Merlin [UK-Now US-Jan]

[BelleGirl]

I have a confession to make: I only watched one episode of this Merlin series.- and than I decided it wasn't good enough to pay further attention to. But I may be wrong and if the dvd-series becomes available, I might rent it.

So many good BBC-(period)dramas, and the only one shown in the USA is this mediocre stuff? What a shame...

[Escapay]

I have a confession to make: I only watched one episode of this Merlin series.- and than I decided it wasn't good enough to pay further attention to. But I may be wrong and if the dvd-series becomes available, I might rent it.

It gets better, BelleGirl, at least IMHO. "The Mark of Nimueh" is the strongest of the four I've seen so far (I'm waiting for someone to load the fifth episode for me, so I haven't seen it yet). I'll admit, the show is still quite a lightweight piece of entertainment, but it's not really supposed to be on the same level as "I, Claudius" or anything. It's a romanticized and youthefied take on the Arthur legend, but done with some serious/adult themes so that it doesn't get the stigma of being "Camelot 90210". Plus, it's just a lot of fun to watch.

albert

[BelleGirl]

Yesterday I actually watched another episode of "Merlin"just to see if it had improved. (Merlin helped Lancelot to kill a Griffion by casting a magic spell). O.k, it's amusing but I still cannot see the reason storywise why Merlin has to be about about the same age as Arthur and Lancelot, other than that it would appeal to teenagers. I believe that's the target audience?

I'm looking forward to another BBC period drama "Little Dorrit" (that's the Dickensian in me) coming soon to British TV. That will be a different kettle of fish.

I've read that "Merlin"will be broadcasted on Dutch TV around Christmas, maybe I will give it a second look then. But it has no priority over "Little Dorrit".

[Soulbrotha432]

I've really enjoyed this series so far! LOL, Escapay, Medieval England 90210... maybe that's why I like it. No, really, I just tend to enjoy anything to do with fantasy & magic & medieval times.

On the subject of US remakes of British Shows... it's totally ridiculous in my opinion. I read somewhere the other day that they're AGAIN attempting to americanize AbFab. PLEASE, no! I'm so glad that Vicar of Dibley remake didn't end up happening as well. Why mess with the fabulous originals?

I have also come across some British dvds that have the voices re-dubbed with a US accent. THAT is the strangest thing ever.

Here's hoping more British shows air in the US (with the real voices ) so I don't have to download them, and so other people around here will know what the heck I'm talking about!

[BelleGirl]

It appears that the British crime/sci-fi series (Policeman in 2006 gets hits by a car and wakes up in 1973) "Life on Mars" is also Americanized.

In The Netherlands many original British TV shows are broadcastes, including AbFAB. Cannot imagine how a Dutch version of this show would be.
What angers me is that many good British and American TV dramas (and comedies, for that matter) are broadcasted at an ungodly late hour through the week, after 11 o' clock at night! (thankfully I've got a VCR-recorder)

You Americans have the same problem?

[Escapay]

Yesterday I actually watched another episode of "Merlin"just to see if it had improved. (Merlin helped Lancelot to kill a Griffion by casting a magic spell). O.k, it's amusing but I still cannot see the reason storywise why Merlin has to be about about the same age as Arthur and Lancelot, other than that it would appeal to teenagers. I believe that's the target audience?

I think Julie Gardner (one of the executive producers) said it's a "Three-Generation" show, in that it can be watched with children/teenagers, adults, and the elderly. It is, after all, tailored for family viewing on Saturday night.

Storywise, yeah, it really is unnecessary for Merlin to be Arthur's age. But that's what makes it unique from other adaptations. Too often we think of Merlin as a wiser old man without remembering that once upon a time he was just as much an awkward teenager like the rest of us. So it's nice to see the world through his eyes from that perspective, as opposed to yet another bumbling wizard or something else.

I haven't yet seen "Lancelot", so I can't comment on it. But I still recommend "The Mark of Nimueh".

