Merlin (2008 TV series)

For the 1998 mini-series, see Merlin (film).

Merlin
Genre	Family drama Medieval fantasy
Created by	Julian Jones Jake Michie Johnny Capps Julian Murphy
Starring	Colin Morgan Bradley James Angel Coulby Katie McGrath Anthony Head Nathaniel Parker Richard Wilson
Narrated by	John Hurt
Theme music composer	Rob Lane
Opening theme	"Merlin's Arrival at Camelot"
Ending theme	"The Call Of Destiny"
Composers	Rob Lane Rohan Stevenson
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	51 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers	Julie Gardner Bethan Jones
Production locations	Wales France
Running time	47 minutes 50 minutes (The Last Dragonlord)
Production company	Shine Television
Original release
Network	BBC One BBC One HD (Series 4-present)
Release	20 September 2008 (2008-09-20) – present
Related
Merlin: Secrets and Magic

Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from traditional versions of the legend in many ways. It is produced by independent production company Shine Limited. After a successful first series, U.S. broadcaster NBC began airing the programme on 21 June 2009, but after a decline in viewers, it was moved to the cable network Syfy, where it began broadcasting the second series on 2 April 2010. The second series began airing on 19 September 2009 on BBC One. On 5 September 2010, BFI Southbank in London previewed the first two episodes of the third series for its September Film Funday programme.

Merlin was influenced by the U.S show Smallville, about the early years of Superman. After failed attempts to bring the programme to life, development of the current Merlin began in late 2006, with physical production beginning in March 2008. The series received a generally mixed reception when it began its broadcast. Critics were upset with the flat dialogue and the modern look to the series. One critic, in particular, called the whole concept "bland". The series première drew an overnight average of 6.65 million viewers in the 19:00 slot, a final consolidated figure of 7.15 million, despite being scheduled against popular ITV series The X Factor. The first series as a whole had an average of 6.32 million viewers, which is fewer than Doctor Who attracted during its first series, and slightly more than those received by Robin Hood. Merlin was also the fifth most watched programme on BBC iPlayer in 2008. The third series of Merlin began on 11 September 2010, and showed an increase in viewers, proving the show's increasing popularity. The third series ended on 4 December 2010.

A ten-episode fourth series was confirmed on 25 October 2010 (though it was rumoured to air in early 2012, later than its usual slot in autumn) so that it would not clash with the BBC's other prime time drama Doctor Who which would possibly run during the same period. In March 2011, this was revised, and the fourth series was extended to the standard 13 episodes, with the show's star Colin Morgan confirming it would air in October 2011. It was confirmed at the 2011 Comic-Con in San Diego that the fourth series will again be broadcast in the United States on the Syfy Channel "in early 2012."

Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy, Executive Producers for Shine TV, confirmed on 24 July at the 2011 Comic-Con Merlin panel that BBC has commissioned a fifth series. The fourth series began on Saturday 1 October 2011. Filming for the fifth series begins March 2012 in Wales and Pierrefonds, France. 13 episodes have been ordered.

Series overview

Main article: List of Merlin episodes

Merlin is a young wizard who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius. He discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon, has outlawed magic and imprisoned the last great dragon deep under the kingdom. The dragon tells Merlin that he plays an important role: to protect Uther's son, Arthur, who will bring forth a great kingdom. When Merlin meets Arthur, he believes that he is an arrogant bully and Arthur, likewise, has a less than stellar opinion of Merlin. Merlin must keep his magic secret or face being executed by Uther.

Morgana is Uther's ward with the power of prophetic foresight, which frightens her and which she keeps secret. Guinevere, whom she calls "Gwen", is her maid and close friend. The first series focused on the development of Merlin and his friendship with Arthur, while the second series focused more on the development of the other cast members. Some of the later series' central themes are Morgana's struggle to control her powers and her eventual corruption to evil because of Uther's actions, as well as the maturation of Arthur to become the great king of legend and his blossoming romance with Gwen. A year later, Morgana returns darker and more powerful than ever before. At the start of the fourth season, she learns about Merlin's identity as Emrys (though she doesn't know that Merlin and Emrys are one and the same) and Merlin finds himself powerless against the spirits of the dead that Morgana summons. Arthur eventually becomes king of Camelot after Uther is killed when protecting him from an assassin.

