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[Article] “BBC Version of Merlin Begins Shooting”

first published by SFX on 17th March 2008.

[Original source]

(the following is a copy/paste of the article and screenshots.)

BBC Version of Merlin Begins Shooting

By sfx published March 17, 2008

Anthony Head and Richard Wilson are among the cast.

The BBC has announced that filming has begun on its new Saturday-night, Who-slot family fantasy series Merlin, with Richard (One Foot in the Grave) Wilson and Anthony (Buffy) Head in the cast.

Head plays Arthur’s dad Uther Pendragon with Wilson as Gauis, joining newcomers Colin Morgan and Bradley James as youthful versions of Merlin and Arthur. The 13-part series is scheduled to transmit in autumn 2008.

Set in the mythical Camelot, this version focuses on Merlin as a young wizard on the cusp of adulthood and his ongoing clashes with a young King Arthur.

Merlin is produced and created by Shine, who were responsible for Hex and Sugar Rush, as well as the upcoming Van Helsing project for ITV. The director will be James Hawes (who worked on Doctor Who’s “The Empty Child”, “The Doctor Dances”, “The Christmas Invasion”, “New Earth” and “School Reunion") while executive producer for BBC One is Julie Gardner.

Jane Tranter, who commissioned the series for BBC1, says: "The writer Julian Jones and award-winning team at Shine have delivered scripts which are bold and original, entertaining and enchanting, and director James Hawes's bravura vision for this piece is perfectly suited to the adventure we are all embarking upon. Merlin is a wonderfully ambitious and beautifully crafted series which we're sure will enchant families later this year."

Filming for Merlin takes place in Wales, England and France.

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Blog posts from Sébastien Quérité, who was a Unit Manager while Merlin filmed in France. I have included the original French language entries and then the English translation from Google Translate.

These posts are regarding filming series 5. Screenshots are taken from the Wayback Machine as the blog is no longer available.

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Blog posts from Sébastien Quérité, who was a Unit Manager while Merlin filmed in France. I have included the original French language entries and then the English translation from Google Translate.

These posts are regarding filming series 4. Screenshots are taken from the Wayback Machine as the blog is no longer available.

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Blog posts from Sébastien Quérité, who was a Unit Manager while Merlin filmed in France. I have included the original French language entries and then the English translation from Google Translate.

These posts are regarding filming series 3. Screenshots are taken from the Wayback Machine as the blog is no longer available.

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Blog posts from Sébastien Quérité, who was a Unit Manager while Merlin filmed in France. I have included the original French language entries and then the English translation from Google Translate.

These posts are regarding filming series 2. Screenshots are taken from the Wayback Machine as the blog is no longer available.

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Scan of an article about 4x02 The Darkest Hour Part 2 from TV Choice magazine. Found at Emrysdragonlord blogspot. They cite their source as onceandfutures at LiveJournal but I am unable to find that specific post, suggesting it was either privatised for removed.

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Demo music from series 2, believed to be the sample posted by Elizabeth Thomas to her blog. She was part of a London chorus used for some of the music in the series.

The beats you can hear are the metronome, which help musicians and singers keep pace.

Accompanying blog post (copy/pasted from the Wayback Machine as the original source no longer exists). Found via feilongfan here

FRIDAY, 31 JULY 2009

Upcoming recording

I talked yesterday about rehearsing for a recording session next week for a BBC television show. (wiki info: Merlin is a British television drama series that began in 2008. It is loosely based on the Arthurian legends of the mythical wizard Merlin and his relationship with Prince Arthur, but differs significantly from traditional versions of the myth.)

I tried to get an MP3 file to embed so you could hear the way we will record the music -- with the orchestration underneath a loud metronome so we won't mess up the timing. I think I finally got this MP3 player to embed OK so you can hear:

Last night was interesting. The composer (ROB LANE ... "Composing the score for this BBC updating of the Arthurian legend has been a great challenge for me," he said recently) came to rehearsal with new pages of music for us to learn. When something didn't work, he would start tinkering with the music right then and there. Such a privilege to be able to witness the process of a person creating music right in front of me. I watched him hunched over the grand piano, working on musical problems that only he could hear.

POSTED BY ELIZABETH AT 01:14

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[Blog post] “Recording Soundtrack for BBC Show”

posted by Elizabeth Thomas on her blog at 10:58 Thursday 30th July 2009

This post is a copy/paste and then screenshots from the Wayback Machine as the original source no longer exists. I thought it would be nice to include here as a little extra behind the scenes sort of thing. 