I'm looking forward to another BBC period drama "Little Dorrit" (that's the Dickensian in me) coming soon to British TV. That will be a different kettle of fish.

I've read that "Merlin"will be broadcasted on Dutch TV around Christmas, maybe I will give it a second look then. But it has no priority over "Little Dorrit".

Little Dorrit isn't coming States-side until next year (for PBS's Masterpiece Theatre), but I'm looking forward to it. Mainly because Freema Agyeman is part of the ensemble cast. But I am genuinely interested in the actual Dickens story as well. Though I'd be lying if I said I was more interested in that than in Freema.

I've really enjoyed this series so far! LOL, Escapay, Medieval England 90210... maybe that's why I like it. No, really, I just tend to enjoy anything to do with fantasy & magic & medieval times.

Yay, another fan!

On the subject of US remakes of British Shows... it's totally ridiculous in my opinion. I read somewhere the other day that they're AGAIN attempting to americanize AbFab. PLEASE, no! I'm so glad that Vicar of Dibley remake didn't end up happening as well. Why mess with the fabulous originals?

The US will never be ready for AbFab. No one would ever have the balls to play the characters as fabulously as Saunders & Lumley.

I have also come across some British dvds that have the voices re-dubbed with a US accent. THAT is the strangest thing ever.

Thankfully, I haven't come across that yet, aside from Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, where they substitute "marrow" with "melon".

Here's hoping more British shows air in the US (with the real voices ) so I don't have to download them, and so other people around here will know what the heck I'm talking about!

Ditto!

It appears that the British crime/sci-fi series (Policeman in 2006 gets hits by a car and wakes up in 1973) "Life on Mars" is also Americanized.

Yep. It's quite good, actually. I didn't see many episodes of the UK version, but enjoyed them when I did. Of the two episodes that aired for the US version, I still feel there's a few problems that could be worked out, but otherwise it's a worthwhile remake. Still, I'm undecided on who's the better Sam Tyler: John Simm or Jason O'Mara. But the best thing about the US version is Harvey Keitel. You can hardly go wrong with Harvey Keitel. I think he's a better Gene Hunt than Philip Glenister.

What angers me is that many good British and American TV dramas (and comedies, for that matter) are broadcasted at an ungodly late hour through the week, after 11 o' clock at night! (thankfully I've got a VCR-recorder)

You Americans have the same problem?

On weekends, yes. But my local PBS affiliates show them around 7 pm on weekdays. However, both suffer from the problem of being the same old same old offered ad nauseum. Occasionally we'll get different shows, but there's too many that are continually being played over and over. "Are You Being Served?", "Keeping Up Appearance", "Last of the Summer Wine", "As Time Goes By", "Fawlty Towers" etc. They're good, but too much of it makes me more annoyed rather than amused when watching. I can hardly find "My Hero" anymore (though some may argue that's a good thing). And I haven't seen "Kiss Me Kate" in years.

BBC America suffers the same thing, always offering ad nauseum repeats of reality shows in lieu of sitcoms and dramas. One more episode of "Top Gear", "You are What You Eat", "How Clean Is Your House", etc. and I'll kill myself.

albert

[2099net]

Blimey! I've just been looking at the website. BBC America is crap. They expect people to pay for that?!?

[Escapay]

Blimey! I've just been looking at the website. BBC America is crap. They expect people to pay for that?!?

Well, when it's part of a package deal with 300 other channels...yes. Then again, of the 300 channels, I probably only watch about 15-20 of them. Still, it's a nice channel to have when there's good stuff on. But I don't watch it as regularly as I would if it had more stuff beyond the endless reality shows.

albert

[BelleGirl]

Escapy wrote:

Storywise, yeah, it really is unnecessary for Merlin to be Arthur's age. But that's what makes it unique from other adaptations. Too often we think of Merlin as a wiser old man without remembering that once upon a time he was just as much an awkward teenager like the rest of us. So it's nice to see the world through his eyes from that perspective, as opposed to yet another bumbling wizard or something else.

