Knightmare

Knightmare was an rpg game show (for children) broadcast on ITV from 1987 to 1994. Teams of four children went on the show, one out in the dungeon (unable to see), three back in the studio guiding them via monitors.

In middle school, four girls from my class actually went on the show. Not just that but they actually got through to the end and won, which didn't seem to happen very often. I only used to watch the show occasionally but was keen to tune in to see my fellow classmates when their shows aired (I think it was spread across two episodes). They wouldn't tell anyone how they did, leading people to assume wrongly that they'd done badly. Oh how we felt foolish when they won.

Even after it had been broadcast, the girls were always guarded and never gave away any secrets of the show, almost like they'd taken a vow or pact of silence. Or maybe they knew that if they didn't talk about it we would keep on asking, becoming ever hungrier for the truth and behind-the-scenes secrets, and making them ever more popular (they were quite nerdy and not that popular before they went on the show).

Every now and then, maybe once or twice a year, for the rest of our school days, someone would say: "Hey, remember when [they] were on Knightmare?" We'd reminisce about those days, then go and poke fun at the girls for being losers, though we were probably all secretly a little bit jealous of their TV fame and glory. This was except for Kenny Loggins, who I've mentioned previously as someone who would never let an old nickname go. He insisted on saying "You're having a Knightmare!" to all four of the heroes, whenever he saw any of them, for pretty much the remaining six or seven years of our time at school. It was pretty funny the first time, maybe even the first few times, but he just couldn't let it go.