A legendary immortal bird from Greek mythology, said to self-combust before rising again from the ashes like Conchita Wurst.

Whilst the phoenix isn't one of the mythical creatures to have appeared in Knightmare, it was mentioned a couple of times. One of two riddles posed by Merlin to Team 12 of Series 3 was "What is the name of the bird that is reborn when it burns?" They correctly answered both riddles to earn a FLIGHT spell.

Five years later, Team 2 of Series 8 learned via a spyglass that 'PHOENIX' was the word-key to Linghorm, one of Lord Fear's new palaces in the Mire World. They passed this information on to its would-be occupant Maldame, who rewarded them by opening the door to Level 3.

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A tall ship that appeared in Knightmare Series 6 as Captain Nemanor's vessel, the Cloudwalker - one of many different guises it has had over the years.

Built in 1929, Phoenix started life as a Danish schooner, first used for evangelical missionary work and then for carrying cargo. It was converted into a brigantine by new owners in 1974, then changed hands again in 1988, being purchased by Bristol-based company Square Sail whose activities included providing ships for many film and TV productions. It was transformed into the Dawn Treader for the BBC's Chronicles of Narnia series in 1989.
In 1991 the ship was converted into a 15th century caravel for a starring role as the Santa Maria in Ridley Scott's film '1492: Conquest of Paradise', released in 1992 to mark the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus' voyage to the Americas. (Click here for an archived photograph, with Phoenix shown on the right.) While in this form it also appeared in three quests during the 1992 season of Knightmare. When not being used for film work, the ship was opened to the general public and schools as an educational museum showing "life at sea during the 15th century", and spent four years touring the UK ports. A former employee's blog post includes some photos of the ship with a new paint job in 1995. ("I dressed up in old-fashioned clothes, climbed the rigging and sailed the seas. We took kids on board to educate them in the ways of the waves, drank some rum (but not too much), waved our swords occasionally, fired the cannons at nothing in particular, clambered aloft for film crews making movies and beer adverts, and lazed about on deck in the sun.")

Square Sail moved from Bristol to Cornwall in 1994 after purchasing Charlestown Harbour near St Austell, and Phoenix was based there until 2018 when the port was sold again. In 1996 the ship was converted into an 18th century brig and is therefore unrecognisable as the former Cloudwalker in any of its subsequent screen credits, which include Hornblower, Doctor Who, Great Expectations and Poldark.

Phoenix was acquired by the French company Arzao Hag Arzam in 2024 and is now based in Port Haliguen, Quiberon in Brittany, with accounts on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube. In addition to regular film work, it appears at many maritime festivals and is used for sail training excursions.

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