Post by himiko on Sept 21, 2008 0:57:31 GMT
OK, so the BBC started up their new series (also called "Merlin", for confusion's sake) tonight, so I thought I'd come and post summaries for anyone who's interested.
Basically, they fuck around with the established history/storyline a lot. And not in an artistic licence way. So, here's a guide to what appears to be the background:
Young Merlin (who looks like the lovechild of Dumbo and Spock) arrives in Camelot. Uther (Anthony Head, notable for appearances in Buffy, Doctor Who, etc.), who sits on the throne, is quite the tyrant, and has banned magic from the realm- the practice of sorcery is punishable by death. Apparently 20 years ago, when he arrived in Britain, people were using magic to do BAD SHIT, so he set about eradicating it. Thus, Merlin has to be careful about using his magic publicly. He ends up living with the court physician, Gaius (Richard Wilson, notable for One Foot in the Grave, Doctor Who, etc.), who gives food, lodging, advice, the usual wise-old-eccentric stuff. Meanwhile, the big mother of a dragon that Uther is keeping imprisoned under his castle tells Merlin that Uther's obnoxious teenage son Arthur is destined to be the Once and Future King, and that Merlin is destined to help him fulfill that role.
In the first episode, as well as the stuff above, the storyline goes as follows:
SPOILERS ALERT::
Merlin meets Arthur, who's a real arsehole. Merlin sees him picking on one of his servants and calls him an ass and a prat, and gets thrown in the dungeons for the night, and then into the stocks, where Gwen (short for Guinevere- a maid to Morgana, Uther's ward) introduces herself and tells Merlin that she doesn't like Arthur, either. Merlin and Arthur later get into another fight, though this one doesn't end in a dungeon visit.
Meanwhile, Uther has a man executed for sorcery. His mother, also a sorceress, accuses Uther, and not magic, of being the only evil in this land (Morgana seems to agree, she later tells Uther the man was doing no harm, and she doesn't see why his death is a reason to celebrate)- the woman swears that Uther will know her pain. A singer (Eve Myles, notable for Torchwood, Doctor Who... anyone noticing a pattern here?...) who is journeying to perform at the celebrations of Uther's 20 years on the throne is killed by the sorceress, who then assumes her form, and arrives at the court. Later, at the feast, she begins to sing, which puts everyone into an enchanted sleep- except Merlin, who has noticed the drowsiness and covered his ears accordingly- and then advances on Arthur with a dagger, intending to kill Uther's son as he killed her's. Merlin makes a chandelier fall on her, knocking her unconscious, and back into her original form, waking everyone up. She then regains consciousness and throws the dagger, and Merlin shoves Arthur out of the way. As a reward, Uther awards him the position of Arthur's manservant, about which neither boy is particularly thrilled.
Overall, it was OK. There's a lot of modern phrasing used, some of the costumes and makeup don't seem to quite fit the period, and the timelines/characters are really mixed up, which can prove irksome. Anyone who's watched the BBC's Robin Hood will probably understand the sort of thing I mean. The acting is... OK. It's slightly wooden, in some cases, but not hugely bad. The changes to the legend mean you can watch it without going "Gah, this is so bad compared to the proper "Merlin"". Decent Saturday Night TV fodder.
That said, there's no particularly outstanding performances, nor particularly memorable characters. Merlin, Gaius, Gwen and Morgana were all likeable enough, Arthur was a tosser (though that, presumably, will change as the series progresses). But whereas Robin Hood, if we're to look at another BBC production of a similar standard, had Keith Allen's bizarre, campy, somewhat insane, and completely without conscience Sheriff of Nottingham to provide humour and memorability, Merlin does not have this. There's only Uther, and, whilst he certainly seems to have been set up to be the antagonist of the series, and is indeed rather tyrannical when it comes to magic, it's not really shown how he is as a king in other aspects, and as the head of the royal household then he's simply there.
I shall watch further episodes and see how it carries on.
Basically, they fuck around with the established history/storyline a lot. And not in an artistic licence way. So, here's a guide to what appears to be the background:
Young Merlin (who looks like the lovechild of Dumbo and Spock) arrives in Camelot. Uther (Anthony Head, notable for appearances in Buffy, Doctor Who, etc.), who sits on the throne, is quite the tyrant, and has banned magic from the realm- the practice of sorcery is punishable by death. Apparently 20 years ago, when he arrived in Britain, people were using magic to do BAD SHIT, so he set about eradicating it. Thus, Merlin has to be careful about using his magic publicly. He ends up living with the court physician, Gaius (Richard Wilson, notable for One Foot in the Grave, Doctor Who, etc.), who gives food, lodging, advice, the usual wise-old-eccentric stuff. Meanwhile, the big mother of a dragon that Uther is keeping imprisoned under his castle tells Merlin that Uther's obnoxious teenage son Arthur is destined to be the Once and Future King, and that Merlin is destined to help him fulfill that role.
In the first episode, as well as the stuff above, the storyline goes as follows:
SPOILERS ALERT::
Merlin meets Arthur, who's a real arsehole. Merlin sees him picking on one of his servants and calls him an ass and a prat, and gets thrown in the dungeons for the night, and then into the stocks, where Gwen (short for Guinevere- a maid to Morgana, Uther's ward) introduces herself and tells Merlin that she doesn't like Arthur, either. Merlin and Arthur later get into another fight, though this one doesn't end in a dungeon visit.
Meanwhile, Uther has a man executed for sorcery. His mother, also a sorceress, accuses Uther, and not magic, of being the only evil in this land (Morgana seems to agree, she later tells Uther the man was doing no harm, and she doesn't see why his death is a reason to celebrate)- the woman swears that Uther will know her pain. A singer (Eve Myles, notable for Torchwood, Doctor Who... anyone noticing a pattern here?...) who is journeying to perform at the celebrations of Uther's 20 years on the throne is killed by the sorceress, who then assumes her form, and arrives at the court. Later, at the feast, she begins to sing, which puts everyone into an enchanted sleep- except Merlin, who has noticed the drowsiness and covered his ears accordingly- and then advances on Arthur with a dagger, intending to kill Uther's son as he killed her's. Merlin makes a chandelier fall on her, knocking her unconscious, and back into her original form, waking everyone up. She then regains consciousness and throws the dagger, and Merlin shoves Arthur out of the way. As a reward, Uther awards him the position of Arthur's manservant, about which neither boy is particularly thrilled.
Overall, it was OK. There's a lot of modern phrasing used, some of the costumes and makeup don't seem to quite fit the period, and the timelines/characters are really mixed up, which can prove irksome. Anyone who's watched the BBC's Robin Hood will probably understand the sort of thing I mean. The acting is... OK. It's slightly wooden, in some cases, but not hugely bad. The changes to the legend mean you can watch it without going "Gah, this is so bad compared to the proper "Merlin"". Decent Saturday Night TV fodder.
That said, there's no particularly outstanding performances, nor particularly memorable characters. Merlin, Gaius, Gwen and Morgana were all likeable enough, Arthur was a tosser (though that, presumably, will change as the series progresses). But whereas Robin Hood, if we're to look at another BBC production of a similar standard, had Keith Allen's bizarre, campy, somewhat insane, and completely without conscience Sheriff of Nottingham to provide humour and memorability, Merlin does not have this. There's only Uther, and, whilst he certainly seems to have been set up to be the antagonist of the series, and is indeed rather tyrannical when it comes to magic, it's not really shown how he is as a king in other aspects, and as the head of the royal household then he's simply there.
I shall watch further episodes and see how it carries on.
