I Miss Merlin!
Shhh! Don't tell anyone I'm here! I should be marking! What could distract me from my professional commitment and enthusiasm, I guess you're wondering. Well, I just had to take a moment to lament the loss of Merlin from our TV screens. Yes, I know the award winning, prime time BBC TV show left our screens at Christmas but, quite frankly, I still haven't got over the loss and am extremely grateful that I received the series 1 box set for my birthday back in March (I hope the others will follow shortly!)
Now to some, Merlin was the annoying medieval programme that followed the glitter and glamour of Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night (that Merlin-yoke as described by Marian Keyes on Twitter). It's true, you could not get a bigger contrast than these two programmes - one is about fake tan, sequins and posh frocks, whilst the other is all running around in the forest with mud caked clothes. But I loved them both and I can see why the BBC scheduled these two programmes together in an attempt to maintain the family audience throughout the whole evening. However, if forced to choose between them, it would be a tough decision but I might just pick Merlin...
The decision to make Merlin part of the prime time Saturday night schedule was probably down to the successful reinvention of the Doctor Who franchise in 2005. The series was well received and established that there was an audience for early evening family drama. Having never really been into DrWho, I quite enjoyed the first series with Christopher Eccleston (a fantastic actor who isn't on TV enough) but I slowly lost interest as the need for over-arching narratives and the continued reappearance of Daleks and CyberMen, seemed more important than good storytelling. Perhaps the nature of Doctor Who, in that the Doctor seems to be able to endlessly regenerate, means that the series may eventually lose its edge. All the best TV shows come to an end (often after just two series) and, in the case of Merlin, leave us wanting more.
So what did I love about Merlin? Well, knowing nothing about the Arthurian legends, my enjoyment of the programme was nothing to do with previous knowledge! Well, actually that's not entirely true - I have watched Disney's Sword in the Stone and I have vague recollections of watching Camelot as a child. I knew that Arthur was supposed to fall in love with Guinevere and working out how that was going to happen with a dead Lancelot around (see series 4) was definitely part of the fun.
But, back to why I heart Merlin, firstly, it's because of the characters. Arthur is a pompous bully when we first meet him, whilst Merlin has amazing powers but is unable to use them. He struggles to accept his destiny when he realises it means spending time with someone he hates! Watching the developing relationship between the two, as Arthur learns what it is like to be a King, is one of my favourite things about the show (that and the fact that they are both very good looking!). They learn to like each other, trust each other and by the end are the very best of friends. The fact that Merlin is unable to reveal his magical powers also adds an element of suspense and subverts expectations of a drama about a wizard.
There is also the father and son relationship between Merlin and Gaius. Merlin's own father (Balinor) dies in series 2 but Gaius is a constant character who proves his honesty and bravery again and again. Gaius is also important in terms of plot. He is knowledgable about magic and is always able to reveal something about the old legends. He gives Merlin a book about magic and guides him to become a great wizard. Their relationship is touching and like all great adventure stories, our hero needs a mentor and helper - which he finds in Gaius.
Gaius is of course played by Richard Wilson of One Foot in the Grave fame. It is great to see him back on our screens and great to watch him play a part so different to Victor Meldrew. The cast also features Anthony Head who is probably best known for Buffy (although those old enough will remember him in the coffee adverts). There have also been many guest appearances in the show, including Mackenzie Crook, Colin Salmon and Charles Dance to name a few but probably my favourite ever, was beautiful Sarah Parish trying to conceal the fact that she's a burping, farting, warty troll. Of all the magical beings that try to sabotage Arthur's future, this is perhaps the funniest and I would recommend Beauty and the Beast from Series 2 to anyone. Of course, despite the humour, Parish also provides significant threat and menace for Merlin to step in and save the day.
It's not just Sarah Parish who provides the humour. There are many funny moments across the series particularly between the main characters, especially as Arthur and Merlin's friendship deepens. There are also other things that are perhaps unintentionally funny, like the oddly distorted position Merlin puts his head into when he is about to do magic and the special dragon language Merlin speaks - which I cannot help but imitate every time it is on - whether there is a dragon on screen or not.
Finally, the women in Merlin are amazing. Considering they are mostly all evil, it's not necessarily a positive representation but Morgana is beautiful and thoroughly bad. Over the series we are able to see her demise into the dark side and I love it! Initially encouraged by her sister Morgause, Morgana loses everything in her desperate attempts to see Arthur dead. Perhaps her most twisted (but fairly successful) scheme is the kidnap, torture and brainwashing of Guinevere. Ultimately, Gwen is restored to normal and Morgana is defeated but she puts up a good fight and it's always good to see a strong woman, who gives as good as she gets, on screen.
And so, how will I survive without my weekly fix of magic and mystery? Well, I'm really hoping that Colin Morgan will be back on our screens in another role sometime soon. There are also rumours of some sort of spin off series and there has even been mention of a film. I'm also comforted by the fact that Merlin did really need to come to an end - there are only so many times Merlin can save Arthur and only so many times they can run around the same bit of woodland. So with all that said, I'm glad Merlin ended before I fell out of love with the series and I guess, after 5 months without it, I'm just about ready to move on...