THURSDAY, 30 JULY 2009

Recording a soundtrack for a BBC show

The London chorus I sing with is going to make a recording next week for the soundtrack for a BBC television show. It's called Merlin (Arthurian legend stuff) so make sure you watch it if it comes on PBS in America so you can hear me sing. :)

It's a fascinating process. The composer is writing the score even as we speak, and he sends files for us to print off to rehearse, but by the time we get to rehearsals, he's changed his mind so we have new sheets to learn.

He sent some demo music files for us to listen to. What I found interesting is that they all have metronome beats playing over the music. Apparently this is essential because each frame of the show is timed to go to the exact timing of the music so the chorus has to be precise with the rhythm or else.

The composer himself is coming to the rehearsal tonight to see how we are doing. The recording takes place next week at Angel Studios -- was going to be Abbey Road (I wanted a pic for my blog) but they've just changed it.

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Back and front cover for the physical release of the Merlin series 2 soundtrack.

[Amazon source]

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Storyboards for a scene in 4x02 The Darkest Hour Part 2. Posted by the MerlinOfficial Facebook page on 20th December 2011. These were also seen as an extra feature on the series 4 DVD. 

[Original source]

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[Article] “Merlin – Adrian Lester interview”

posted by the BBC Press Office, I think the date of this is 14th September 2009, though I can’t be 100% certain.

[Original source]

(the following is a copy/paste of the article and screenshots)

Network TV BBC Week 39 Merlin – Adrian Lester interview

On a mission

Merlin

Saturday 26 September on BBC ONE (Schedule addition 14 September)

www.bbc.co.uk/merlin

Programme copy

Adrian Lester joins the cast of Merlin for the second episode as sinister assassin Myror and confesses he hadn't even seen the show when he agreed to take part: "I must admit I had heard of the show because of its huge reputation, I hadn't managed to catch an episode. But if a show can garner such a huge international reputation on its first series, you don't have to see it to know its quality."

The Hustle star describes his character, Myror, who is in Camelot on a mission to kill Prince Arthur, as "a bit like a medieval Ninja".

"Myror is an assassin for hire. He's travelled all over the world and is relentless in pursuit of his victims; he despatches people in a number of ways."

On playing someone so menacing, Adrian says: "It was really cool playing a baddie. I enjoyed having few lines and no morals."

The atmosphere on set was far from evil, though, with Adrian enjoying the time he spent on location in France. "We stayed in Pierrefonds in Northern France which was lovely. There's a forest surrounding the chateau that we used which was beautiful. I took my children and we roamed around for hours.

"It was really good to come in as a guest star on the show. The cast and crew are a great bunch to work with, and [production company] Shine are wonderful to work for."

When asked what magical power he would like to possess, Adrian says: "If I could have any magical power I would have the power to read minds. Then I could influence powerful people all over the world."

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Poster created to advertise the Arthur’s Bane Part 1 episode of series 5.

Posted 24th September to the MerlinOfficial Facebook and Twitter accounts.

[Facebook source] [Twitter source]

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Advert for the Merlin: A Servant of Two Masters game on Nintendo DS, published to the MerlinOfficial Facebook page

[Original source]

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[Article] “BBC1 seeks magic touch for Merlin drama”

by Jason Deans for The Guardian, first published 16:38 GMT Thursday 7th December 2006.

[Original source]

(the following is a copy/paste of the article and screenshots)

BBC1 seeks magic touch for Merlin drama

Jason Deans Thu 7 Dec 2006 16.38 GMT

The BBC is hoping to add a drama based around the Arthurian wizard Merlin to BBC1's roster of early Saturday evening family shows alongside Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

The BBC1 controller, Peter Fincham, and the BBC fiction commissioner, Jane Tranter, have asked Shine, the independent producer founded by Elisabeth Murdoch, to develop scripts for a Merlin series that could be on air in 2008.

If commissioned, the new BBC1 drama will concentrate on Merlin's early life. In literature and on screen Merlin has been portrayed as a central figure in the Camelot story, acting as King Arthur's adviser, poet and magician, but also as a villainous character.

The BBC has previously tackled Camelot in The Legend of King Arthur, an eight-part drama series written by Andrew Davies and broadcast on BBC1 in 1979.

"We're working with Shine and a small group of writers, analysing some of the Merlin myths and stories for a 7pm Saturday drama," Ms Tranter said, speaking at the BBC1's winter and spring 2007 programming launch today.

"It will focus on Merlin as a young man and magic, rather than the knights of the round table."

Shine is developing the project with BBC Wales, which makes Doctor Who and its BBC3 spin-off, Torchwood.

Among the writers developing Merlin are Julian Jones, who has previously worked with Shine on the dramas Sinchronicity, Hex and As If.

The Merlin project has had a long a tortuous development history, going through several different guises before the current Shine version.

