Merlin: the BBC TV Series

Merlin, is of course, the wizard from the tales of King Arthur, one of my favourite myths of any culture. There have been many interpretations of the classic story: books, films, plays, musicals, etc. This time it's a 13-episode series by the BBC which has hooked me. It's aimed at the Saturday tea-time family slot and it's by far better than that other reinterpretation the BBC did of a classic legend -- the horror that was the new series of Robin Hood. Shudder.

The BBC series does change things quite a bit, however. Merlin is now roughly the same age as Arthur when they meet, and Arthur seems (at first, anyway) to be an arrogant bully. Guinevere is a serving maid to Morgana, who is fey, but a good guy, nonetheless, and a ward of the King. Magic is banned in the kingdom, with Merlin (who lives with Gaius, a physician to the king, Uther) having to hide his abilities from most people. Nimueh (who is in most stories the Lady of the Lake, but not in this one, I think) hates Arthur and Merlin with a passion and is always trying to kill them. There is a grumpy dragon as well...


I enjoy this show a lot! It's very good fun, and doesn't take itself too seriously most of the time. There's a good cast (including Anthony Head as Uther, John Hurt and Richard Wilson) of experienced actors, and some newer ones, too.

The series makes use of so-called colour-blind casting, with various key characters portrayed by black actors despite the series' setting in mediaeval Britain where the vast majority of the population were white and those of African ethnicity were a rarity. To be honest, the rest of the series, though very good fun, is so happy to change bits of the legend and add and embellish and reinvent, that this particular change doesn't really stand out. The quality of the acting, and the fact that it's taken as granted in the series, means you don't notice.

The rights to Merlin have been bought by NBC, which is the first time in a while that an actual British television series (not a reinvention) has been bought by a major US network. It will go out in January 2009 in the States. It's also been bought in Australia and Canada. Look forward to it :)