Knightmare is a British children's adventure game show, created by Tim Child and broadcast over eight series on CITV from 7 September 1987 to 11 November 1994.

The general format of the show consists of a team of four children – one who takes on the game, and three acting as their guide and advisers – attempting to complete a quest within a fantasy medieval environment, traversing a large dungeon and using their wits to overcome puzzles, obstacles and the unusual characters they meet along the journey.

The show is most notable for its use of blue screen chroma key, an idea Child utilised upon seeing it being put to use in weather forecasts at the time the programme began, as well as its use of 'virtual reality' interactive gameplay on television and the high level of difficulty faced by every team.

Broadcast to high viewing figures throughout its original run, it garnered a cult status amongst fans since its final television episode in 1994.

One member takes on the game in person, referred to as the "Dungeoneer", but are blinded to their surroundings by the "Helmet of Justice" – a headpiece that blocks their field of vision to just around their feet.

The rest of the team remains in the main studio fashioned as an antechamber of "Knightmare Castle", and give instructions and details of a location to the Dungeoneer, much in the same style of text-based computer games which rely on descriptions and commands rather than visuals.

Each level consists of a number of rooms – some with puzzles, obstacles and challenges that have to be overcome – and a selection of inhabitants – some will help out, while others will either hinder the Dungeoneer unless they give them something they require, or attempt to stop them and end their game.

Unlike most other children's shows, Knightmare had no qualms about having a very high difficulty level, and as a result, only eight teams managed to win the game over its eight series.

(Majida originally said her name was "Daughter of the Setting Moon Whose Eyes are Like Daggers in the Hearts of Men Who Ride the Great Caravan of the Sultan".).

However, from Series 5 onwards, there was a clear distinction made between 'The Powers that Be' and 'The Opposition', against which Treguard became less neutral, and more inclined to aid the dungeoneers to complete their quest.

Only warlock (later wizard and then mage) Hordriss and palace jester Motley would have long runs on the show, both being introduced in season 3 and remaining until the series end.

The formal division of characters between The Powers that Be and The Opposition meant that later series started to feature more advanced story lines which would be hinted at in earlier quests and developed more as the seasons progressed.

Examples of this include the alliance between Lord Fear and Aesandre in series 5, which backfires when she freezes the entire dungeon at the end of the season after her powers have been boosted by her ally.

Occasionally, a team's actions would require quick thinking by Hugo Myatt and/or the other actors in order for the gameplay to follow the planned path.

The majority of the characters were split into two sides: the righteous "Powers that Be", and the villainous "Opposition", the leader of which was Lord Fear played by Mark Knight.

In 2014, Hugo Myatt lent his "Treguard" voice to the heavy metal band Evil Scarecrow's album Galactic Hunt for the track Enter the Knightmare, whose lyrics are based on the 1980s TV show.

[2][3] Realising that if a ZX Spectrum could do these types of adventure game, then a television programme could revolutionise the genre, he enlisted the help of artist David Rowe to design realistic looking backgrounds with an airbrush.

[citation needed] Harris had a background in CGI, having trained in 3D animation at Middlesex Polytechnic under Dr John Vince, and experience in playing out "live" graphics for current affairs programmes like Newsnight and Panorama.

Knightmare required CGI inserts and virtual lighting changes, door reveals and animated monsters in real time, within live action against blue screen using Ultimatte.

[3][7] A second 20-minute pilot was filmed on 27 and 28 January 1987, with the name changed to Knightmare,[8] and 'lifeforce' added, an idea borrowed from Atic Atac, which also influenced the show in other ways.

[10] Because of this, the fourth series saw the introduction of many 'outdoor' scenes, filmed around places such as medieval castles across the UK, and composited into the blue room using the usual chromakey technique.

[4] At this point, there was still hope that Knightmare would return for a ninth series in 1995: a postal address for future contestants was displayed on screen after the end of the final episode.

However, ratings were low, perhaps exacerbated by the satellite sharing that meant UK fans were unable to receive the Sci Fi Channel at the times when the show was being broadcast.

Knightmare was included in this, and the repeats started on 23 December 2002, with Series 3, Episode 1 preceded by a short 2.5-minute documentary featuring Tim Child and Hugo Myatt.

Just over a week later, Knightmare went on to reach first place in an Internet poll held by Challenge, asking viewers to decide the best show out of the Cult Selection.

On 5 and 6 January 2013, the final two episodes from Series 7 were shown on the CITV channel as part of its 'Old Skool Weekend', which celebrated 30 years of ITV's programming block for children.

On 25 November 2002, only 6 days after the Challenge repeats were confirmed, it was announced that a reformat of Knightmare was to be undertaken by Televirtual, founded by Tim Child.

The VR pilot kept a lot of the elements that appeared in the original show such as Wall Monsters, Clue Rooms and the dark and grimy dungeon setting.

[22] In an interview with The Guardian in April 2013, Child said that although "(t)here will always be hardcore fans clamouring for (Knightmare΄s) return; I think it's best to let it languish in its own deep, dark dungeon".

[25] In August 2013, a one-off special edition of Knightmare was produced for YouTube's "Geek Week" event, directed and produced by Tim Child and featuring three original cast members – Hugo Myatt (Treguard), Mark Knight (Lord Fear) and Cliff Barry (Lissard), plus Knightmare VR actor Nick Collett and actresses Isy Suttie and Jessie Cave playing new roles.