''Merlin'' (also known as ''The Adventures of Merlin'') is a British

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

- adventure

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

television programme, loosely based on the Arthurian legends regarding the close relations of Merlin and King Arthur. Created by Julian Jones, Jake Michie,

Johnny Capps Johnny Capps is a British television producer and writer, best known for co-creating the BBC fantasy adventure series ''Merlin'' and later, ''Atlantis''. Career Capps began his career at the BBC after graduating, working as a script editor on prog ...

and Julian Murphy for the BBC, it was broadcast for five series on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

between 20 September 2008 and 24 December 2012. The programme starred Colin Morgan,

Bradley James Bradley James (born 1983 or 1984) is an English actor. He is best known for starring as Arthur Pendragon in the BBC TV (NBC in America) series ''Merlin,'' Damien Thorn in '' Damien'', Varga in '' Underworld: Blood Wars'', Giuliano de' Medici ...

, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Richard Wilson, Anthony Head, and John Hurt. The programme is a reimagining of the legend, in which young warlock Merlin is sent to the kingdom of Camelot by his mother because of his "special gift". After saving Prince Arthur's life in the first episode, he becomes Arthur's manservant. Merlin soon learns that the reason for his gift is to protect Arthur, but Merlin must hide his powers because magic was banned in Camelot by Arthur's father, King Uther Pendragon, and those caught practising it are executed. Over the years and after several adventures together, Merlin and Arthur become trusted friends and companions, with the former doing his best to influence the latter into becoming the king he is destined to be. ''Merlin'' was nominated for several awards, winning the 2011 British Academy Television Award for best visual effects. Broadcasting rights were sold to over 180 countries.

Series overview

Merlin ( Colin Morgan) is a young, powerful warlock who arrives in the kingdom of

Camelot Camelot is a castle and court associated with the legendary King Arthur. Absent in the early Arthurian material, Camelot first appeared in 12th-century French romances and, since the Lancelot-Grail cycle, eventually came to be described as th ...

after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius ( Richard Wilson). He discovers that the king,

Uther Pendragon Uther Pendragon ( Brittonic) (; cy, Ythyr Ben Dragwn, Uthyr Pendragon, Uthyr Bendragon), also known as King Uther, was a legendary King of the Britons in sub-Roman Britain (c. 6th century). Uther was also the father of King Arthur. A few ...

( Anthony Head), outlawed magic twenty years earlier in an event known as the Great Purge and imprisoned the last dragon, Kilgharrah (voice of John Hurt), in the caves beneath the castle. After hearing a mysterious voice inside his head, Merlin makes his way to the cavern beneath the keep to find that he was hearing the dragon's voice. The Great Dragon tells Merlin that he has an important destiny: to protect Uther's only son, Prince Arthur (

), who will return magic to Camelot and unite the land of Albion. When Merlin meets Arthur, Merlin considers him to be an arrogant bully, and Arthur, likewise, is less than impressed with Merlin. After saving the prince's life, Merlin is appointed as his personal manservant. The two experience many adventures, over the course of which they come to respect and trust one another. But when Uther's actions eventually cause his ward, Morgana ( Katie McGrath), to turn against Camelot and pursue a path of evil, Merlin and Arthur must join forces with friends, old and new, to protect their home and secure their destinies.

Cast

* Colin Morgan as Merlin, Arthur's servant and Gaius' ward, who secretly develops his magical gifts under the gaze of kings Uther and Arthur, both of whom despise the art. Only Gaius and Lancelot are aware of his magic. Merlin also has an alter-ego, "Dragoon the Great" (conjured when Merlin performs an aging spell upon himself), who is considered a criminal by Uther and Arthur, and inspires profound fear in Morgana who recognises him as Emrys, her prophetic nemesis. Despite keeping his capabilities under wraps for years, by the end of the show, more people become aware of Merlin's powers, including Mordred, Agravaine, Morgana, Gwen, and Arthur. *

