Gibbet (pronounced 'Jibbet') is one of the lesser known Knightmare characters, especially considering he only appeared twice. Why? Because he was the guardian of the wellway to Level 3, the final level of the dungeon, and he only appeared in Series 1. Out of the six teams in that series, only two of them managed to get that far- and Gibbet wasn't a pleasant character, by any means.
The first was Team 3 of Series 1 (Simon, Simon, Jonathan and Steven) in Episode 4, broadcast on the 28th September 1987. They'd already become the first to reach Level 2, and had picked up two spells, ANVIL and LANTERN as they ventured into the pitch black wellway room. They spellcast LANTERN and came face to face with Gibbet, hearing his thick Scottish accent for the first time. Angry that his sleep had been disturbed, he got ready to hit them with his hammer. The correct solution here was to spellcast ANVIL and knock him out... unfortunately, the team instead dispelled LANTERN (ANLTERN) and threw them all into darkness again, meaning Gibbet must have struck the final blow as their quest ended there.
Gibbet fans had to wait until Episode 8 (26th October 1987) to see him again. Team 6 of Series 1 (Richard, Jonathan, Paul and Edward) had braved snakes, catacombites, and an insult contest before reaching Gibbet's lair. Clearly in a better mood, Gibbet simply asked for the password "...or you perish" this time. They gave it, and boldly went where no team had gone before- Level 3. They would perish at the wall of Jericho, coincidentally right at the end of the series.

Not being listed in the credits, the mystery of who played Gibbet remained for quite some time. It took until the middle of 2002 for Richard Wood (the team 6 dungeoneer) to confirm that the actor was Alec Westwood, who also played Folly.

[Addendum by David, 2005-05-12 01:11:02 :

The word gibbet relates to gallows and hanging, making it a fitting name for a character who places people in life-or-death situations.]

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From TES issue 56 (March 2009)

Series 1. Level 2.
GIBBET

Along with Cedric and Gumboil, Gibbet was one of the level two guards in series 1. And that’s all there is to say about him really! Not being named in the closing credits of the series and having only two appearances in total, Gibbet was always likely to fade into the grey mists of obscurity, and so he did. Despite being uncredited, it has emerged in recent years that Gibbet was played by Alec “Folly” Westwood, although there wasn’t really anyone else he could have been played by, looking at all the series 1 actors. I’m sure this means that Alec Westwood is the only Knightmare actor to start off with two characters and then move down to one in the next series, rather than sticking with two or moving up to three. However, I digress.

Gibbet was a hostile character with short blond hair and a northern accent, and for this reason he reminded me strongly of Fidjit when I first rewatched series 1. However, he turned out to be far more disagreeable than Fidjit (who was more than a little disagreeable most of the time) when he ruthlessly killed the first dungeoneer he met, namely Simon, near the start of the fourth episode of the series.

This was entirely due to advisor error, of course. On guard in the wellway room at the end of level two, Gibbet was rudely awoken from his slumber by Simon’s LANTERN spell, and promised the intruding dungeoneer instant death. Quite obviously, the team should have cast the offensive ANVIL spell on Gibbet to knock him out, but they dispelled LANTERN instead, bringing a swift (and dark) end to Simon’s quest: ”Turning the lantern off did not save Simon from the guard.” – Treguard. Interestingly enough, this was Alec Westwood’s first appearance on the programme – Folly was to feature for the first time a little later in the same episode.

Gibbet was back for the final episode of series 1, again guarding the wellway at the end of level two and again in a very ugly mood. However, this time the password – Cyclops – was all that dungeoneer Richard required in order to placate the unfriendly guard: ”Pass, stranger; but don’t linger! I may have let you go, but I don’t have to like you!” – Gibbet.

And that really is all there is to say about Gibbet. With only two relatively short appearances, he was never likely to become a classic character, but at least he managed to bag himself a victim, unlike many of the guards. Obviously Tim Child and friends thought that it would be unnecessary or unwise to include Gibbet in series 2, and Olaf was brought in to join Gumboil and Cedric on guard duty. I have never felt particularly upset about this decision, it has to be said, but who knows? Maybe with a few more appearances, Gibbet would have been able to flex his wings and find the time to grow into a popular character… or maybe not.

Fear Factor: 6 Very hostile, and obviously a real threat.
Killer Instinct: 9 Had a huge killer instinct, and let it loose on Simon!
Humour Rating: 0 No sense of humour whatsoever, not even a sick one!
Oscar Standard: 7 There was nowhere to go with the character, really.

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