I have nothing against Merlin being portrayed as young man, but why at the same time as Arthur? They could have made a story about Merlin's life long before Arthur's birth, showing how Merlin grew to be a powerful wizard. (and how he helped to make the conception of Arthur happen). I think that would put the focus much more on Merlin himself instead of the 'usual suspects' Arthur, Lancelot and Guinevere

[Escapay]

I have nothing against Merlin being portrayed as young man, but why at the same time as Arthur?

As an excuse to make a poorly realized love triangle between Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur?

I can see why some would have preferred a young Merlin story without the "usual suspects" (:lol:, I like that!). But at the same time, having the usual suspects makes it more...identifiable for a casual audience. Even if the usual suspects are completely re-imagined. It probably is intended to be Camelot 90210 after all.

albert

[BelleGirl]

I have nothing against Merlin being portrayed as young man, but why at the same time as Arthur?

As an excuse to make a poorly realized love triangle between Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur?


albert

You mean, in combination with the well-known love-triangle between Arthur, "Gwen" and Lancelot?

[ichabod]

As an excuse to make a poorly realized love triangle between Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur?


albert

You mean, in combination with the well-known love-triangle between Arthur, "Gwen" and Lancelot?

You do know there's a late night Merlin Uncut coming, right? "Merlin X-tra".

"Why, Merlin! What an impressive wand you have!"

[Escapay]

As an excuse to make a poorly realized love triangle between Merlin, Gwen, and Arthur?

albert

You mean, in combination with the well-known love-triangle between Arthur, "Gwen" and Lancelot?

Hence "poorly realized".

It's totally unnecessary, IMO.

You do know there's a late night Merlin Uncut coming, right? "Merlin X-tra".

"Why, Merlin! What an impressive wand you have!"

albert

[Escapay]

There's no listing of special features, though since the video diaries and documentaries were classified, they will be included. But they didn't classify any audio commentaries, would be a pity if none were recorded.

Audio commentaries *will* be included, at least according to Amazon.co.uk's listing for "Merlin": Volume One

Merlin, the BBC’s outstanding re-imagining of the Arthurian legend, comes to DVD in this 3 disc set containing six episodes plus a superb package of bonus features: 'Behind the Magic' feature, cast video diaries, audio commentaries and more.

It doesn't mention who'll be on them, or how many episodes will have them (maybe all?).

I hope the "and more" includes the cinema trailer, tv trails, and additional material (such as the magic trick videos that Colin Morgan shows you on the bbc.co.uk site, which I can't watch as it's not viewable in the US ).

Also, I like one of the reviews that someone wrote for the show, as I feel it captures perfectly why I think it's a great one to watch:

You see a cream cake. You know it's silly, sickly, and not good for you, but you have to have it.

Merlin is my cream cake. It's cheesy, fluffy, ruins the traditional Arthurian legends, is loaded to the gills with poor special effects, high levels of improbability and daft one liners, but...

But I love it. I shoudln't, but I do. Reality has never been my forte and forty five minutes watching the adventures of a young Merlin with real character, and a young Arthur who, unlike most of his predecessors on screen, actually does something heroic once in a while, just makes my week.

Magic, from start to finish. And an absolute oasis in the desert of current tv schedules. There should be room for imagination, and young kids need stuff like this to bring the Arthur legends to them before they are forgotten. As a kid I longed to find Camelot, to ride out on a horse and fight monsters (not bad, for a girl, I learned to ride but never stumbled over any griffins), and I'm delighted someone is bringing this dream to the next generation.

Thank you BBC for finally spending my licence fee on something I actually want to watch. Bring on Season 2, and more dragons this time!

It basically says it's not the greatest thing on the air, but it's the most fun and enjoyable, and it helps in igniting/re-igniting the imagination in its viewers.

albert

[2099net]

The relationships in the legends go [something] like this:

Morgane, Morgain, Morgan etc is actually half fairy, and is tutored by Merlin in the use of magic. (Interestingly, this has been hinted at in Merlin, because Lady Morgana seems to have nightmares when sleeping). Although Merlin (TV) seems to indicate Morgana and Arthur have a relationship, in most legends the two are half-siblings. I'm not 100% sure what the relationship is in the TV series (she is the ward of the king?) but I think some family relationship, even if distant, must be involved somewhere.