as Arthur Pendragon, the Prince and later King of Camelot, and the commander of the kingdom's knights. Despite being charged with carrying out his father's harsh edicts, Arthur is portrayed as a far more compassionate man, who defends the falsely accused before the king, and occasionally defies him. Arthur welcomes commoners Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, Mordred, and Percival as knights, and falls in love with Gwen, a serving girl, whom he later marries and makes Queen. He comes to regard his servant Merlin as a close friend and confidant, never realising how many times Merlin has had to save his life using magic. Arthur initially promises to lift Uther's ban on magic when he becomes king, but changes his mind when he thinks magic killed his father. Arthur is prophesied as "The Once and Future King", which means, even though he is killed in the final episode, Arthur Pendragon will rise again. * Angel Coulby as Guinevere ("Gwen"), Morgana's servant who later becomes Queen of Camelot. Her relationship with Arthur at first causes conflict within the kingdom, as Uther considers her unworthy due to her low status and forbids Arthur to court her, even accusing her of witchcraft when Arthur's affections for her do not diminish. However, Gwen proves popular among the common people, and strives to make Arthur and his advisers approachable to them. Gwen is brave and selfless, always doing what's right for Arthur and Camelot. * Katie McGrath as Morgana Pendragon, Uther's ward who is later revealed to be his daughter. Initially a kind and empathetic young woman, Morgana comes to despise Uther for his prejudice against magic and when she realizes he would never accept her if he knew of her magical powers, she begins covertly plotting against him. She becomes the show's primary villain by the third series, coveting Arthur's throne. * Anthony Head as

, Camelot's stubborn king, who shows Arthur repeated tough love and ruthlessly enforces the kingdom's strict ban on sorcery. Although meaning well, Uther earns himself many enemies in his brutal fight against magic, and Morgana's ultimate betrayal leaves him a broken man. * Richard Wilson as

Gaius Gaius, sometimes spelled ''Gajus'', Kaius, Cajus, Caius, was a common Latin praenomen; see Gaius (praenomen). People * Gaius (jurist) (), Roman jurist *Gaius Acilius *Gaius Antonius * Gaius Antonius Hybrida *Gaius Asinius Gallus * Gaius Asiniu ...

, the court physician and Merlin's surrogate father and mentor. Once a sorcerer himself, Gaius abandoned the practice but occasionally practises it when Merlin needs help. A wise man with a long memory, Gaius is one of Uther's closest advisers, and always among the first to realise what is really happening when magic threatens the kingdom. * Nathaniel Parker as Agravaine de Bois (series 4), Arthur's uncle who steps in, reputedly as a trusted adviser to Arthur, but is later identified as a traitor. Merlin and Gaius learn quickly that Agravaine's loyalty is to Morgana. * John Hurt as the voice of the Great Dragon, also known as Kilgharrah, the last of his kind after Uther destroys all of his kin and makes an example of him by imprisoning him in a vast cave beneath the castle. The Great Dragon gives Merlin advice and forges the sword of Excalibur in his breath for Arthur, but persistently demands his freedom in return. Merlin eventually releases him, unwittingly unleashing a full-on assault on Camelot by the dragon, seeking revenge for his murdered kin. However, Merlin learns from his father that he is descended from a long line of dragonlords, and is able to use that power to control the Great Dragon. Subsequently, Merlin and the dragon become close friends with the dragon often helping Merlin when needed.

Character appearances

Episodes

Production

Château de Pierrefonds vu depuis le Parc

The programme was conceived by Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. The BBC had been keen on showing a drama based on the character of Merlin for some time. 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." The series went into production in March 2008, with filming in Wales and France (at the

Château de Pierrefonds The Château de Pierrefonds () is a castle situated in the '' commune'' of Pierrefonds in the Oise department in the region of Picardy, France. It is on the southeast edge of the Forest of Compiègne, northeast of Paris, between Villers-Cotterêt ...