Now to some, Merlin was the annoying medieval programme that followed the glitter and glamour of Strictly Come Dancing on a Saturday night (that Merlin-yoke as described by Marian Keyes on Twitter). It's true, you could not get a bigger contrast than these two programmes - one is about fake tan, sequins and posh frocks, whilst the other is all running around in the forest with mud caked clothes. But I loved them both and I can see why the BBC scheduled these two programmes together in an attempt to maintain the family audience throughout the whole evening. However, if forced to choose between them, it would be a tough decision but I might just pick Merlin...
The decision to make Merlin part of the prime time Saturday night schedule was probably down to the successful reinvention of the Doctor Who franchise in 2005. The series was well received and established that there was an audience for early evening family drama. Having never really been into DrWho, I quite enjoyed the first series with Christopher Eccleston (a fantastic actor who isn't on TV enough) but I slowly lost interest as the need for over-arching narratives and the continued reappearance of Daleks and CyberMen, seemed more important than good storytelling. Perhaps the nature of Doctor Who, in that the Doctor seems to be able to endlessly regenerate, means that the series may eventually lose its edge. All the best TV shows come to an end (often after just two series) and, in the case of Merlin, leave us wanting more.
So what did I love about Merlin? Well, knowing nothing about the Arthurian legends, my enjoyment of the programme was nothing to do with previous knowledge! Well, actually that's not entirely true - I have watched Disney's Sword in the Stone and I have vague recollections of watching Camelot as a child. I knew that Arthur was supposed to fall in love with Guinevere and working out how that was going to happen with a dead Lancelot around (see series 4) was definitely part of the fun.
But, back to why I heart Merlin, firstly, it's because of the characters. Arthur is a pompous bully when we first meet him, whilst Merlin has amazing powers but is unable to use them. He struggles to accept his destiny when he realises it means spending time with someone he hates! Watching the developing relationship between the two, as Arthur learns what it is like to be a King, is one of my favourite things about the show (that and the fact that they are both very good looking!). They learn to like each other, trust each other and by the end are the very best of friends. The fact that Merlin is unable to reveal his magical powers also adds an element of suspense and subverts expectations of a drama about a wizard.
There is also the father and son relationship between Merlin and Gaius. Merlin's own father (Balinor) dies in series 2 but Gaius is a constant character who proves his honesty and bravery again and again. Gaius is also important in terms of plot. He is knowledgable about magic and is always able to reveal something about the old legends. He gives Merlin a book about magic and guides him to become a great wizard. Their relationship is touching and like all great adventure stories, our hero needs a mentor and helper - which he finds in Gaius.
Gaius is of course played by Richard Wilson of One Foot in the Grave fame. It is great to see him back on our screens and great to watch him play a part so different to Victor Meldrew. The cast also features Anthony Head who is probably best known for Buffy (although those old enough will remember him in the coffee adverts). There have also been many guest appearances in the show, including Mackenzie Crook, Colin Salmon and Charles Dance to name a few but probably my favourite ever, was beautiful Sarah Parish trying to conceal the fact that she's a burping, farting, warty troll. Of all the magical beings that try to sabotage Arthur's future, this is perhaps the funniest and I would recommend Beauty and the Beast from Series 2 to anyone. Of course, despite the humour, Parish also provides significant threat and menace for Merlin to step in and save the day.
It's not just Sarah Parish who provides the humour. There are many funny moments across the series particularly between the main characters, especially as Arthur and Merlin's friendship deepens. There are also other things that are perhaps unintentionally funny, like the oddly distorted position Merlin puts his head into when he is about to do magic and the special dragon language Merlin speaks - which I cannot help but imitate every time it is on - whether there is a dragon on screen or not.
Finally, the women in Merlin are amazing. Considering they are mostly all evil, it's not necessarily a positive representation but Morgana is beautiful and thoroughly bad. Over the series we are able to see her demise into the dark side and I love it! Initially encouraged by her sister Morgause, Morgana loses everything in her desperate attempts to see Arthur dead. Perhaps her most twisted (but fairly successful) scheme is the kidnap, torture and brainwashing of Guinevere. Ultimately, Gwen is restored to normal and Morgana is defeated but she puts up a good fight and it's always good to see a strong woman, who gives as good as she gets, on screen.
And so, how will I survive without my weekly fix of magic and mystery? Well, I'm really hoping that Colin Morgan will be back on our screens in another role sometime soon. There are also rumours of some sort of spin off series and there has even been mention of a film. I'm also comforted by the fact that Merlin did really need to come to an end - there are only so many times Merlin can save Arthur and only so many times they can run around the same bit of woodland. So with all that said, I'm glad Merlin ended before I fell out of love with the series and I guess, after 5 months without it, I'm just about ready to move on...
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