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Telly
I've watched Merlin since the beginning, and although I haven't made many fannish posts or written reviews, I do enjoy it and have found it interesting to see how something that started out as a fairly lighthearted, kids' Saturday tea-time kinda show has matured and become much darker over time. And also to note that it's done that very successfully and in a way that has seemed like a perfectly natrual progression.
I was always intrigued by the character of Morgana, and wondered how the creators of the show were going to transform her from Uther's loyal ward into Merlin's greatest enemy (or even if they were going to go there, given the nature of the show in its first series). But the seeds were sown even back then, and Morgana became even more torn in the second series, between her loyalty to Uther and her burgeoning dislike - even hatred - towards him. If there's anything that seems a bit out of place now, it's the way that her magical powers have massively increased; although given that she clearly spent all her time with Morgause in the gap between series 3 and 4, I suppose she could have learned from her sister. Very quickly.
I'm not especially familiar with Arthurian legend - I know the bare outlines, but that's about it, so I can't point to specific instances and remember which ones are dealt with in the legends and which aren't. I can't help wondering how the whole Arthur-Gwenivere-Lancelot thing is going to be handled (if it's handled), but other than that I'm content to sit back and watch things play out.
I have to say that Uther's death was a bit of a surprise this week, but then I suppose that Arthur had to become king sometime, or the series would start to stagnate. And also, I feel that Uther's storyline had more or less come to an end with Morgana's betrayal and I think it's good that the writers didn't try to drag things out. So while on the one hand I was hoping that Merlin's plan to impress Arthur with the good uses to which magic can be put would work and allow him to come out of the closet (! so to speak), I wasn't surprised that things went awry and that it now looks as though Merlin is further away from being able to reveal his secret than he ever was.
The quality of the acting and the guest cast each week is always excellent and the whole thing looks fabulous. But most of all, I'm drawn in by these characters each week. It's consistently engaging telly.
I'm also enjoying The Fades very much indeed. The latest episode (4) was especially good I thought, even if the ending was a bit bonkers. But then, they weren't going to let the hero stay dead, were they? It's one of the most inventive shows I've seen in a while. It clearly owes a debt to the zombie/vampire genres, it still manages to be original and funny. And sometimes a bit ikky. But it's very good all the same.
Downton Abbey is like a big comfy chair and is one of those programmes that's just made for Sunday evening. I do enjoy it, but I can't help sniggering occasionally at the grand soapiness of it all. Even Mr Caz was rolling his eyes this week at the bit where both Daisy and Mary had "premonitions" of disaster as their respective men went over the top on the battlefield. But one of the things I think has been handled quite well has been in the way it's shown how so many men were absolutely desperate to join the army and see their "fair share" of the action.
It's a beautifully put-together show and I can see it running and running - but I think there have been times it's been in danger of teetering across that line between drama and melodrama, and that perhaps it needs to pull back from it a bit. Still, it's worth watching for Maggie Smith alone.
Other than that, most of my tellybox viewing last week was taken up with watching lots of interesting documentaries on Eden. I missed Wonders of the Solar System when it was first on, so I caught up with that; watched something with Richard Hammond not blowing up caravans for a change - about the Rion-Antirion bridge across the gulf of Corinth; and then almost died of teh cute while watching a programme about Meerkats. I know that the bulk of the channels on Sky are rubbish, but I've managed to stumble across a load of interesting stuff in the last week, so sometimes, it's worth the subscription fee!
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And they killed off That Nice Mr Head??? Bastards! He was the only reason I ever watched Merlin (which wasn't often).
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Sorry about that nice Mr H. But Uther had to kick the bucket some time, didn't he?
Are you watching The Fades? It's really good:)
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It's a beautifully put-together show and I can see it running and running
I thought that too, but I believe Julian Fellowes has been making noises about ending it next year. That may of course be a move in some contract negotiations, she says cynically.
I can predict all the plot twists but it is most definitely like a comfy chair.
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I did know that, yes ;-)
And I remember now that I meant to comment on your review; I thought what you said about Merlin needing to realise that Arthur values him for himself was spot on. That's become more and more clear as the series has progressed, and I think that the writers - and actors - have done a wonderful job in letting it grow so naturally.
I'll be very surprised if ITV is willing to let DA go, even if Fellowes wants to move on. They'll probably pay him a packet for the rights and keep it going without him if necessary. And to be honest, if S2 so far is anything to go by, I reckon there are writers out there who could do a good, or better job with it. JF is an excellent writer (I love Gosford Park) but I'm not sure that a weekly drama serial is really his bag. I don't remember S1 being quite so "soapy" as S2 is proving to be. I mean, if the character Iain Glen is playing had a big handlebar moustache, he'd be twirling it all the time!!