From
TES issue 45 (May 2007)
Series 4/6.
Level 1.
THE RUINS OF DUNGARTH.
As we are all well aware, many changes took place for the fourth series of
Knightmare, perhaps the most notable of which was the inclusion of pre-recorded eye shield sequences leading from room to room. I am well aware of how unpopular these are, and I agree that they do waste a lot of time. However, locations such as the Dungarth helped to give some definite structure to the
Dungeon, which I quite liked, personally.
After a
team had answered
Oakley's questions and chosen their level one
clue objects, they progressed either to the
Castle of Doom or Dungarth, which was the final port of call in level one. The clue objects would have to be used here before the
wellway to level two was discovered. Of the eight teams in series 4, five ended up at Dungarth.
A standard visit to Dungarth involved an encounter with a character or creature in front of the large archway, followed by a speedy exit through the archway, into the ruined abbey, and out through a dark door just to the right (or left, in
Dickon's case) of the main archway. As I discovered during my visit to
Castle Acre Priory (which is Dungarth's real-life location, near Swaffham in Norfolk) in 2002, that dark door is actually a haven for pigeons, and the whole area stinks of their excretions! [See:
poo]
It was Nicky's misfortune to encounter
Fatilla at Dungarth, but he was easily bribed with a gold bar. Vicky met an
ogre outside the ruined abbey, and managed to bribe him with a sparkly necklace, when a jar of
Stealth would, perhaps, have been more useful. Dickon had to run past some
goblins whilst blowing the
horn called Terror, while Jeremy had to scare off an
assassin. During Dungarth's final appearance in series 4,
Giles had a very pointless conversation with
Mellisandre before being chased off by an assassin. He entered Dungarth via a different entrance [pictured], which was very strange.
Dungarth made a brief reappearance in
series 6, during the early stages of winning
dungeoneer Ben's quest.
Pickle told us that the place had been taken over by
witches, although there weren't any to be seen. Indeed, this was rather a strange inclusion of Dungarth, as the scene could just as well have taken place in any other Dungeon room. All that happened was a
spyglass sequence, which set up the task for the level, and then a quick appearance by a large
pooka. Still, it was nice to see the old place again, and to see the standard eye shield sequence for exiting the ruins, which was, to me at the time, a throwback to the good old days.
Difficulty: 5 Two objects required to exit level one.
Killer Instinct: 0 No deaths occurred here, and were not likely to.
Gore Factor: 0 As above.
Fairness: 9 A fair way to finish off the level, although I'm sure series 3 purists would disagree with me.