In a contest for Most Tenuous Knightmare Lexicon Article, the one that established this entry in 2005 would, I fear, emerge the victor. While Gordon Burns would seem to have no direct connection to Knightmare whatsoever, his indirect connections do extend slightly beyond what has previously been recorded here.

Journalist and broadcaster Gordon Burns was born in Northern Ireland in 1942 and lived there and in London before settling in Manchester. From 1977 to 1995, he was the presenter of game show The Krypton Factor, in which contestants undertook physical and mental challenges that might have appealed to Knightmare's audience. In fact, watchers of the first Knightmare episode on ITV on September 7th 1987 would have been able to watch the first episode of a new series of The Krypton Factor on the same channel just a few hours later (see below). Both shows have subsequently been repeated on Challenge. Gordon is also remembered by some as the presenter of an Ulster Television series called Password.


From 1997 to 2011, Gordon Burns earned great appreciation as co-presenter of BBC regional news programmes North West Tonight and North West Today. During the latter years of his tenure, Mashibinbin (Robin John Barlow) and Knightmare Dave (See: David) became well known among fellow Knightmare fans for discussing Gordon with infectious enthusiasm (and a dash of affectionate mockery). These discussions ranged from commentary on Gordon's news delivery to speculation on how Morgaine and Ah Mok, Robin and Dave's respective main characters from the Knightmare RPG projects, would perform alongside or in place of Gordon on North West Tonight. Knightmare, then, enabled the formation of a very distinctive corner of Gordon Burns' fan-base, the original Team GB.

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The much loved host from BBC News and formerly The Krypton Factor has been the butt of many a joke, impersonation and general ridicule from the KMRPG crew.

This is especially true of Mashibinbin and KnightmareDave who have the good fortune to see him often presenting their regional news programme and dream of having their alter-ego's Ah Mok and Morgaine invading the studio and taking over from him.

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