Merlin Returns to Television
The BBC has started filming a new family drama centered on the Arthurian legends entitled “Merlin”. The show will focus on the younger days of Merlin and Arthur during the reign of Uther Pendragon.
Actor Colin Morgan, who plays the young Merlin.
“The BBC has started filming on Merlin, a fantasy drama about Arthurian legend … The 13-part drama will be broadcast in the autumn … The drama will be set in the mythical city of Camelot, and focus on Merlin as a wizard on the brink of adulthood who clashes with a young Prince Arthur.”
Joining a cast of younger actors will be Buffy the Vampire Slayer star Anthony Head as Uther, and veteran Scottish film and television actor Richard Wilson as court physician Gaius. Scripts will be provided by Julian Jones, who wrote for the occult British television series “Hex” (a show that generated a mixed reaction among viewers).
The big question is what sort of Arthurian world will it portray? Romano-British? Welsh? Fantasy? Will the characters be Christian? Pagan? A mix of the two? Will the young Merlin be portrayed as a pagan survival in a Christianizing world, or as a sanctified potential Antichrist? The only hint the publicity gives is that it’s set “in the mythical city of Camelot, in a time before history began”, which seems to argue for a more fantasy-oriented show.
In any event, our friends in the UK will get to watch it first, and will no doubt spread the word about its quality to the rest of us who have to wait for the DVD (or rebroadcast on BBC America).
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