karohemd | Entries tagged with merlin

sherbetsaucers mentioning Timm Thaler reminded me that there was a Merlin serial on German TV in 1980 that also featured a young Merlin (from about 6 to adult across the series) that was similarly if not further removed from the legend as/than the current BBC series. It went as far as portraying Merlin as the son of Lucifuge Rofocale, one of the seven princes of Hell, while in the BBC one he's at least a pagan wizard. It was, however, equally fun (and scary, at least for a 10-year-old).

So yeah, crackpot Merlin stories are hardly anything new on telly.

Current Mood: melancholy

That wasn't too bad, actually, certainly much better than the recent incarnation of Robin Hood. Historical accuracy is irrelevant with an essentially fictitious background so as a fantasy story, this worked. A little modern perhaps, especially in terms of language, but it's mainly aimed at kids so that works.
It's good to see Anthony Head again and most of the other actors work well, too.
My main gripe is that Merlin gets away with too much. A random farm boy acting like that towards the King's son is not going to live very long and won't get away with a day in the stocks.
Oh, and I wonder if Howard Shore is going to sue, there were a few bits towards the end which were very similar to some of the LotR score, starting with the song "Lady Helen" sang. I briefly wondered if my TV had randomly switched to Channel 4...

Current Mood: okay
Current Music: LotR:TT on C4

A new series on BBC one "soon" about the young Merlin. The trailer makes it look like Harry Potter and I'm not really impressed. Showy magic isn't what Merlin should be about. Might be good, might be not. It can't be much worse than the TV serial with Sam Neill a few years ago. Let's see.