Other characters from Arthurian legend have also appeared. Lancelot longed to become a knight but was unable to do so because of his birth as a commoner. Mordred has appeared as a Druid boy who formed a bond with Morgana (in the legend he is her son and, according to the legend, either Arthur's illegitimate son or nephew), and it has been predicted by the Great Dragon that Mordred will cause Arthur's death (in the legend this occurred at the Battle of Camlann). Mordred and occasionally the Great Dragon refers to Merlin by his Druidic name, Emrys (the Welsh form of Ambrosius); Ambrosius Aurelianus was a historical figure that Geoffrey of Monmouth partially merged with Merlin. Excalibur is an ordinary sword that becomes enchanted by the Great Dragon and is later thrown into a lake (in the legends, this was the sword Nimueh gave to Arthur).

After an attack on Camelot by the corrupted Morgana and her sister Morgause, the sword is struck into a rock by Merlin to keep it out of mortal hands.

Cast and characters

Main article: List of Merlin characters

From left to right: Guinevere, Gaius, Morgana, Merlin, Arthur, Uther and the Great Dragon in the background.

• Colin Morgan portrays Merlin: The series' protagonist is a young and talented magician who attempts to keep his powers secret and will one day become the world's greatest wizard. He is also Arthur's servant, protector, and friend, despite the initial animosity between the two and his annoyance at Arthur's rudeness. He is compassionate and tries to see the good in all people, doing what he feels is just.
• Bradley James portrays King Arthur Pendragon, previously Prince: The extremely headstrong yet brave and good-hearted son of King Uther, and current King of Camelot. He deeply cares about the people of Camelot even more than he does about himself. Though Arthur has been "trained to fight since birth" and is excellent in combat, he is often vulnerable, and Merlin must protect him to fulfil this legend. Arthur befriends Merlin, despite being his master, and feels protective of him, unaware of his power. The pair often save one another's lives. Although Arthur shares his father's prejudice against magic, he is more tolerant and fair-minded than Uther, often advocating second chances and banishment over execution. At the end of series one he develops respect for Guinevere; later, in series 2 and 3, he develops romantic feelings for her. In season 4 he is shown to have been ruling Camelot in his father's stead. After Uther's death in the third episode of the fourth series, Arthur is crowned King of Camelot.
• Angel Coulby portrays Guinevere (Gwen): Morgana's humble maid and former best friend. She has an open, friendly, and forgiving personality. In the beginning it was insinuated that she had a crush on Merlin; later, there was a romance with Lancelot and recently Arthur. Gwen's father, Tom, was the castle blacksmith but was executed by Uther for suspicion of practising magic, despite Morgana pleading his cause. It turned out that Tom had been framed and Gwen was allowed to stay in their house. There are indications that Tom taught Gwen some of his skills. In series 3 it is revealed that Gwen has an older brother, Elyan (played by Adetomiwa Edun), with whom she had been estranged. He later becomes a knight of Camelot. At the start of season 4, it appears Gwen has been caring for Uther whilst he is broken; she does this for Arthur's sake and not Uther's.
• Katie McGrath portrays Morgana: King Uther's ward and his illegitimate daughter (revealed in series 3 to Gaius, and which Merlin overhears.) Morgana is best friends with Gwen despite their class differences, as well as good friends with Merlin in series 1 and most of series 2. She is secretly a "seer" – a person with prophetic powers. Although she does not realise it until the beginning of series 2, she—like Merlin—was born with magic (although Merlin is more powerful). While Gaius acts as a mentor to Merlin, he tells Morgana that she lacks any magic power in an attempt to protect her, giving her a sleeping potion to prevent her prophetic dreams. She is constantly lied to and thus feels alienated and confused. She is brave and forthright, caring deeply about others and strongly opposing Uther's persecution of anyone who comes into contact with magic. After realising that she cannot convince Uther to change, witnessing the persecution of those she cares for, and fearing Uther will discover her powers and kill her, she forms a bond with Morgause, a powerful sorceress with murky intentions, and thus finds herself in opposition not only to Uther but to Merlin as well. It is revealed by Gaius that Morgause and Morgana are actually half-sisters. In series 3, she is the main villain, serving an agenda developed with Morgause. Morgana is now fuelled by a desire for revenge against Camelot in general and Uther in particular. In season 4 she is again the villain, hating Camelot all the more because of her sister's disfigurement and eventual death.
