From TES issue 38 (March 2006)

Series 7/8. Level 1/2.
ROTHBERRY THE APOTHECARY
Rothberry, Knightmare's third stallholder, following on from Julius Scaramonger and Ah Wok, was an alchemist and apothecary. These two careers notoriously went hand-in-hand in medieval times, which is why Rothberry fitted well into the Dungeon village of Warlock.

Dressed in flowing white robes, Mark 'Lord Fear' Knight provided the affably bumbling manner and deep, slightly vacuous, voice of Rothberry. His alchemical ambitions meant that he was very partial to the odd bar of gold, and he could often be persuaded to part with something useful in exchange for one.

Rothberry's skills as an apothecary were not very highly thought of in the local community: "His wares are notoriously unreliable; I think it's because they're homemade." - Treguard. However, some of Rothberry's medical concoctions did work rather well, fortunately for Hordriss, whose altercation with Grimaldine during Nicola's quest had left him feeling rather green. When Nicola met Rothberry and provided him with a bar of gold, he supplied a potion that set Hordriss to rights in seconds.

However, providing dungeoneers with medical assistance was not Rothberry's main function. He was far more useful for supplying sight potions and powders, spyglasses, information and spells. He was always willing to help dungeoneers, as long as they listened to his constant babbling for a while, although he sometimes needed setting straight about what constituted useful information for a dungeoneer: "Yes, I could probably give you some information, like the melting points of some metals." - Rothberry.

Rothberry made several appearances in series 7, all of them crucial to the success of the quest, most of them notably amusing: "These are bats' droppings. What you do you see, Naila, is you pop them under your pillow when you go to bed, and then in the morning you have no trouble getting up." - Rothberry. He made a brief return in series 8, but it was confined to a single appearance with dungeoneer Mike, in episode 6.

On this occasion, Rothberry was very upset, apparently having taken a put-me-down potion that he had mistaken for a pick-me-up, although he managed to overcome his dismal mood sufficiently to help Mike safely down the trapdoor to level two, in exchange for a bar of gold, naturally. That was the last we saw of Rothberry the Apothecary; it's a shame he was only used once in series 8, but then there are lots of things about series 8 that are a shame. Rothberry remains a memorable character, friendly and funny, but also crucial to the quest on occasions.

Fear Factor: 2 He occasionally had a Lord Fear-like sneer about him.
Killer Instinct: 1 Drinking any of his concoctions was always a risk!
Humour Rating: 5 Occasionally known to have a hearty chuckle.
Oscar Standard: 8 A funny, convincing performance.

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