From TES issue 55 (January 2009)

Series 4. Level 3.
THE FALLING BRIDGE

Say what you like about series 4, it sure did have some tense and exciting level three moments! (Well, I think it did.) One of the major aspects of level three throughout Knightmare was that you would finally come face-to-face with your direst foe, and what a setting this was for that first fateful meeting!

This chamber was a little like the Bridged Vale from series 2 and 3, in that it consisted of a bridge coming out of a rocky cliff. However, this bridge (which was made of stone blocks, like a wall, rather than wood) disappeared completely off the right-hand side of the screen, meaning that the advisors had no idea just how far it might be to the other side. This might not be a problem in itself, but just imagine how much panic might occur if the bridge suddenly decided to crumble and fall, threatening to drag the dungeoneer down with it – now that’s a problem all right!
Only three dungeoneers encountered this challenge, but it was a classic Knightmare moment of tension and excitement on all three occasions. Helen was the first to step onto the unstable bridge, where she met a large vision of the face of Mogdred, who immediately began to taunt and sneer at her efforts. This would have been disconcerting enough, but the sound of Mogdred’s echoing laughter as he disappeared, coupled with the fact that the bridge was beginning to fall, was certainly enough to inject quite a lot of panic into Helen’s team.
The falling bridge returned with winning dungeoneer Dickon, and this time Malice was on hand to cause the construction to fall. This she did by blasting it with a bolt of lightning from her eyes, which was a rather nice effect, and one that was repeated when Giles met Mogdred on the bridge at the very end of the series: ”You have firm ground for taking this chance, I suppose. Somehow, I think not!” – Mogdred. Again, tense moments followed as Giles fled to safety.
The bridge turned out to be surprisingly long, spanning three different camera shots, which really added to the tension of the scene as the dungeoneer raced along. However, the teams may not actually have been in as much danger as they appeared to be – blocks could be seen falling from the bridge at quite a speed, but they were mostly being taken from the bottom layer, and were not actually destroying the dungeoneer’s path at any significant rate. It can be surmised, therefore, that this challenge was not really intended to kill off dungeoneers, but rather to spook the teams into getting a move on whilst underlining the significance of the life-or-death situation in which they would soon find themselves, i.e. facing off against Mogdred or Malice.
This was a precursor to the final challenge, and although the situation was not quite as dangerous as it might have appeared, it fulfilled this role admirably. All that was required to get past the obstacle was a fairly brisk walk in a straight line, yet it underlined the promise of harder challenges to come – Mogdred and Malice were toying with their prey before the time came to strike. As you may have gathered, my feelings towards the falling bridge are generally very positive, as I do enjoy a good bit of level three tension!

Difficulty: 5 Not actually as difficult as it appeared.
Killer Instinct: 1 Looked like it should be a killer, but it wasn’t really.
Gore Factor: 7 A very nasty drop.
Fairness: 8 A nice prelude to the final challenge, though not likely to cause a premature death.

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