• Anthony Head portrays Uther Pendragon: Arthur's father and previous king of Camelot. Uther is often a ruthless and cruel man whom some have called a tyrant, but he does care deeply about Camelot, as well as Arthur and Morgana, despite often being strict toward them. However, he is frequently blinded by his hatred of all forms of magic. Since his wife's death while giving birth to Arthur (which he blamed on the pregnancy having been created through magic), he has waged war against magic-users, going as far as genocide. It has been indicated that he killed children who were born with magic and will execute anyone seen with a magician, thus Merlin and Morgana must be very careful (he is neither aware of their powers, nor that the latter of the two seeks to overthrow and kill him). He reveals to Gaius that Morgana is actually his biological daughter, born out of a short affair with Morgana's mother while her husband was away. His refusal to acknowledge this further turns Morgana against him. Morgana's betrayal leaves him a broken man and still so a year after the end of season 3. Uther dies in the third episode of Season 4 (The Wicked Day) from a fatal sword wound, attained whilst fighting to protect Arthur. Merlin, disguised as his older version, attempts to help but his spells are reversed and amplified by a necklace placed around his neck by Agravaine, according to Morgana's plan. Uther subsequently dies and Arthur is crowned King by the end of the episode, although he blames himself and magic for his father's death.
• Nathaniel Parker portrays Agravaine de Bois, the uncle of Arthur and the brother of Ygraine. He returned to Camelot after a long period of time away, and while he seems to be guiding Arthur through the choices of Camelot, he has allegiance with Morgana, trying to help her become the queen she believes she is. His reasons for joining Morgana stemmed from Ygraine's death as he blamed both Arthur and Uther for it, seeking revenge on both of them. After Anthony Head left the series as main cast, Nathaniel took his spot in the main credits.
• Richard Wilson portrays Gaius: Camelot's court physician, Merlin's guardian and one of the few who know Merlin's secret. Gaius is a sorcerer himself, but Uther pardoned him long ago on the condition he give up magic. Gaius is also an alchemist and magical scholar. He has a dry sense of humour and sees Merlin as the son he never had. He is a trusted friend of Merlin's mother, Hanith. Gaius is a great source of advice to Merlin and assists the young warlock with his knowledge of magic and magical creatures, as well as herbal healing .
• John Hurt portrays the voice of The Great Dragon – Kilgharrah. Merlin often visits the dragon when in a predicament, especially since he claims he knows Merlin's destiny. The dragon is also one of the few who know Merlin and Morgana's secret. However, where he encourages Merlin to use magic and protect Arthur, the dragon tells Merlin that Morgana must remain unaware of her powers. The dragon appears omniscient at times, and at the end of series two Merlin is revealed to be Kilgharrah's natural master. In series three, Merlin and Kilgharrah share a close bond of Dragonlord/Dragon and the Dragon comes to Merlin's aid when needed. Due to the Dragonlord bond, he must obey Merlin even when he disagrees with his orders or intentions.
• Emilia Fox portrays Morgause: Morgause is a powerful sorceress who stops at nothing to destroy Camelot. She is the half sister of Morgana through their mother. She eventually corrupts Morgana and turns her against Camelot. In Series 4, Morgana sacrificed Morgause to take her revenge on Camelot.
• Santiago Cabrera portrays Lancelot: Lancelot longed to be a knight but was unable to do so due to his lack of noble birth. In Lancelot(The fifth episode of the first series), he found out about Merlin's powers after an incident with a griffin. After helping Merlin and Arthur many times, he eventually became a Knight of Camelot along with Sir Percival and Gwaine. In Series 4, Lancelot sacrificed himself to save Camelot. He was soon ressurected by Morgana, becoming enslaved to her control but later died again. Despite the help he gave to Arthur and Camelot, Lancelot also had feelings for Gwen which eventually led to him betraying Arthur when he was under Morgana's control.
• Eoin Macken portrays Gwaine: Gwaine is a loyal person who befriends Arthur and Merlin and eventually becomes a Knight of Camelot.

