Merlin (2008 TV Series)

Merlin (also known as The Adventures of Merlin) is a British fantasy-adventure drama television programme, loosely based on the Arthurian legends about the close relationship between Merlin and King Arthur. Julian Jones, Jake Michie, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy created the series for the BBC, where it was broadcast for five series on BBC One between 20 September 2008 and 24 December 2012. The programme starred Colin Morgan, Bradley James, Katie McGrath, Angel Coulby, Richard Wilson, Anthony Head and John Hurt.

The programme is a reimagining of the legend, in which young warlock Merlin is sent to the kingdom of Camelot by his mother because of his "special gift". After saving Prince Arthur's life in the first episode, he becomes Arthur's manservant. Merlin soon learns that the reason for his gift is to protect Arthur, but Merlin must hide his powers because magic was banned in Camelot by Arthur's father, King Uther Pendragon, and those caught using it are executed. Over the years and after several adventures together, Merlin and Arthur become trusted friends and companions, with Merlin doing his best to influence Arthur into becoming the king he is destined to be.

Merlin was nominated for several awards, winning the 2011 British Academy Television Award for best visual effects. Broadcasting rights were sold to over 180 countries.

 Series overview 
Merlin (Colin Morgan) is a young, powerful warlock who arrives in the kingdom of Camelot after his mother arranges for him to stay with the court physician, Gaius (Richard Wilson). He discovers that the king, Uther Pendragon (Anthony Head), outlawed magic twenty years earlier in an event known as the Great Purge and imprisoned the last dragon, Kilgharrah (voice of John Hurt), in the caves beneath the castle. After hearing a mysterious voice inside his head, Merlin makes his way to the cave beneath the castle to find that he was hearing the dragon's voice. The Great Dragon tells Merlin that he has an important destiny: to protect Uther's only son, Prince Arthur (Bradley James), who will return magic to Camelot and unite the land of Albion.

When Merlin meets Arthur, Merlin considers him to be an arrogant bully, and Arthur, likewise, is less than impressed with Merlin. After saving the prince's life, Merlin is appointed as his personal manservant. The two experience many adventures, over the course of which they come to respect and trust one another. But when Uther's actions eventually cause  Morgana (Katie McGrath), who is under his care, to turn against Camelot and follow a path of evil, Merlin and Arthur must join forces with friends, old and new, to protect their home and secure their destinies.