I always felt Morgana was "evil" based on the fact Marvel and DC both have (for want of a better word) supervillains based on the character, as well as the character Morgaine in Battlefield (Doctor Who). Interestingly, in most accounts she is not evil (it was added to later tellings and not part of the original legend) but when she is, she is plotting revenge on Guinevere (Queen Guinevere throws her out of the royal court in disgust for talking many lovers or even later for sleeping with Arthur). She also fathers Mordred (the traitor), presumably from one of these lovers (or even Arthur himself).

Guinevere does become Arthur's Queen, but her heart always belongs to Lancelot (as seen in the last Merlin episode). Her attraction to Merlin in the TV series seems to be totally new. It is Morgana who reveals Guinevere's adultery with Lancelot. Guinevere was not a servant or handmaiden, but a princess and her and Arthur's marriage was arranged during their childhood - her marriage to Arthur is simply one of duty. It could be argued that making Guinevere a servant in the TV series is simply re-imagining the selfless dedication to duty part of her character.

Like Morgane, Merlin was the offspring of human and supernatural parentage – sometimes a Incubus and sometimes like Morgane the fairy-folk. This is one of the reasons he became Morgane's teacher. Merlin was eventually seduced by Nimue (sounds familiar?) who was (depending on the legend simply a servant to the Lady of the Lake or the actual Lady herself), and reportedly was kept immortal and imprisoned by the Lady of the Lake forever.

As for the TV series, signs seem to be pointing to:

Morgana and Arthur getting together – so that they eventually sire Mordred together?

Guinevere and Lancelot getting together – when Lancelot eventually returns?

Merlin finding out more about Nimueh and perhaps being attracted to her and her knowledge of magic?

Finally, just to keep this on topic: This week guest stars Julian Rhind-Tutt

[BelleGirl]

To my knowlegde of the legend, Morgana is not half-fairy. She is Arthur's half-sister though, daughter of Gorlois and Igraine. Arthur is son of Uther and Igraine. (I take this from "Mistst of Avalon", a book that has a family tree in the back)
Merlin is a half-fairy indeed, and Morgana's teacher.
In some versions Morgana is evil, in others not. Compare "Excalibur" (movie directed by John Boorman) to "Mists of Avalon" (book and movie). In the first story evil Morgana wants a child from her half-brother Arthur, so she uses a magic spell to to trick him in believing she is Guinevere, and he makes love to her.
In the second version Arhtur and Morgana meet at a feast after not having seen eachother for many years, and not recognising eachother they make love. Thus Mordred was conceived.
Nimue and Galahad are the children of Lancelot and Elaine.

[2099net]

Well, the simple (and complex) answer is that the King Arthur legend is an amalgamation of lots of different sources. It's main roots seem to be Welsh, and I'm pretty sure Morgana is/was originally half-fairy. She's sometimes called Morgan Le Fey (fey for fairy). It should be noted that Gwen is still a common Welsh name. Le Mort d'Arthur (or however it was spelt) is probably the "definitive" Arthur legend, but was based on legends from all over Britain and while written by an Englishman, was published in France!

Ironic the once and future king of England would be from Welsh stock and popularised in France!

This probably shows that while liberties have been taken with the source[s] for the BBC series, its just upholding the tradition of spoken folklore, where tales are changed on each retelling. I don't really mind the new imagining of the characters or stories.

