‘Under Merlin’s Spell’

‘Under Merlin’s Spell’

Arthur, Australian television, BBC series, broadcasting, Camelot, Channel 10, dragon, entertainment, film, folklore, Gaius, Guinevere, Johnny Capps, magic, medieval legend, Merlin, Morgana, mythology, re-interpretation, romance, Shine Drama, television series, wizard

This entertainment piece from The West Australian’s online edition reviews the BBC series Merlin (2008). At the time the article was written in 2010, the second season of the series was being aired on Australian television by Channel 10. The characters and setting of the show are based on figures and places from Arthurian legend, however, the plot focuses on the lives of the characters prior to the mythologised events of the medieval legend. The characters include Merlin, Arthur, Guinevere, Gaius and Morgana, and the story is set in Camelot. Merlin’s Producer, Johnny Capps, is quoted as saying that they needed a mythological tale and he thought that Merlin “just seemed to be right for re-interpretation for a 21st- century audience”. On the motivation for the plot, he continued: “We decided to start before they were famous because what appealed to us was a story of empowerment. What if we had a young Arthur who was not yet King and Merlin as a young wizard, coping with trying to be a teenager and at the same time his destiny and extraordinary power? And we subverted the expectation around Guinevere by making her a lowly servant girl."

Saunders, Amanda

The West Australian

9 June 2010

The West Australian

Online newspaper article; URL

English