Knightmare Live, Brierley Hill Civic Hall - review with pictures
Nearly 300 people packed into Brierley Hill Civic Hall to take a trip down memory lane in the shape of a stage adaptation of cult kids TV show Knightmare.
Knightmare Live is a hilarious and affectionate parody of the late 1980s and early 1990s show which enthralled so many.
There were puzzles, riddles, sword-wielding knights, goblins and even a full-size talking dragon - and every twist and turn was lapped by a crowd made up of young and old.
The concept of the TV show, which at its peak pulled in six million viewers, was simple.
Teams of four children would attempt to beat all the devilish traps of a virtual reality dungeon.
Giant spiders and talking walls were just some of the obstacles that needed to be overcome along the way.
One of the four would be the dungeoneer, blinded by wearing the infamous helmet of justice. He or she would be guided by the other three, of course with the help of dungeon master Treguard, played by Hugo Myatt.
He may have looked a lot younger than his TV counterpart - but as soon as Treguard, played on stage by Paul Flannery, belted out the familiar "Welcome watchers of illusion, to the castle of confusion" he had every single person in the room onside.
Three dungeoneers were summoned from the crowd to take on Lord Fear and his minions in a bid to beat the dungeon and claim the quest prize, which turned out to be another homage to the 1990s in the shape of a cut-out head of former Fun House presenter Pat Sharp.
Two men - Wayne Hughes, from Pensnett, and Paul Horton, from Gornal, stepped up first but ultimately met a grisly end. Ooh. Nasty.
But it was somewhat fitting that on International Women's Day that a female of the species should prevail in the battle of good over evil - and Claire Cooper, the third dungeoneer, did just that.
She swerved a knight who was hell-bent on chopping her in half, dodged flying blocks, tamed the dragon and skilfully weaved in and out of potentially killer spinning plates to claim the ultimate prize and emerge as one of only a select few to beat Lord Fear.
He wasn't happy - but he mellowed somewhat when the whole crowd joined in with singing happy birthday to him.
All's well that ends well - and after lots of laughs, the whole audience went home with smiles on their faces and warm glows in their bellies.
They just don't make programmes like that any more. But while Knightmare Live is around, the spirit of the show lives on, more than 30 years after it first aired. Long may it continue.
By Wayne Beese
