Pet belonging to
Mrs. Grimwold. An inhabitant of
Level 1 in Series 3 of
Knightmare. Heard snarling off-screen, and presumed to be a canine, though never seen. Festus had five tails, and used to have three heads, until
Grimwold bit one of them off.
It was sometimes necessary for a
dungeoneer to appease Festus, in order to gain access to the
wellway into Level 2. For example,
Team 2 of Series 3 had a bone that was given to Festus.
Festus was presumed to be bloodthirsty and dangerous, but could usually be subdued (i.e. made to shut up) by Mrs. Grimwold. However, she was struggling so much during the quest of
Team 12 of Series 3 that some fans believe that Festus devoured her, explaining her absence from further episodes of
Knightmare.
Perhaps the closest a dungeoneer came to victory over Festus was when Kelly from
Team 7 of Series 3 was
transformed into the intimidating form of the
Dungeon Behemoth.
Festus may have been based on Cerberus, the multi-headed guard dog of the Underworld in
Greek mythology. Perhaps the name is meant to evoke the word 'festers' (or Faustus, the character from
The Tragical History Of Doctor Faustus with dark and hellish connections).
Hugo Myatt revealed during an interview in The Quest (Volume 2, Number 2) that Festus was his favourite character.
Tom Karol, who interpreted Festus' actions in his role as Mrs. Grimwold, revealed during an interview by
James Aukett in 2012 that Festus' appearance
'was very much left to mine and the viewers' imagination. I saw him as a great big wolfhound actually, it was a bit like 'Er Indoors in [the TV series] Minder
– we never saw 'Er Indoors did we, so we never saw Festus.'
[Earlier version: 2006-09-05 16:49:25]
Provided By:
David, 2023-10-29 12:44:06