 Cast 

 Colin Morgan as Merlin, Arthur's servant under the care of Gaius, who secretly develops his magical gifts keeping them hidden from kings Uther and Arthur, both of whom are suspicious of magic. Only Gaius and Lancelot are aware of his magic. Merlin also has an alternate identity, "Dragoon the Great" (created when Merlin performs an aging spell upon himself). His other identity is considered a criminal by Uther and Arthur, and terrifies Morgana who recognises him as Emrys, whom a prophecy calls her enemy. Despite keeping his abilities secret for years, by the end of the show, more people become aware of Merlin's powers, including Mordred, Agravaine, Morgana, Gwen, and Arthur.
 Bradley James as Arthur Pendragon, the Prince and later King of Camelot, and the commander of the kingdom's knights. Despite being having the task of carrying out his father's harsh orders, Arthur is portrayed as a far more kind man, who defends the falsely accused before the king, and occasionally disobeys him. Arthur welcomes common people Lancelot, Gwaine, Elyan, Mordred, and Percival as knights, and falls in love with Gwen, a serving girl, whom he later marries and makes Queen. He comes to regard his servant Merlin as a close friend and trusted advisor, never realising how many times Merlin has had to save his life using magic. Arthur at first promises to lift Uther's ban on magic when he becomes king, but changes his mind when he thinks magic killed his father. A prophecy sees Arthur as "The Once and Future King", which means, even though he is killed in the final episode, Arthur Pendragon will rise again.
 Angel Coulby as Guinevere ("Gwen"), Morgana's servant who later becomes Queen of Camelot. Gwen is spirited and brave which leads to an attraction between her and Arthur. Their relationship at first causes conflict within the kingdom, as Uther considers her not good enough due to her low status and forbids Arthur from seeing her, even accusing her of witchcraft when Arthur's love for her continues. However, Gwen proves popular among the common people, and works to make Arthur and his advisers approachable to them.
 Katie McGrath as Morgana Pendragon, under the care of Uther, who is later revealed to be her real father and had an affair with her mother Vivienne. At first a kind and caring young woman, Morgana comes to despise Uther for his hatred of magic.  When she realizes he would never accept her if he knew of her magical powers, she begins secretly plotting against him. She becomes the show's primary villain by the third series, seeking Arthur's throne.
 Anthony Head as Uther Pendragon (series 1-4; guest series 5), Camelot's stubborn king, who shows Arthur repeated tough love and harshly enforces the kingdom's strict ban on sorcery. Although meaning well, Uther makes many enemies in his brutal fight against magic. He is devoted to Morgana and her ultimate betrayal leaves him a broken man.
 Richard Wilson as Gaius, the court physician who has a fatherly role toward Merlin's as his mentor. Once a sorcerer himself, Gaius abandoned the practice but occasionally practises it when Merlin needs help. A wise man with a long memory, Gaius is one of Uther's closest advisers, and always among the first to realise what is really happening when magic threatens the kingdom.
 Nathaniel Parker as Agravaine de Bois (series 4), Arthur's uncle who arrives in Camelot to assist him after Uther's breakdown. At first a trusted adviser to Arthur, he is later identified as a traitor working with Morgana. Agavaine blames Uther for the death of his sister, Arthur's mother, Queen Igraine.
 John Hurt as the voice of the Great Dragon, also known as Kilgharrah, the last of his kind after Uther destroys all the other dragons and makes an example of him by imprisoning him in a vast cave beneath the castle. The Great Dragon gives Merlin advice and forges the sword of Excalibur in his breath for Arthur, but persistently demands his freedom in return. Merlin eventually releases him, unintentionally unleashing a full-on assault on Camelot by the dragon, seeking revenge for his fellow murdered dragons. However, Merlin learns from his father that he comes from a long line of dragonlords, and is able to use that power to control the Great Dragon. As a result, Merlin and the dragon become close friends with the dragon often helping Merlin when needed.

 Episodes 

 Production 
Julian Murphy and Johnny Capps came up with the idea for the series. The BBC had been eager to show a drama based on the character of Merlin for some time. A year before the Shine series was set up, writer and producer Chris Chibnall had been developing a project aimed at a BBC One Sunday night slot, but this was ultimately not ordered. Work on the Shine version of the project began in late 2006, ordered by Controller of BBC One Peter Fincham and BBC Head of Fiction Jane Tranter. Fincham was eager to have more series on his channel considered "three generation TV – that's TV you can watch with your grandparents and children. There's not enough of that about."

Bradley James recalled in 2020 that both he and Colin Morgan had signed up for five potential series at the beginning, both very soon after drama school. The series began production in March 2008, with filming split between sets and outdoor locations in Wales and France at the Château de Pierrefonds as a stand-in for the castle of Camelot. Two Kent locations were also used: The Barons Hall and Garden Tower at Penshurst Place, and Chislehurst Caves for the first series. Shine produced the series in association with BBC Wales, whose Head of Drama Julie Gardner was executive producer for the BBC. Doctor Who chief writer Russell T Davies had been an important influence on the tone and style of Merlin. Colin Gorry Effects and The Mill provided the CGI special effects for the series. The Old English for spells was written by university scholar and medievalist Dr. Mark Faulkner, and later by the script editing team. Filming throughout the series also took place in the Forest of Dean and the surrounding area, including Puzzlewood and Clearwell Caves.

Capps and Murphy confirmed on 24 July 2011 that BBC had ordered a fifth series. Writer Julian Jones said in a September 2011 interview that the writers had proposed a five series show from the start. Filming for the fifth series began March 2012 in Pierrefonds, France and near Cardiff, Wales. 13 episodes were ordered. On 26 November 2012, it was announced that series 5 of Merlin would be the last, with a two-part special concluding the series over Christmas.

In later interviews the co-creators said that there had not been serious consideration of a sixth series. They said there had been "advanced talks" about a trilogy of Merlin movies set within the show's original timeline that did not end up being being made, but that they continued to be creatively interested in the legend. Two of the show's original scripts were published on a BBC website aimed at scriptwriters. In a 2025 interview, writer Julian Jones discussed some of the flaws of the first episode that did not have as much of an "epic quality" as the show took time to find its tone. The same year, writer Jake Michie addressed the ending with the very last scene set in the modern day, and discussed whether it was possible the show could continue as a reboot, emphasizing the importance of the show's original cast.

