- Had a job in shipping, then with National Coal Board. Knew he "always wanted to live in my imagination"
- Heard a radio programme about children's theatre and joined a company. They
"drove round in a converted ambulance ... and did 2-4 shows a day ... mostly schools ... 2 bob a head". This was in the mid-1960s. Hugo loved it and carried on
- Has done between 174 and 178 plays
- Has directed 64 plays
- Played Sabrina Fair at Cromer, during a storm when water came through floorboards. Maroons went off and whole audience left to watch lifeboat launch
- Met Sylvester McCoy the night before a convention they did together. (Sylvester's debut in Doctor Who was 7th September 1987, hours after Hugo's debut as Treguard.)
- Performed in The Caretaker in Hunstanton "to sparse audiences", except for one packed night where Tammy Jones fans came in error, owing to a banner outside the theatre. Even so, they returned after the interval]

It's difficult to imagine what Knightmare would have been like without Hugo, but it certainly would have been a much less fascinating and interesting show, should it even have got commissioned. You need a truly great actor to play a part like Treguard, and who better than Hugo Myatt?

(Originally posted on 2006-09-04 00:50:52)

login to vote