From TES issue 15 (May 2002)

Series 1/2/3. Level 1/2.
CHAMBER MINED!
  The bomb rooms set a very clear challenge for teams in the first three series: get out before the fuse burns down or your dungeoneer gets blown up. Theoretically, this should have presented no problem, but it was not so in practice. There were two bomb rooms; a large grey stone one and a smaller reddish brick one. Each had a gigantic bomb hanging from the ceiling. Sometimes the fuse would already be lit when the dungeoneer entered the room, other times it would light up just after they came in. Whatever, the advisors had to guide them out before the fuse ran down and the bomb exploded, meaning that the room - and anyone foolish enough to still be in it - would be destroyed.
 
There were two doors in each room. Sometimes both of these were available as exits, other times the challenge would involve walking from one of the doors to the other. In theory, there was plenty of time to escape, as the distance to the exit and the speed of the fuse were aligned so that escape should be fairly easy. In practice, however, dithering advisors or additional challenges could complicate matters significantly. I refer you to the first ever episode, when David's team of guinea pigs blundered into a bomb room after dealing with Olgarth. They were slow to react as they quite clearly found it hard to comprehend that there was no more to this challenge than simply walking quickly across a room. Once Treguard had urged them enough, they took the hint and directed David out, straight into another bomb room! This time, however, they were having none of it, and quickly took David straight across to the exit.

In series 2, Akash was forced to spend ages dancing around in front of the bomb while his dim-witted advisors tried to pluck up the courage to guide him out. In series 3, Scott entered a bomb room where the fuse was not lit. Having lined him up nicely with the exit, his team seemed to find it impossible to guide him out once the fuse began to fizzle. As for additional challenges, imagine the dilemma if there is an item of food in the room; is there time to get it before the bomb explodes? The answer would be a resounding yes if the team did not dither in indecision, as Neil's did.

Jamie's, however, kept their heads, allowing him to casually pick up a food item as he strolled past the burning bomb. Another additional challenge involved putting on a gauntlet to freeze the fuse. Unfortunately, the two teams who were presented with this challenge - Martin I from series 2 and Douglas from series 3 - fared dismally in the level one clue room and did not take the gauntlet, meaning that they were killed off in a bomb explosion. This appeared to be none too pleasant either, as Treguard surmised when Douglas was blown up. ("Ooh, what a terrible mess!" - Treguard.)
  While we're on the subject of deaths, the bomb rooms can claim a third victim: Daniel I from series 1. Having taken the wrong door at the end of level two, Danny was placed in a bomb room and immediately blown up. It is worth noting, however, that these three deaths all resulted from an earlier error rather than a failure to tackle the challenge itself. However, three victims is still an impressive total.
 
Difficulty: 6 Appeared to be quite tricky, particularly with a time limit.
Killer Instinct: 8 One victim in each of the three series.
Gore Factor: 9 They were blown to smithereens.
Fairness: 8 There was plenty of time for escape as long as everyone kept their cool.

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A rather explosive feature of series 1 to 3. Although they rooms varies slightly they were based on the two rooms shown below. To survive these rooms the dungeoneer had to be guided out of the room BEFORE the bomb exploded.

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