Merlin

[Cullhaven]

Initial thoughts:

They have gone for a total " faery tale" feel to it and arent sticking in any way to any of the "Lore" such as The Mabinogion, Malory, Chr�tien de Troyes, Geoffrey of Monmouth, the Annales Cambriae, Nenius or Gildas. Thats fine and means there is no need to be pissed off at any changes to the accepted stories such as Arthur being brought up in the court of Uther Pendragon rather than given to merlin as a baby. Its a total retelling so the "Lore" shouldnt get in the way.

The feel of the thing is very high fantasy and faery tale, sort of Tennyson minus the pre-raphaelite undertones. A little bit of the Robin Hood style modernisation of clothes and such like, but where that jars in Hood it adds to the quirky fantasy atmosphere here - its not actually set in any real time so the anachronistic clothing dosen't bother one the way it does in Boormans Excalibur ( We are told at the beginning of Excalibur in no uncertain terms that its the sixth century, yet the knights all ride round in Circa 15th century dress plate. And before the flames descend I am not direspecting Excalibur as it is one of my favourite films)

No fighting as of yet so cant judge how good it looks. Tony Head as good as always, Eve Myles good as the witchy villain. I have to say I enjoyed it - its a light entertainment piece, not the high art of Excalibur but not really pretending or aspiring to be. not bad so far.

 

[Treebeard]

Really enjoyed it.

After Robin Hood I wasn't expecting much at all but they have just about got right the mix of the period while making it relevant to today. Its a good thing that they have decided on a more fantasy angle as the BBC are just not very good at putting out these themes where lore is involved.

I don't often like Richard Wilson outside of One Foot but he was good as was Head as always.

The woman playing Morgana was stunning and we haven't even seen the Eastenders/Bionic Woman lass yet.

 

[Cathral]

I really enjoyed it as well. They have said its like smallville is a retalling of supermans origins where its not sticking to any specific Lore which is good as it gives them more freedom and viewers dontg have expectations which can be let down.

I must admit after the travesty that is Robin Hood I was a bit worried but its better than I had hoped for

 

[Cullhaven]

Good effects too - the sleep spell/song was suitably strange sounding and the cobweb bit right out of Sleeping Beauty was very well done. Some small touches of humour similar to A Knights tale - the serf running round with the moving target with just his boots showing - worked well also.

 

[Janie]

Better than Robin Hoodie but still to lightweight and bland. Will give it a few more episodes to find it's feet but I wasn't very impressed with the feel of the first one.

 

[Fanforran]

I thought it was a bit crap tbh , Tony Head is no dark ages king, hes not down and dirteh enough. The opening scene was cut wrong, it went from bloke having head chopped off to poncy Uther to mad mother. should have gone..

Bloke head gone to mad mother to poncy Uther. Watch it again on I player see if you think the same. It just felt diss-jointed.

Then try the scene from Merlins bedroom . boarded up window. cut outside to four pained lit by candle light window frame being opened.

Lost me at the start Im afraid , Ill watch again to see if Im wrong but its too airey fairy for me on first impressions

 

[Cullhaven]

It didnt make me want to turn over and watch Ant and deck or Xfactor or whatever shit was on itv.

 

[Fanforran]

It didnt make me want to turn over either but tbh thats not how I consume telivision these days . I download what I want when I want. I did leave it running on the other comp whilst doing other stuff but I just felt it was a bit light weight and bobbins.

 

[Btone]

it was okish, and as long as it doesn't get any worst ill keep watching it, however with dumping all merlin lore to me it just a story about a bout with a magic gift out to save the world, they could even call it harry and it wouln't change the the show

one thing i wouls like to know is where is it shot. some of the outdoor snces look breathtaking

 

[Zed]

Enjoyed it for what it was, but then i enjoyed robin hood for what it was.

 

[Gottaa]

Talili and I both enjoyed it, which was a shock, we were expecting something more like Bonekickers in quality

 

[MorgyN]

gah bonekickers.. *twitch*

Was quite enjoyable, cept for the "But us two, together?" bit..

Not sure how accepting I am of Anthony Head as a king tho, has a feeling of the TP Sky stuff.

 

[Janie]

Episode 2 pretty much the same again watchable, but pretty bland and uninspired plot. The kids who play Merlin and Arthur are actually quite a likeable actor.

 

[UKJett]

Its ok.. I hope it gets better.

 

[Catz]

Its quite entertaining for that time of the evening. Marcus is really loving it, without being scared by it (there again he watches Star Wars and Dr Who)

I'll keep watching

 

[Janie]

Poor episode last night. The effects on the 'monster' were abysmal (even worse when they are 'fighting' it).

 

[Cullhaven]

missed part 2 so dont see the point in watching any more - might get bthe dvd whenever it goes to 3 quid or summat.

 

[Treebeard]

Is this in freefall to mediocrity?

Since the not bad first episode its become really predictable and dumb.

Morgana and Nymwae the only reasons to watch it at the moment.

 

[Catz]

Its ok for a tea time thing for the kids to watch.

Marcus is still enjoying the magic of it all and shouted at the spiders behind Authur and pointed at the flower, so it will do as 'kids entertainment' on a saturday evening

 

[Swither]

Same here for my kids.
We treat Merlin as the Dr Who etc substitute for the whole family to watch together on a Sat night. In the same way we view Primeval, Robin Hood and whatever comes next.

Sadly the BBC offerings are not meant to be regarded as serious, just as family viewing and from that perspective they fulfil that role perfectly in my view and more importantly the kids view.