My main beef with the BBC series is Camelot – it's just far too modern for the time period – its like something from the 14th-16th century where as if Arthur is set in the middle ages (or just before) you would expect it to be the what? Somewhere in the 8th, 9th or 10th century? I know it shouldn't bug me – I've certainly overlooked worse when watching TV or a movie – but for some reason it really bugs me. And I really want somebody of some significance to "share" Merlin's secret. It looked like Lancelot would be the one, but he left…

Overall, Merlin seems to be moving too slow – there's no real sense of moving forwards with each episode and it seems to be stuck on a treadmill. That said, they're certainly laying a lot of groundwork which could come back later in the series, so who knows? I have a few questions I hope to see answered. I would hope by the end of the current run, the status quo will be sufficiently different from the first episode.

[Escapay]

I'm not 100% sure what the relationship is in the TV series (she is the ward of the king?)

Yes. I don't think they ever said yet if she's blood-related to Uther and Arthur yet, but they did say that she Uther was made her guardian after her parents died.

Her attraction to Merlin in the TV series seems to be totally new.

It seems to make sense in the new series though, as one of those "we're friends, but there is the potential for something more though one of us doesn't see it and the other won't admit to it". I wasn't really expecting it at all though the chemistry is there. After all, if Merlin can be a clumsy teenager and Arthur be an arrogant jock in this re-imagined series, why wouldn't Gwen and Merlin have the hots for each other as well?

Morgana and Arthur getting together – so that they eventually sire Mordred together?

Maybe they will get together and then it's suddenly revealed that Morgana's his half-sister (through some contrived soap opera cliched scene either at a big celebration or a deathbed confession from Uther).

Guinevere and Lancelot getting together – when Lancelot eventually returns?

I hope Lancelot returns. He'd make a great recurring character.

Merlin finding out more about Nimueh and perhaps being attracted to her and her knowledge of magic?

I can see that happening throughout the rest of the first series. Especially with the whole "keep the magic secret" thing. He'll want to be able to share the secret with someone else, even if he doesn't know their true intentions.

As for all the variations of the legend, the only ones I'm consciously aware about (as in I've read or seen it) at the moment are T.H. White's The Once and Future King, Mark Twain's A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, and several movie versions like Guinevere, the 1998 miniseries "Merlin", and the Disney movies that stray more than most of the legends (The Sword in the Stone, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, A Kid in King Arthur's Court, A Knight in Camelot, etc.). There's probably several more that I've seen/read, but those are all I remember right now. So watching "Merlin" the series isn't too jarring for me, as the whole Arthurian legend is pretty much a blur in my head of all those things anyway.

albert

[ichabod]

Well, time for Ichabod's tuppence ha'penny on Merlin.

I sat down to watch Episode 1 when it debuted and to be frank, was less than excited by what I saw. So much so that I didn't bother watching any further episodes. This was essentially due to the fact that BBC and ITV did their usual thing of trying to beat each in the Saturday night ratings and scheduling all their big shows against one another, and unfortunately I went with ITV. Mainly because the BBC have made Melin the first show to be stacked on iplayer, meaning the all the episodes are available permanently rather than only for 1 week after broadcast as usual, so I knew I'd have chance to catch up sooner or later, and since it's been dark and gloomy today was the day I sat and watched them all in a row .

In all honesty I have to admit, it does get better! A lot better, I'd even go as far to say I actually enjoyed the later episodes!

Anyway let's have a round up of my thoughts:

Ep 1: The Dragon's Call

This irked me for a number of reasons. Stiff acting from quite a few in the pilot episode in particular, Richard Wilson as Gaius was a little hit and miss for me, Anthony Head as Uther was far to overblown and Arthur was just, well, not good. The CGI dragon was also far from brilliant CGI. But I think the biggest issue this episode has is that the story is just weak, it's clumsy and in all honesty just seems cramped into the 45 mins. Essentially aside from the lovely Eve Myles as the vengeful sorceress the whole thing seems a little weak.

Ep 2: Valiant

Well episode 2 is a drastic improvement, still not great but definitely better. Why Will Mellor was given such a prominent role is beyond me, but I suppose I can live with it. The CGI snakes weren't great, but the story was definitely more rounded and satisfying. All the characters seem to have settled down more and the performances of the three I identified above certainly have improved.