). Two Kent locations were also used: The Barons Hall and Garden Tower at Penshurst Place, and

Chislehurst Caves Chislehurst Caves are a series of intersecting man-made tunnels and caverns covering some 22 miles (35.4 km) in Chislehurst in southeast London, England. From the mid-13th to early 19th centuries the 'caves' were created from the mining of f ...

for the first series. The series was produced by Shine in association with BBC Wales, whose Head of Drama Julie Gardner was executive producer for the BBC. '' Doctor Who'' 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 Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the early Middle Ages. It was brought to Great Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the mid-5th ...

for spells was written by university scholar and medievalist Dr. Mark Faulkner, and later by the script editing team. An initial series of 13 episodes, ''Merlin'' began transmission in the UK on 20 September 2008. A trailer was prepared in advance for television, cinemas, and online. US broadcaster NBC began airing ''Merlin'' on 21 June 2009; but, after a decline in viewers, it was moved to cable network Syfy, where it began broadcasting series 2 on 2 April 2010. On 19 September 2009, series 2 began airing on BBC One. On 5 September 2010, BFI Southbank in London previewed Episodes 1 and 2 of series 3 for its September Film Funday programme. A ten-episode fourth series was confirmed on 2 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 primetime 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. The fourth series was broadcast in the United States on the Syfy Channel "in early 2012." In UK, the fourth series began on Saturday 1 October 2011. Capps and Murphy confirmed on 24 July that BBC had commissioned a fifth series. Filming for the fifth series began March 2012 in Pierrefonds, France and near

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

, Wales. 13 episodes were ordered. Series 5 started broadcasting on 6 October 2012. On 26 November 2012, it was announced that the series 5 of Merlin would be the last, with a two-part special concluding the series over Christmas.

Broadcast

A documentary series called ''Merlin: Secrets and Magic'' explains how the series 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 50-minute episodes were shown after each ''Merlin'' episode repeat on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Friday evening on BBC Three. In April 2008, United States 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 30 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 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 '' WWE SmackDown'' beginning 7 January 2011 at 10 pm (9 pm

Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known a ...

). The distributor, FremantleMedia Enterprises, also sold broadcast rights to

CTV CTV may refer to: Television * Connected TV, or Smart TV, a TV set with integrated internet North America and South America * CTV Television Network, a Canadian television network owned by Bell Media ** CTV 2, a secondary Canadian televisio ...

in Canada, Network Ten in Australia and

Prime A prime number (or a prime) is a natural number greater than 1 that is not a product of two smaller natural numbers. A natural number greater than 1 that is not prime is called a composite number. For example, 5 is prime because the only ways ...

in New Zealand. It aired on Choice TV. The series was broadcast in 183 countries.

Home media

Series one and two were released on DVD in the United Kingdom, United States, and Australia. Series three is available in the United Kingdom, and was released in Australia on 4 August 2011. Accompanying 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. In Australia "The Complete Collection" boxset (23-Discs, Seasons 1–5) was released on 13 May 2015.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack for the first two series featuring music from selected episodes was released on the

MovieScore Media MovieScore Media is a Swedish record label devoted to original film scores, founded in 2005 by former film music journalist Mikael Carlsson. The label has produced over 500 soundtrack albums, focusing primarily on scores composed by up and coming ...

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 The GoldSpirit Awards, yearly granted through the website BSOSpirit, are devoted to soundtracks and film music fans. BSOSpirit was released on 2001, as a Spanish website relating soundtracks and film music. Attempting to emphasize and recognize ...

(2008), and the 5th annual International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards (2008). In early October 2012 MovieScore Media released the soundtrack from the third and fourth series along with that from the start of the fifth series.

In other media

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 cost £3.20 per issue and was distributed in UK newsagents. Merlin Wax Figure in Warwick Castle

Exhibitions

Merlin: The Dragon Tower

A Merlin attraction was created at Warwick Castle entitled Merlin: The Dragon Tower, which featured a walkthrough, a projection of Kilgharrah the dragon, '' Merlin'' from the BBC TV Series '' Merlin'', or at least a true-to-life wax model-which was created with over 300 measurements—and a catalogue of reference shots of Colin Morgan. Upon seeing his wax work,

Morgan Morgan may refer to: People and fictional characters * Morgan (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Morgan le Fay, a powerful witch in Arthurian legend * Morgan (surname), a surname of Welsh origin * Morgan (singer ...

said, "Little did I think that when I visited Madame Tussauds as a kid that I would have the honour of having the same fantastic team making a

wax figure A wax sculpture is a depiction made using a waxy substance. Often these are effigies, usually of a notable individual, but there are also death masks and scenes with many figures, mostly in relief. The properties of beeswax make it an excell ...

of myself. It’s truly amazing and I can’t praise their hard work enough in creating such a brilliant life-like me." The wax model cost £150,000, and the entire castle experience was part of a £3 million investment by the Merlin Entertainment Group to promote the show. The attraction closed in 2014 and is now the site of the Warwick Castle Time Tower.