 Broadcast 
An initial series of 13 episodes, Merlin began broadcasting in the UK on 20 September 2008. A trailer was prepared in advance for television, cinemas, and online. On 19 September 2009, series 2 began airing on BBC One. On 5 September 2010, BFI Southbank in London previewed Episodes 1 and 2 of series 3 for its September Film Funday programme. A ten-episode fourth series was confirmed on 2 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 Doctor Who which would possibly air during the same period. In March 2011, this was revised, and the fourth series was extended to the standard 13 episodes. Series 5 started broadcasting on 6 October 2012.

A documentary series called Merlin: Secrets and Magic explains how the series was created. Apart from the initial 50-minute special, which was broadcast directly after the series two premiere, all new 50-minute episodes were shown after each Merlin episode repeat on Saturday, Sunday, Monday, or Friday evening on BBC Three. In 2009 the BBC broadcast a special in which Morgan and James took a road trip through Wales looking for traces of sites related to Arthurian legend. James said in an interview that while the road trip was fun, it was geographically limited due to being funded by BBC Wales, even though many high profile sites related to Arthurian legend are outside Wales.

In April 2008, United States broadcasting rights were purchased by NBC, where it was shown on Sundays at 8 pm (EST), starting on 21 June 2009. This made it the first British drama in over 30 years to be shown on US network television, as opposed to PBS or cable. The programme moved to Syfy, a cable channel also owned by NBC, for the second series, beginning in 2 April 2010, and for the following series in following years, including the final series in 2013. The distributor, FremantleMedia Enterprises, also sold broadcast rights to CTV in Canada, Network Ten in Australia and Prime in New Zealand. It aired on Choice TV. The series was broadcast in 183 countries.

In the UK, the show has reaired on Sky Mix and Sky Sci-Fi, in addition to being available on BBC iPlayer. The free streaming service Plex launched a Merlin channel in 2023 for U.S. viewers, in addition to a separate Merlin channel airing on Amazon Prime's Freevee. In the U.S., the show has also been available on a variety of on-demand paid and free ad-supported streaming platforms, including Pluto TV, Tubi, Amazon's Prime Video Hulu and Britbox.

 Home media 
Series one and two were released on DVD in the United Kingdom, the United States, and Australia. Series three is available in the United Kingdom and was released in Australia on 4 August 2011. Accompanying box sets are featurettes, video diaries, and commentaries. "Behind the Magic", a two-part overview of making Merlin is included with the UK series one box set, while the documentary series, Merlin: Secrets and Magic, is included with series two. In Australia, "The Complete Collection" boxset (23-Discs, Seasons 1–5) was released on 13 May 2015.

 Series UK USComplete Box Set AustraliaComplete Box Set Volume 1 Volume 2 Complete Box Set Release date Discs Release date Discs Release date Discs Release date Discs Release date Discs 1st 24 November 2008 3 9 February 2009 3 5 October 2009 6 20 April 2010 6 30 July 2009 4 2nd 23 November 2009 3 8 February 2010 3 8 February 2010 6 18 January 2011 6 22 July 2010 4 3rd 15 November 2010 3 24 January 2011 3 24 January 2011 5 17 January 2012 5 2 August 2011 5 4th 28 November 2011 3 23 January 2012 3 23 January 2012 5 15 January 2013 4 1 March 2012 5 5th 26 November 2012 3 21 January 2013 3 21 January 2013 5 23 April 2013 4 13 February 2013 5 1st–5th     28 October 2013 27 4 November 2014 27  
The show also had several Blu-ray releases. Series four came out on 15 January 2013, series five came out on 23 April 2013, and the complete series came out on 4 November 2014. Series one, two, and three did not get individual releases on Blu-ray.