Production

The programme was conceived by Shine producers Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps, who had worked together on Hex, a fantasy series produced by Shine for Sky One. The BBC had been keen on showing a drama based on the character of Merlin for some time; a little over a year before the Shine series was initiated, writer and producer Chris Chibnall had been developing a project aimed at a BBC One Sunday night slot, but this was ultimately not commissioned. The Shine version of the project was put into development in late 2006, commissioned by Controller of BBC One Peter Fincham and BBC Head of Fiction Jane Tranter, with Fincham keen on having more series on his channel which embodied "three generation TV – that's TV you can watch with your grandparents and children. There's not enough of that about."

Merlin was influenced by the U.S. show Smallville, about the early years of Superman, according to Shine producers, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps, who said that Smallville helped provide the idea that Merlin would see a "Camelot that existed before its golden age". Caps said: "Just as in Smallville we wanted to subvert expectations. Camelot is a land where magic is banned [and] Merlin ... is a young boy who works as Arthur's manservant and has to hide his abilities."

The series went into production in March 2008, with filming taking place in Wales and France (at the Château de Pierrefonds). The series was produced by Shine in association with BBC Wales, whose Head of Drama Julie Gardner served as executive producer for the BBC. Doctor Who's chief writer Russell T Davies had been an important influence on the tone and style of Merlin. CGI special effects for the series were provided by The Mill. The Old English dialogue used for spells was written by a university scholar and later the script editing team. Consisting of an initial series of 13 episodes, Merlin began transmission in the UK on 20 September 2008. In advance of this, a special trailer was prepared for release on television, in cinemas and online.

Broadcast

In April 2008, U.S. broadcasting rights were purchased by NBC, where it was shown on Sundays at 8 pm (EST), starting 21 June 2009. This made it the first British drama in over thirty years to be shown on US network television, as opposed to PBS or cable. The programme moved to SyFy, a cable channel also owned by NBC, for the second series, which premiered on Friday, 2 April 2010. Syfy aired the third series in early 2011, after the conclusion of the initial broadcast on BBC. It was later announced the series would air after Friday Night SmackDown beginning Friday, 7 January at 10 pm/9 PM Central (CT). The distributor, FremantleMedia Enterprises, also sold broadcast rights to CTV in Canada, Network Ten in Australia, RTL in Germany, Polsat and AXN Sci Fi in Poland and the Czech Republic, Canal+, NRJ12 and Gulli in France (Canal+ also broadcast Merlin in French on Canal+ D'Afrique), M-Net in South Africa, ANT1 in Greece, CNBC-e in Turkey, MICO in Japan, HTV in Vietnam and MediaCorp okto and Mediacorp channel 5 in Singapore. The series is broadcast in 183 countries.

A documentary series created by the British Broadcasting Corporation called, Merlin: Secrets and Magic, explains how the series, Merlin, was created. Apart from the initial 50 minute special, which was broadcast directly after the series two premiere, and the first episode, shown first on the Sunday repeat, all new 15 minute episodes are shown right after each Merlin episode repeat on Saturday, Sunday, Monday or Friday evening on BBC Three. The show is broadcast daily on the CBBC at 4:30 pm.

International Broadcast

Country / Region	Network(s)	Aired	Notes
Australia	Network Ten	3 May 2009 – present
Belgium	VTM & 2BE	6 December 2009 – present
Denmark	DR1	20 July 2009 – present
Finland	Sub	19 March 2011 – present
Germany	RTL Super RTL	17 October 2009 – 19 December 2009 (Series 1) 22 December 2010 – present (Series 2 onwards)	Dubbed in German; It's currently one of the most successful programs for Super RTL.
Hungary	RTL klub AXN
Israel	HOT Zone	2010 – present
Japan	NHK & LaLa TV	October 5, 2009 – December 28, 2009 (Series 1) 7 March, 2011 – May 30, 2011 (Series 2)	Series 1 on NHK BS2, Series 2 on LaLa TV.
Malaysia	TV3	25 January 2009 – present	The dialogue is subtitled in Bahasa Malaysia. The first two episodes of the first series received more than 2 million viewers according to AC Nielsen.
Poland	AXN Sci-Fi & Polsat
Romania	AXN Sci-Fi & AXN	18 November 2010 – 31 December 2010 (Series 1) 4 January 2011 – 16 February 2011 (Series 2) 2 May 2011 – 19 July 2011 (Series 3)	Series 1 and 2 aired on Tuesday and Thursday, at 23:00, EEST. Series 3 aired on Tuesday and Thursday, at 21:00, EEST.
Slovenia	Kanal A	1 January 2011 – 12 February 2011 (Series 1) 29 October 2011 – 10 December 2011 (Series 2) 11 December 2011 – present (Series 3)
Turkey	CNBC-e, e2	6 September 2009 – present
United States	NBC (2009) SyFy (2010 – present)	21 June 2009 – 13 September 2009 2 April 2010 – present	Series 1 only on NBC, Series 2 – 3 only on SyFy.
Cuba	Multivision	1 Trimestre 2011