Games

The BBC released two small Merlin-themed video games on the BBC website: a

tower defense Tower defense (TD) is a subgenre of strategy games where the goal is to defend a player's territories or possessions by obstructing the enemy attackers or by stopping enemies from reaching the exits, usually achieved by placing defensive struc ...

game called 'Camelot Defence', and an adventure puzzle game named 'Quest for the Mortaeus'. In 2012, a 'real-time cooperative' video game adaptation named 'Merlin: The Game' was announced and launched on Facebook. It has since been taken offline.

Awards and nominations

* 2009: International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) – Best Original Score for a Television Series (Nom) * 2009: British Academy Film Awards – Best Interactivity (Nom) * 2009:

Monte-Carlo Television Festival The Monte-Carlo Television Festival is held every year in June in the Principality of Monaco at the Grimaldi Forum, under the Honorary Presidency of H.S.H. Prince Albert II of Monaco. The opening ceremony inaugurates each new edition, introdu ...

– Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Colin Morgan (Nom) * 2009:

– Outstanding Actress – Drama Series: Katie McGrath (Nom) * 2009:

7th Visual Effects Society Awards The 7th Visual Effects Society Awards, given in Los Angeles on February 21, 2009 at the Century Plaza Hotel, honored the best visual effects in film and television of 2008. The awards were later broadcast, in an edited form, on the Starz Edge Net ...

– Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: For the Mark of Nimueh. For series 1 (Nom) * 2009: TV Quick Awards – Best New Drama (Won) * 2010: TV Quick Awards – Best Family Drama (Nom) * 2010: British Academy Film Awards – Best Visual Effects (Nom) * 2010: British Academy Film Awards – Best Design (Nom) * 2010: British Academy Film Awards – Best Director – Film/Drama (Nom) * 2010:

– Outstanding Actress – Drama Series: Angel Coulby (Nom) * 2010:

– Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Colin Morgan (Nom) * 2010:

– Outstanding Actor – Drama Series:

(Nom) * 2011: British Academy Film Awards – Best Visual Effects (Won) * 2011:

– Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Colin Morgan (Nom) * 2011:

– Outstanding Actress – Drama Series: Katie McGrath (Nom) * 2011: TV Quick Awards – Best Actor: Colin Morgan (Nom) * 2011: TV Quick Awards – Best Family Drama (Nom) * 2012: National Television Awards – Most Popular Drama Series (Nom) * 2012: Royal Television Society – Best Sound: Drama (Nom) * 2012: TRIC Awards – TV Drama Programme of the Year (Nom) * 2012: TV Quick Awards – Best Actor: Colin Morgan (Nom) * 2012: TV Quick Awards – Best Family Drama (Nom) * 2013:

SFX Awards ''SFX'' is a British magazine covering the topics of science fiction and fantasy. Its name is a reference to the abbreviated form of " special effects". Description ''SFX'' magazine is published every four weeks by Future plc and was founded i ...

– Best Actor: Colin Morgan (Won) * 2013:

– Best Actress: Katie McGrath (Nom) * 2013: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films – Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television (Nom) * 2013: National Television Awards – Most Popular Male Drama Performance: Colin Morgan (Won) * 2013: National Television Awards – Most Popular Drama (Nom) * 2015: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films – Best DVD/Blu-Ray Television Release For "The Complete Series" release (Nom)

References

External links

* , the official global Merlin site * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Merlin (Tv Series) 2000s British drama television series 2000s supernatural television series 2008 British television series debuts 2010s British drama television series 2012 British television series endings BBC Cymru Wales television shows BBC television dramas British adventure television series British comedy-drama television shows British fantasy television series Demons in television Druidry in fiction English-language television shows NBC original programming Period television series Television about fairies and sprites Television about magic Television series about dragons Television series about ghosts Television series based on Arthurian legend Television series by Endemol Television series set in the Middle Ages Television shows adapted into video games Television shows set in Wales Witchcraft in television Wizards in television Works based on Merlin