The Quest, or TQ for short, was the official newsletter of the
Knightmare Adventurers Club. An annual subscription to the fanclub included two or three issues of TQ. There were ten issues in total, with the first published in early September 1991 as
Series 5 began. They can now be read in the
Club section of
Knightmare.com.
Knightmare Knews (later renamed Through The Eye
shield) was a regular feature, providing details of what the cast had been up to, from acting work to charity events and the occasional wedding. It was also used to promote merchandise such as upcoming books and games, and other Broadsword productions including
TimeBusters,
Cyberzone and The Sword Of The Sorcerer (which had a double-page spread
but was never commissioned).
Each of the last four
seasons was previewed in TQ with introductions to the new characters, as well as exclusive behind-the-scenes info - how
Smirkenorff was operated, castle
filming locations, blueprints for the Eyeshield and new helmet, costume sketches, how the graphics were generated and so on.
Tim Child and assistant producer Mark Wells both contributed articles to The Quest, as did actors Michael Cule (
Brother Mace) and
David Learner (
Pickle). Ron Lyon described how he created the
Frightknights seen on the winners' trophies, while Dave
Morris (author of the Knightmare gamebooks) wrote about his interest in fantasy and role-playing. The winning teams of
Series 4 and
Series 7 shared their experiences, along with
Team 2 and
Team 3 of Series 8. There were also interviews with
Hugo Myatt (
Treguard), Cliff
Barry (
Lissard) and
CITV presenter Tommy Boyd, plus in-character chats with
Snapper-Jack,
Stiletta and a
Pooka!
Letters and other contributions from the
watchers (such as drawings, poems and jokes) were always welcomed. These included the first widely read Knightmare fanfics -
The Final Battle by Paul Hawkins,
The Final Frontier by Louise Foxe,
Christmas At Knightmare Castle (uncredited), and
Return To Knightmare Castle by
Paul McIntosh. One fan submitted a review of the board game. A questionnaire was enclosed with the second issue, inviting club members to share their opinions on the programme and suggestions for improvement.
Five 'Honorary Members' of the
KAC were profiled in the newsletter. These were children's presenters Glenn Kinsey, Tommy Boyd and Michaela Strachan, Cyberzone host Craig Charles, and cartoonist Arlo Wörts whose comic strip 'Smirk With Smirkenorff' appeared in all but the first issue.
Quizzes and caption competitions gave readers the chance to win a variety of prizes, including T-shirts and other merchandise, signed photos, tickets to see Hugo Myatt in
pantomime, and a visit to Mindscape International (creators of the Knightmare computer game) accompanied by David Learner.
TQ sometimes provided intriguing details about the
dungeon and its inhabitants that were not mentioned elsewhere. Tim Child
revealed
Young Grimwold to be a
vegetarian.
Lord Fear’s Diary, a regular column in the third and fourth volumes, described how he was able to create the
Skeletrons. Characters spoke of unseen locations such as
Fetlock Forest and the
caverns of Marpethne. A set of Top Trumps cards offered an explanation for what happened to
Merlin and
Mogdred. However, some of the information given is difficult to reconcile with the TV series, so not all fans consider it to be canon.
Original editor Wilf Wright was replaced in 1994 by '
Cadrighan the Chronicler' who introduced the final three issues. Following the show's cancellation, Cadrighan explained that a
spellstone called the Fliolanshield had been destroyed, making it impossible to transfer any more
dungeoneers from our world.
The
last issue of The Quest was published in the summer of 1995. Its successor was
The Eye Shield fanzine started by Paul McIntosh and later revived in electronic format by
Jake Collins.