Procrastination man - Part 2

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Saturday 4 October 2008

More BBC News fun

Taken from this article...

People at BBC News know their education system...

Thursday 2 October 2008

Merlin

After two episodes of BBC One's new TV series, it seems fair to pass judgement on it. Obviously, it's not Doctor Who - so far, actually, the only Beebs dramas that seem to get nearly on par with its flagship are its spinoffs and Life On Mars.
Still, it is much better than Robin Hood was. And yes, that was still better than a lot of ITV shows (including Primeval), even though it was fairly dire when you stopped and looked at it. Robin Hood was entertaining, but was far too schematic in terms of goodie-baddie (Robin-the Sheriff), and all non-manichean considerations, which, let's be frank, should have been abundant in such a story, were only peripheral. Merlin reverses that. The baddies become peripheral (Eve Myles and then that other guy in episode two), but the centrepieces gain some depth from the process.
Sadly, though, Merlin still feels a tad formulaic (there seems to have to be love interests, and they do seem to have to keep hidden from everyone; there is an inescapable destiny that we can wager will somehow be escaped or twisted). This is possibly because it is still in its first steps, and one can but hope that this will improve, either with unexpected developments or with that aspect being toned down.



Now on to the greatest strengths of Merlin - while script editing seems not to be top notch, there is evolution from one episode to the other, and it looks as though it is being built further. It is quite regrettable that in episode 1, Merlin can do everything with his eyes, but needs incantations in episode 2 (though there is probably some fanwanking theory that will explain it); but the ongoing relationship between Arthur, Merlin and the latter's caretaker is very well carried over from one episode to the next, and gives way to great lines, as the script writing is crisp.
The second greatest strength of the show is in its main cast. Lots of ex-Doctor Who guest stars, from Anthony Head (and yes, his part in School Reunion is much much more important than all his Buffy episodes) to Midnight's Jethro, including the one-off appearance of Gwyneth/Gwen from Torchwood (she does pull it off, just, in that episode). And all of the main cast is just amazingly good and believable, if - again - a bit formulaic.
Finally, the music. It is always a big part of any drama show, and the Beebs seem to have realised that, and now put a lot of effort into it. Quite naturally, it is nothing like Murray Gold's Doctor Who scores, but it is still pretty awesome.



It is quite interesting how entertaining Merlin is, without its individual episode plots being that great. With Doctor Who, a bad story remains bad, no matter how much talent or crisp dialogue is put into it, with Merlin, it seems, something entirely different is expected.
Oh, and let's just not talk about the dragon...