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Camelot: The Early Years

Written by Ian Cullen on July 15, 2008 – 12:00 pm -

By Ian M. Cullen

It seems that the BBC has really gone to town on producing top rated fantasy entertainment suitable of family viewing. In recent years, we’ve seen the major success story of Doctor Who‘s return to our television screens, which in turn spurred the BBC to produce Robin Hood. Now, coming this Autumn, we will see a new modern take on Merlin.

In a brief interview featured in SFX Magazine’s Red Alert section, Johnny Capps, the executive producer behind Merlin, revealed a little of what we can expect from this new series.

Over the years we have seen many different takes on Merlin and the Legend of King Arthur and according to Capps this new version will definitely be bringing somewhat of a fresh take on the legend.

“We wanted to do something different with it, so we said, ‘what would it have been like if Merlin and Arthur were young contemporaries?’ We thought, ‘Why don’t we play around with all the characters from all of those myths, like Guinevere and Morgana, and look at them all as young characters?’ So it’s subverting the myth and playing around with legend, while at the same time being true to it.”

Capps says you can compare this series to the likes of Smallville, which deals with Clark Kent before he becomes Superman. Merlin will examine the early relationship between Merlin a trainee wizard and the future King Arthur. Both will be in their late teens or early 20′s.

Playing Arthur’s Father King Uther will be Anthony Head, better known internationally for his part of watcher Giles in the popular Buffy The Vampire Slayer series.

Playing somewhat of a father figure and mentor to Merlin will be popular British Actor Richard Wilson who plays the character of Gaius who is the court physician.

Newcomer Colin Morgan will play the role of young Merlin and Bradley James will be taking on the role of hair to the throne King Arthur. Doctor Who fans with a keen eye may recognise Colin Morgan from the season four Doctor Who episode Midnight in which he played the role of Jethro Cane.

“The format of the show is that Merlin arrives in Camelot, which is an exciting world, but it’s a world where magic is banned,” Capps explains. “Merlin has to use his growing knowledge of magic, but has to keep it quiet just as Clark Kent does in Smallville. He’s always the unsung hero.”

The new series will take somewhat of an eclectic approach when it comes to what time periods and locations it is set in. Pierrefont Castle (just north of Paris) will double of Arthur’s well known home.

This approach also extends to using myths and legends from all over Europe. Whereas the main story of King Arthur was of his battle with the evil sorceress Morgana, this new take will see young Arthur and Merlin take on mythical beasts such as dragons and undead knights, as well as other magical threats.

The early relationship between Arthur and Merlin is described as a quirky love hate relationship – which is one of the battles they will have to overcome in order to slay the mythical beasts and keep Camelot safe in its ignorance of Magic.

“All of our threats of the week are magical threats.” Capps reveals.

“Raiders of the Lost Ark is our tone benchmark,” Capps explains. “Merlin has big action adventure, there’s lots of fun, and there’s lots of comedy to it as well, so there’s sort of a Shrek – like quality to it, and hopefully it will appeal across generations.”

Merlin will arrive on the BBC this Autumn and has also been picked up by US Network NBC as part of their winter line up of programming.

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Tags: BBC, Camelot, King Arthur, Merlin
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