Merlin BBC New Series (2009) – Review

Mackenzie Crook Guest Stars in The Curse of Cornelius Sigan

Sep 7, 2009

Only a wart-encrusted old warlock could be grumpy enough to resist the charms of BBC1's ambitious new series of Merlin with Colin Morgan, starting this month.

The Curse of Cornelius Sigan launches the new series of Merlin with a well-blended elixir of drama, comedy and chilling monsters. It features Mackenzie Crook, the first of a string of guest stars lined up for its 13-week run, and suggests Merlin will entertain even more confidently than it did in series one.

With the channel’s other mythic drama, Robin Hood, having been laid to rest earlier this year after poor ratings, the Beeb is putting a lot into making Merlin a powerful spell for early Saturday evening audiences this autumn.

Worldwide Hit

Season one was deemed a hit, taking UK audiences of 6.3 million, and the show’s now been sold to 180 countries – including Australia, New Zealand, France and Italy – and become the first British drama since The New Avengers 30 years ago to air on one of America’s major networks (NBC).

So expectations for the new series are high. The Curse of Cornelius Sigan does not break new ground in family viewing but it gets just about all the basics right. The CGI monsters are menacing, the drama is fast and witty, and the stars have plenty of appeal for their target adolescent audiences.

Bradley James' Naked Torso

Which is why Bradley James as Arthur finds time to gratuitously flaunt his burnished, naked torso on a couple of occasions, when he should be donning his armour to see off a new threat to Camelot in the form of dead sorcerer Sigan, found in a hidden tunnel under the castle.

Mackenzie Crook, who’s been exploiting his ability to be both baleful or funny in high-concept projects like Pirates of the Caribbean and Demons, here plays Cedric, a villain who plots to supplant Merlin as Arthur’s servant to gain access to the tunnel and plunder it. Making a fool of Merlin is the easy part, getting past Sigan’s soul proves impossible and Cedric inadvertently resurrects the sorcerer, unleashing his curse against Camelot.

Anthony Head

For the uninitiated, Merlin is really Young Merlin, the story of Arthur and the wizard in their youth before they become legends. Arthur’s pigheaded father, King Uther Pendragon (Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Anthony Head) has outlawed magic and Merlin must hide his powers from this masters, Arthur and Uther, while secretly using them to protect the kingdom.

This allows the show’s creators, Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps, to have more fun than ever with Merlin’s predicament as servant, having Arthur at one point use Merlin’s back to step up to his horse’s saddle.

Gaius (Richard Wilson) warns Uther to reseal the tunnel, but the king – really, the most dangerous man in the kingdom once again – is tempted by the treasure in it and ignores the advice, insisting Sigan is a fairytale.

John Hurt Returns

To weave magic powerful enough to destroy Sigan, Merlin has to do something he swore not to at the end of series one – return to the dragon (John Hurt again) for help. In exchange for the dragon’s assistance, Merlin has to make a deal that will come back on him later in the series.

Gwen and Morgana (Angel Coulby and Katie McGrath) have little to do in this opener, but that is set to change during the weeks ahead, particularly for Gwen as she and Arthur start to feel less than chivalrous towards each other.

Sarah Parish and Adrian Lester

At a special preview in London’s British Film Institute in early September, a high-octane audience of mainly adolescent girls cheered and clapped through the episode. Admittedly, this was less than the most critical test audience, but BBC Wales, which makes Merlin, certainly have got season two off to a strong start.

And Johnny Capps’ prediction that it would be ‘bigger, bolder and more action-packed’ is not far off. Guest stars to come include Sarah Parish (Mistresses, Cutting It) as an odious troll disguised as Lady Catrina, Adrian Lester (Hustle, Bonekickers) as the devious Myror, Charles Dance (Bleak House, Gosford Park) as the witchfinder Aredian, and Santiago Cabrera (Heroes) returns as Lancelot (and got a huge cheer at the BFI).

The BBC restored popular family drama to Saturday nights when Russell T Davies brilliantly regenerated Doctor Who. If creating another hit drama to dovetail with the mega-popular Doctor is now the Holy Grail for BBC bosses, then Arthur, Merlin and co might just help them to complete their quest.

Merlin: The Curse of Cornelius Sigan. Series Two starts on BBC1 late September

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