Ep 3: The Mark of Nimueh
Well we start to get a sort of story arc going, even if it's not a major one. Michelle Ryan's brief appearance is good and the fleshing out of Gwen's character is certainly good. I can't really think of much else to say about this episode as it was average. Certainly better than the first, but otherwise a bit of a filler episode

Ep 4: The Poison Chalice

Definitely getting a lot better by this point. All the actors are giving much better performances and have all settled in. Michelle Ryan ais definitely the highlight as Nimueh and I certainly hope we see a lot more of her. The story was good (if potentially getting slightly repetitive, see below) and certainly the strongest up to this point. One thing that irks me is the unquestionably bad CGI for the spiders and the Cockatrice, ouch!

Ep 5: Lancelot

Well I think I can safely say that episode 5 is definitely great! Everything is spot on here, all the characters and interplay. Christiano Santiago is superb as Lancelot, I wish he didn't disappear at the end, but since it's Lancelot at least we know he should be back. I spent the entire episode thinking "I'm sure I know him from somewhere", only to work out at the end it was Isaac Mendez from Heroes This is definitely the high point so far. The CGI is quite pleasing too. The Griffin is definitely the best use of CGI so far!

Although I will say some things about the series:

1) There's a danger of repetition. Merlin saves Arthur's life, Arthur tries to warn Uther but Uther is too stubborn to listen, then in the end Uther realises he was wrong. This virtually happens in all four of the first episodes and grated slightly on me. In the fifth ep it was virtually the same, althought it was Lancelot the king had an issue with, but essentially it was Uther's stubborn-ness towards Lancelot that again was the point of the story. Definitely could be damaging if every ep follows this pattern.

2) 2099net insist the series is treading water. I'm not so sure it is just yet. After all its only been five episodes and I'm sure it will ramp up and there will be some progression. After all we have had hints of Morganna's visions and Lancelot has also discover Merlin's secret. But it does definitely need something to happen by the end of the run.

3) Morganna is underused. She seems to flit in every now and then but doesn't really do much.

4) The dragon seems to be more of a token character than a character who is actually any use. Merlin goes to him for help, but the dragon just says something cryptic and flies off. Not actually helping Merlin at all, essentially in a sort of "You'll have to find out the answer for yourself" way, which again if it happens every week begs the question, what's he there for and against provides the danger of repetition.

On a seperate note, what do you Escapay and any other Americans think of Arthur's teeth? There was a lot of noise about Gwen's teeth in Torchwood from some when that made its US debut, and she only has a small gap in them. Will the US accept Arthur, who is supposed to be the handsome young pin up of the series when his teeth aren't perfect. That's probably what will get the series cancelled!

[Escapay]

In all honesty I have to admit, it does get better! A lot better, I'd even go as far to say I actually enjoyed the later episodes!

1) There's a danger of repetition. Merlin saves Arthur's life, Arthur tries to warn Uther but Uther is too stubborn to listen, then in the end Uther realises he was wrong. This virtually happens in all four of the first episodes and grated slightly on me. In the fifth ep it was virtually the same, althought it was Lancelot the king had an issue with, but essentially it was Uther's stubborn-ness towards Lancelot that again was the point of the story. Definitely could be damaging if every ep follows this pattern.

Definitely agree there. And there's only so many ways that that story can play out before becoming *too* repetitive. They need to either figure out something else for Uther to be stubborn about or retool the entire story.

3) Morganna is underused. She seems to flit in every now and then but doesn't really do much.

I love Morgana and wish they'd use her more often.

On a seperate note, what do you Escapay and any other Americans think of Arthur's teeth? There was a lot of noise about Gwen's teeth in Torchwood from some when that made its US debut, and she only has a small gap in them. Will the US accept Arthur, who is supposed to be the handsome young pin up of the series when his teeth aren't perfect. That's probably what will get the series cancelled!

I wasn't aware there was anything wrong with them. They looked rather normal to me.

albert