Reception

When referring to the premiere episode of the series, "The Dragon's Call", Alison Graham of the Radio Times said that "Colin Morgan is likeable and engaging as the titular hero" but criticised the dialogue, saying that it "doesn't exactly sparkle". Hermione Eyre of The Independent called the episode "horrible", disliking the "modern" feel of it stating that "Guinevere looks like a supply teacher". Daniel Martin of The Guardian called the episode a "flimsy caper" and also felt the dialogue was "awful" but did think guest actress Eve Myles was "wonderful". A.A Gill of The Times called it "bland" though Gary Jenkins, also of The Times, thought that "the central performances augur well". Keith Watson of the Metro thought that Colin Morgan made "a likeable boy wizard" and that "the effects were impressive" but criticised the soundtrack for being "hideously jaunty" and called the dialogue "flat-footed".

UK and US ratings

The following is a table for the ratings, based on average total estimated viewers per episode, of Merlin on BBC One, NBC, and Syfy.

Series	Timeslot	# Ep.	Premiered				Ended				Total UK Viewers	Total US Viewers
			UK Date	Viewers (in millions)	US Date	Viewers (in millions)	UK Date	Viewers (in millions)	US Date	Viewers (in millions)
Series One	Saturday (BBC One)	13	20 September 2008	7.15	21 June 2009	5.2	6 December 2008	6.27	23 August 2009	3.2	6.71
	Sunday 8:00 pm (NBC)
Series Two	Saturday (BBC One)	13	19 September 2009	5.77	2 April 2010	1.3	19 December 2009	6.64	2 July 2010	1.49	6.20	1.39
	Friday 10:00 pm (Syfy)
Series Three	Saturday (BBC One)	13	11 September 2010	6.49	7 January 2011	1.34	4 December 2010	7.86	8 April 2011	1.87	7.17	1.61
	Friday (Syfy)
Series Four	Saturday (BBC One)	13	1 October 2011	6.40	6 January 2012
	Friday (Syfy)

DVD releases

Series one and two were released on DVD in The United Kingdom, The United States and Australia. Series three is currently available in the UK, and was released in Australia on 4 August 2011. Accompanying all box sets are featurettes, video diaries, and commentaries. Behind the Magic, a two-part overview of making Merlin is included with the UK series one box set, while the documentary series, Secrets and Magic, is included with series two.

Complete Series	Release dates
	UK						US
	Volume 1	Discs	Volume 2	Discs	Complete Box Set	Discs	Complete Box Set	Discs
1st	24 November 2008	3	9 February 2009	3	5 October 2009	6	20 April 2010	5
2nd	23 November 2009	3	8 February 2010	3	8 February 2010	6	18 January 2011	5
3rd	15 November 2010	3	24 January 2011	3	24 January 2011	5	17 January 2012	5
4th	28 November 2011	3	23 January 2012	3	23 January 2012	5	To Be Announced	5

Soundtrack

A soundtrack for the each of the first two series, featuring music from selected episodes, has been released on the MovieScore Media record label. Merlin composer Robert Lane was nominated for Best Original Score for Television for the 10th annual Movie Music UK Awards (2008), the 8th edition GoldSpirit Awards (2008), and the 5th annual International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards (2008).

Series	Release Date	Catalog Number
1st	4 November 2008	MMS08021
2nd	17 November 2009	MMS09027

Official magazine

UK publisher Attic Brand Media launched an official magazine for the show in September 2011 featuring articles, puzzles and a comic strip written by Damian Kelleher and drawn by Lee Carey. The monthly magazine costs £3.20 per issue and is distributed in UK newsagents.

External links

• The Adventures of Merlin, the official global Merlin site
• Merlin at BBC Online
• Merlin at IMDb
• Template:Tv.com
• Merlin at Syfy
• Merlin at NBC
• External Merlin wiki