 Soundtrack 
A soundtrack for the first two series featuring music from selected episodes was released on the MovieScore Media record label. Merlin composer Robert Lane was nominated for Best Original Score for Television for the 10th annual Movie Music UK Awards (2008), the 8th edition GoldSpirit Awards (2008), and the 5th annual International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) Awards (2008). In early October 2012, MovieScore Media released the soundtrack from the third and fourth series along with that from the start of the fifth series.
 Series  Release date  Catalog number Merlin series 1  4 November 2008  MMS08021 Merlin series 2  17 November 2009  MMS09027 Merlin series 3  2 October 2012 (digital) / 23 October 2012 (CD) MMS12010 Merlin series 4  2 October 2012 (digital) / 23 October 2012 (CD) MMS12011

 In other media 
 Books 
A series of books was published based on episodes from Seasons 1, 2 and 3.

 Official magazine 
British publisher Attic Brand Media launched an official magazine for the show in September 2011 featuring articles, puzzles and a comic strip written by Damian Kelleher and drawn by Lee Carey. The monthly magazine cost £3.20 per issue and was distributed in British magazine stores.


 Exhibitions 
 Merlin: The Dragon Tower 
A Merlin attraction was created at Warwick Castle entitled Merlin: The Dragon Tower, featured a walkthrough, a projection of Kilgharrah the dragon, and a true-to-life Merlin wax model — which was created with over 300 measurements — and a catalogue of reference shots of Colin Morgan. Upon seeing his wax work, Morgan said, "Little did I think that when I visited Madame Tussauds as a kid that I would have the honour of having the same fantastic team making a wax figure of myself. It's truly amazing and I can't praise their hard work enough in creating such a brilliant life-like me."

The wax model cost £150,000, and the entire castle experience was part of a £3 million investment by the Merlin Entertainment Group to promote the show. The attraction closed in 2014 and is now the site of the Warwick Castle Time Tower.

 Games 
The BBC released two small Merlin-themed video games on the BBC website: a tower defense game called 'Camelot Defence', and an adventure puzzle game named 'Quest for the Mortaeus'. In 2012, a 'real-time cooperative' video game adaptation named 'Merlin: The Game' was announced and launched on Facebook. It has since been taken offline.

 Awards and nominations 

 2009: International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) – Best Original Score for a Television Series (Nom)
 2009: British Academy Film Awards – Best Interactivity (Nom)
 2009: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Colin Morgan (Nom)
 2009: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actress – Drama Series: Katie McGrath (Nom)
 2009: 7th Visual Effects Society Awards – Outstanding Matte Paintings in a Broadcast Program or Commercial: For the Mark of Nimueh. For series 1 (Nom)
 2009: TV Quick Awards – Best New Drama (Won)
 2010: TV Quick Awards – Best Family Drama (Nom)
 2010: British Academy Film Awards – Best Visual Effects (Nom)
 2010: British Academy Film Awards – Best Design (Nom)
 2010: British Academy Film Awards – Best Director – Film/Drama (Nom)
 2010: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actress – Drama Series: Angel Coulby (Nom)
 2010: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Colin Morgan (Nom)
 2010: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Bradley James (Nom)
 2011: British Academy Film Awards – Best Visual Effects (Won)
 2011: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actor – Drama Series: Colin Morgan (Nom)
 2011: Monte-Carlo Television Festival – Outstanding Actress – Drama Series: Katie McGrath (Nom)
 2011: TV Quick Awards – Best Actor: Colin Morgan (Nom)
 2011: TV Quick Awards – Best Family Drama (Nom)
 2012: National Television Awards – Most Popular Drama Series (Nom)
 2012: Royal Television Society – Best Sound: Drama (Nom)
 2012: TRIC Awards – TV Drama Programme of the Year (Nom)
 2012: TV Quick Awards – Best Actor: Colin Morgan (Nom)
 2012: TV Quick Awards – Best Family Drama (Nom)
 2013: SFX Awards – Best Actor: Colin Morgan (Won)
 2013: SFX Awards – Best Actress: Katie McGrath (Nom)
 2013: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films – Best Youth-Oriented Series on Television (Nom)
 2013: National Television Awards – Most Popular Male Drama Performance: Colin Morgan (Won)
 2013: National Television Awards – Most Popular Drama (Nom)
 2015: Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films – Best DVD/Blu-Ray Television Release For "The Complete Series" release (Nom)

 References 

 Other websites 

 , the official global Merlin site



Merlin production photos 
Merlin DVD audio commentary information


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