Merlin on BBC1 (SPOILERS)

[captcalhoun]

anyone else watch it?

i tohught it was quite good, but needs a few more episodes to bed in and become truly great or not.

Tony Head was good as Uther, likewise Richard Wilson as Gaius. Dragon CG was good.

So was the 'time passing' CG with the cobwebs.

Eve Myles was quite good. nice to see her out of the Whoniverse.

 

[ITL]

I missed it, so I'll check it out on iPlayer later on.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I enjoyed it. I agree it needs a couple more episodes to establish itself, but it seems to have the potential to be a very good show. I thought the Dragon looked better close up than in wide shots.
I guess it's just a shame it appears it isn't in HD.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

I enjoyed it too. I intitally had my doubts about Colin Morgan in the lead role, but Wilson and Head are their usual best, and overall the show looks very promising. Another play on iPlayer might help.

 

[Darth_Daver]

As I'm a Hungarian, I was quite envious that they had so better sets than they have at Robin Hood (you know, they make that here in Hungary), and actually the actors were better too... Gaius is especially good. Probably will watch, since there are no good shows in the US on saturday night

 

[Venardhi]

I for one was very unimpressed.

It seems written for the pre-teen Harry Potter audience though, so I think I'm just not their target on this one.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I for one was very unimpressed.

It seems written for the pre-teen Harry Potter audience though, so I think I'm just not their target on this one.

It's written for a family audience, in the same vein as Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

Overnight ratings are in and apparently it pulled in an average of 6.6m, not bad going considering it was up against X-Factor.

The first episode had an average of 6.65m (30%) over 45 minutes from 7.30pm, while on ITV1, ratings juggernaut The X Factor brought in 9.26m (41.7%) over an hour. The audience for Merlin was steady throughout but grew towards the end with a peak of 6.82m (30.3%) at 8.10pm.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

It was also riding on the back of the first competititve day of Strictly Come Dancing.

Mind you, I also tuned in to "Hole in the Wall" with Dale Winton, purely on the basis of the title alone, to see if it really was a reality show about a London gents public toilets. It was not that far off.

 

[captcalhoun]

Hole in the Wall was worth it for Zoe Salmon in the lycra suit and those plaits

 

[JoeZhang]

I for one was very unimpressed.

It seems written for the pre-teen Harry Potter audience though, so I think I'm just not their target on this one.

It's written for a family audience, in the same vein as Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

It might be written that way but it comes across as a kid's show.

 

[ITL]

I just watched it on iPlayer - not bad, but I'm not really the target demographic. Richard Wilson was by far the best thing in it, I thought.

The Dragon Of Portenteous Destiny Based Stuff was a bit shoe-horned in, though.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I for one was very unimpressed.

It seems written for the pre-teen Harry Potter audience though, so I think I'm just not their target on this one.

It's written for a family audience, in the same vein as Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

It might be written that way but it comes across as a kid's show.

I won't disagree, but I don't necessarily see that as a bad thing. I sometimes think well written kids shows can be better than shows aimed at older audiences, but end up feeling very adolescent

 

[Lonemagpie]

Ah, I missed it, but, having been burned by how utterly shit Rotting Hood is, I'm really not caring.

 

[RevdKathy]

I was very put off by the trailers (I could never make up my mind whether to taste the rainbow or challenge everything in that whisper) but gave it a whirl. I thought Anthony Head was excellent and Richard Wilson pretty good. Wasn't too happy with the complete crapping on the older versions of the legend, not very surprised by it. I shall keep watching for a week or two and see ow it goes.

 

[Ethros]

I sometimes think well written kids shows can be better than shows aimed at older audiences, but end up feeling very adolescent

*cough* Torchwood *cough*

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I sometimes think well written kids shows can be better than shows aimed at older audiences, but end up feeling very adolescent

*cough* Torchwood *cough*

The first series of Torchwood was one of the main ones I was thinking of, and most of the time Smallville, and half the CW line up, some of the ITV(2) stuff. A lot of HBO stuff seems to have sex in there because it's "Adult" too.

 

[denmaroca]

...but I'm not really the target demographic.

Everyone is in the target demographic - it's a family show (in the UK sense).

An interesting novel take on the Arthurian myth. Be interesting to see what they make of it.

Uther's a good, but hard man, who probably makes bad decisions in good faith. Arthur's a jock, but has a basic respect for bravery and probably honesty that will serve him well. Morgana will probably be a victim of her inheritance and a tendency to believe the ends justify the means. Merlin's flaw will probably be a tendency to enjoy the limelight and prestige a bit too much.

Meanwhile there'll be witty banter, action, lots of pretty on display, and thrills and spills. Good way to while away the odd 40 minutes or so.

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It's written for a family audience, in the same vein as Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

Thanks for the heads-up. That sort of thing holds no appeal to me, so I'll be giving this one a miss.

Everyone is in the target demographic - it's a family show (in the UK sense).

Only if you assume that every person on Earth has identical tastes. Somehow I doubt that's the case.

There's an audience for that sort of thing, but I can tell ya for 100% certain, I'm not it. And it wouldn't surprise me if many others feel the same.

Still I'll check out the first episode, or as much of it as I can stomach, just to be absolutely sure.

 

[Angel4576]

My expectations were low, but I was pleasantly surprised. Not the greatest show in the world, but a million miles better than the godawful Robin Hood.

 

[captcalhoun]

Wasn't too happy with the complete crapping on the older versions of the legend, not very surprised by it.

it's a reinterpertation of the myth.

it can't be any worse than First Knight which removed Merlin and focused on Lancelot or the recent Clive Owen/Keira Knightley flick which cast Guinevere as a pagan Boudicea-type and Arthur as a Roman centurion...

and let's not even get into the reinterperations Robin Hood's had in just the last 30 years or what both Disney and Renaissance did to Hercules...