Review : Merlin

Yeaaaa... Merlin Season 4 sudah kembali..... Aku sememang menanti siri ini kerana jalan drama bersiri ini amat menarik walaupun jika dibandingkan dengan filem asal, ianya lagi bagus daripada drama bersiri... Ini adalah kisah MERLIN.....

Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme by Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps. It began broadcasting on BBC One on 20 September 2008. The show is based on the Arthurian legends of the wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur but differs from traditional versions of the legend in many ways. It is produced by independent production company Shine Limited. After a successful first series, U.S. broadcaster NBC began airing the programme on 21 June 2009, but after a decline in viewers, it was moved to the cable network Syfy, where it began broadcasting the second series on 2 April 2010. The second series began airing on 19 September 2009 on BBC One. On 5 September 2010, BFI Southbank in London previewed the first two episodes of the third series for its September Film Funday programme.
Merlin was influenced by the U.S show Smallville, about the early years of Superman.After failed attempts to bring the programme to life,development of the current Merlin began in late 2006, with physical production beginning in March 2008.The series received a generally mixed reception when it began its broadcast. Critics were upset with the flat dialogue and the modern look to the series.One critic, in particular, called the whole concept "bland"^. The series première drew an overnight average of 6.65 million viewers in the 19:00 slot, a final consolidated figure of 7.15 million, despite being scheduled against popular ITV series The X Factor.The first series as a whole had an average of 6.32 million viewers, which is fewer than Doctor Who attracted during its first series, and slightly more than those received by Robin Hood. Merlin was also the fifth most watched programme on BBC iPlayer in 2008. The third series of Merlin began on 11 September 2010,and showed an increase in viewers, proving the show's increasing popularity. The third series ended on 4 December 2010.
A ten-episode fourth series was confirmed on 25 October 2010 (though it was rumoured to air in early 2012, later than its usual slot in autumn) so that it would not clash with the BBC's other prime time drama Doctor Who which would possibly run during the same period.In March 2011, this was revised, and the fourth series was extended to the standard 13 episodes, with the show's star Colin Morgan confirming it would air in October 2011. It was confirmed at the 2011 Comic-Con in San Diego that the fourth series will again be broadcast in the United States on the Syfy Channel "in early 2012."
Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy, Executive Producers for Shine TV, confirmed on 24 July at the 2011 Comic-Con Merlin panel that BBC has commissioned a fifth series. The fourth series began on Saturday 1 October 2011.Filming for the fifth series begins March 2012 in Wales and Pierrefonds, France. 13 episodes have been ordered.


Series Overview
Merlin is a young wizard who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius. He discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon, has outlawed magic and imprisoned the last great dragon deep under the kingdom. The dragon tells Merlin that he plays an important role: to protect Uther's son, Arthur, who will bring forth a great kingdom. When Merlin meets Arthur, he believes that he is an arrogant bully and Arthur, likewise, has a less than stellar opinion of Merlin. Merlin must keep his magic secret or face being executed by Uther.

Morgana is Uther's ward with the power of prophetic foresight, which frightens her and which she keeps secret. Guinevere, whom she calls "Gwen", is her maid and close friend. The first series focused on the development of Merlin and his friendship with Arthur, while the second series focused more on the development of the other cast members. Some of the later series' central themes are Morgana's struggle to control her powers and her eventual corruption to evil because of Uther's actions, as well as the maturation of Arthur to become the great king of legend and his blossoming romance with Gwen. A year later, Morgana returns darker and more powerful than ever before. At the start of the fourth season, she learns about Merlin's identity as Emrys (though she doesn't know that Merlin and Emrys are one and the same) and Merlin finds himself powerless against the spirits of the dead that Morgana summons. Arthur eventually becomes king of Camelot after Uther is killed when protecting him from an assassin.

Other characters from Arthurian legend have also appeared. Lancelot longed to become a knight but was unable to do so because of his birth as a commoner. Mordred has appeared as a Druid boy who formed a bond with Morgana (in the legend he is her son and, according to the legend, either Arthur's illegitimate son or nephew), and it has been predicted by the Great Dragon that Mordred will cause Arthur's death (in the legend this occurred at the Battle of Camlann). Mordred and occasionally the Great Dragon refers to Merlin by his Druidic name, Emrys (the Welsh form of Ambrosius); Ambrosius Aurelianus was a historical figure that Geoffrey of Monmouth partially merged with Merlin. Excalibur is an ordinary sword that becomes enchanted by the Great Dragon and is later thrown into a lake (in the legends, this was the sword Nimueh gave to Arthur).
After an attack on Camelot by the corrupted Morgana and her sister Morgause, the sword is struck into a rock by Merlin to keep it out of mortal hands.