From TES issue 59 (September 2009)

Series 2. Level 1.
THE TROLL
This colossal stone giant was hardly the sharpest sword in the armoury, yet he provided some fairly good scenes with a few genuinely tense moments. Unlike the trolls of series 7 and 8, this Troll spoke English (not perfectly, it has to be said) and, in no uncertain terms, informed any dungeoneers unlucky enough to appear on the rocky ledge beside his pit that he was going to devour them. The Troll was played by Guy Standeven, in his only non-wall monster role!

The Troll’s first appearance was with Claire, the second dungeoneer of series 2. After informing the dungeoneer that he suspected her to be a goat (because of the horns on the Helmet of Justice) the hungry monster stated his intention to feed: ”I is hungry, and trolls likes goats!” – Troll. The team needs a prompt from Treguard before they decide to cast a spell called LITTLE, which Lillith has previously awarded them. The Troll shrinks rapidly and soon disappears from view, cursing Claire all the while in an increasingly high-pitched voice.

The Troll’s next appearance was at the start of Akash’s infamously bungled quest, and this was the only occasion on which a spell or object was not required to deal with him. As usual, he declaimed his intention to devour the dungeoneer, forcing Akash to plead for his life by making a convincing case that he was not good to eat. I actually think this is the high point of Akash’s entire quest, as the clueless dungeoneer does quite a good job of convincing the Troll that he tastes very nasty indeed! Of course, this whole scene is set up so that the Troll can reward Akash for his honesty with the spell TRUTH, which the team desperately needs to get past Igneous because they are all so thick!

We next see the Troll during Jamie’s quest. The team desperately attempts to bribe the hungry monster with a jar of humbugs and a bag of small change, but he just isn’t interested! It’s up to Treguard to tell Jamie to take the stopper off the humbug jar, whereupon the Troll is attacked by a swarm of bees, creating an almost identical scene to one in the previous episode involving Stuart, Olaf and a jar of honey!

The Troll’s fourth and final appearance came towards the end of the series, with the penultimate dungeoneer, Steven. I think this is probably my favourite scene involving the Troll, as it really is quite funny. As you may remember, Steven was in possession of an amulet of invisibility, and was able to control whether or not he was visible with the help of a gauntlet. The advisors had to guide the invisible Steven carefully along the Troll’s ledge, checking his position every so often. Because the Troll was so stupid, he just could not work out why his lunch kept appearing and disappearing, and didn’t have a clue how to deal with the situation. His expressions of surprise and frustration as Steven keeps disappearing really are funny to watch – well done, Guy Standeven, you did a good job!

Fear Factor: 7 A very large and very genuine threat.
Killer Instinct: 2 Plenty of instinct, but never got round to it in the end.
Humour Rating: 4 He sang a fun little song to Steven.
Oscar Standard: 9 An excellent performance.

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From TES issue 12 (November 2001)

Series 7/8. Level 1/2/3.
TROLLS
  They weren't much like Guy Standeven's Troll from series 2, but Lord Fear's giant stone warriors were always described as such. Trolls stomped throughout the entire Dungeon in series 7 and 8, intent on squashing or clubbing dungeoneers. Often only their footsteps could be heard, leading to a frantic rush to leave the chamber, but meeting a troll in person was always very dangerous. They were large grey warriors, often only seen from the waist down, as they were so tall. They wielded giant axes or clubs. Trolls were notoriously unintelligent, and presumably did not have the will or the drive to object to Lord Fear's mastery over them. They were used either to lurk nearby as a threat to get moving, or as a lethal obstacle that needed to be passed. The classic example of this is the level one challenge in series 7 that involves dodging a giant club that is swinging across the path, which is straddled by huge troll legs. Trolls were twice partly responsible for a death: that of Ben III on the Trial by Spikes. Read about it fully in last issue's Remember This?, but I'm sure you remember that Ben was killed here because of an earlier fatal error. Troll steps were also heard approaching just before the death of Nicola II in series 7. She was trapped in a dark tunnel and had nothing to light it up, so she couldn’t go any further. A relative of the troll, the miretrog, was introduced at the very end of series 8. (Treguard: "It's like a sort of troll, except bigger and squashier and definitely nastier.") Its introduction at this late stage seemed rather unnecessary to me, but never mind. Lord Fear was very keen to use the trolls to assert his authority. This is proved in the extreme by his attempt to send the king of the trolls to destroy Knightmare Castle at the end of series 7. His name was Bulstrode, and he was apparently the king because he was more intelligent than the other trolls were. (Lord Fear: "He's got six words, some of them pronouns, and he can count up to five.") But Bulstrode's reign of terror was short-lived as Barry returned with the troll-hammer, which sent him plummeting back down to Goth.
  Fear Factor: 9 Very large and frightening.
Killer Instinct: 3 An asset to Nicola and Ben's deaths.
Humanity: 7 Looked very human, but bigger.
Gore Factor: 2 Only as repulsive as the next humanoid.

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