Chris Chibnall, the creator of Born and Bred, and producers Sue Hogg and Simon Lewis were working on a BBC1 8pm Sunday night Merlin drama more than a year ago. Mr Lewis is no longer working at the BBC, while Ms Hogg is executive producing Waking The Dead.

Since then, Ms Tranter has looked at telling the Merlin story with more of a focus on the Arthurian legend, and at one point was talking to "big US partner", before deciding to go with Shine's take on the project.

Mr Fincham also revealed today that a Friar Tuck character will be cast for the second series of Robin Hood, which will return to BBC1 Saturday nights next year.

He added that he was keen to develop more "three generation TV" shows for BBC1, such as Robin Hood, Doctor Who and Merlin.

"Three generation TV - that's TV you can watch with your grandparents and children. There's not enough of that about," Mr Fincham said.

"I believe we've only scratched the surface on modern family viewing. It has a very important role on a mainstream channel like BBC1."

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[Article] “Richard Wilson cast in BBC's 'Merlin'”

by Simon Reynolds for Digital Spy, first published 11th March 2008. If this date is correct (considering the first BBC press release was 17th March) then this is one of the earliest articles about the show I am currently able to find.

[Original Source]

(the following is a copy/paste of the article and screenshots. In the copy/paste I have corrected a spelling error in Angel Coulby’s name.)

Richard Wilson cast in BBC's 'Merlin'

Richard Wilson is to star in BBC One's drama series about King Arthur and the wizard Merlin.

BY SIMON REYNOLDS 11 MAR 2008

The BBC has cast Richard Wilson in a 13-part drama series about King Arthur and Merlin.

Wilson, known for playing grumpy pensioner Victor Meldrew in sitcom One Foot In The Grave, will star as Gaius, a court physician who mentors Colin Morgan's young Merlin.

Merlin, which begins filming next week, will be broadcast this autumn in BBC One's Saturday teatime slot, a period occupied by Doctor Who and Robin Hood at other points in the year.

Also among the cast are Bradley James, who stars as the young Arthur, Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Anthony Head as his father, Angel Coulby as Guinevere and Katie McGrath as Morgana.

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[Article] “Will's Valiant role”

by Ian Wylie for Manchester Evening News. The earliest date displayed on the page is 18th April 2010 but I feel it would have been published in the week of 21st Septemner 2008 - 26th September 2008. This is because it advertises the time the time this episode is due to air. I am currently unable to find any earlier archive of this article, so I may be incorrect.

[Original source]

Will's Valiant role

WILL Mellor made it a knight to remember when he rode into Camelot with his magic shield. The Stockport-born actor guest stars as Knight Valiant of the Western Isles in the second episode of Merlin (BBC1, Saturday, 6pm) .

Will Mellor as Valiant

WILL Mellor made it a knight to remember when he rode into Camelot with his magic shield. The Stockport-born actor guest stars as Knight Valiant of the Western Isles in the second episode of Merlin (BBC1, Saturday, 6pm).

"I'm here for the tournament," he declares, determined to defeat reigning champion Prince Arthur (Bradley James) in the annual sword-fighting contest. But Valiant has a secret. His shield contains enchanted snakes, ready to strike when commanded by their master. "He's a baddie," smiles Will, 32, star of shows including Two Pints Of Lager And A Packet Of Crisps, Casualty and The Street. He's come to chat up the women and kill a few people on the way." Will threw himself into the role while filming on location at the Chateau de Pierrefonds, north of Paris, which doubles for Camelot. "It was phenomenal, what dreams are made of. I had a great character to play with horse riding and sword fighting in a stunning setting." Co-star Bradley recalls: "On the first day I found myself holding a sword with Will charging at me like a maniac. It was like being thrown in at the deep end. I still have a couple of scratches on my arm from Will. It makes you feel like you are a big warrior hero suffering for his art." Will explains: "Bradley and I worked very well together because we had sword training. Obviously we had to start off very slowly and work our way up to fast pace, because when you're doing the scenes you don't want it to look like you know what's coming. You want to react late, as you would do in a sword fight. So we worked hard on that. "And then when it came, when the adrenalin kicks in and someone shouts action, you're always going to go a bit faster. That's when people can get hurt. So we rehearsed and rehearsed it and got it bang on and then we really went for it. It was great."

Injury Not that Will escaped entirely without injury. "Bradley hit me in the knee about four times. It didn't cut me or anything, the sword was quite blunt but it was very heavy. So I had bruises. "It's very physical. You're hitting these people with shields. I had to fight a lot of stuntmen. I whacked one stuntman with my shield right across his head but he didn't mind, because we wanted to make it look realistic. So you've got fractions, a couple of inches, between each hit. "It was very hot in the chainmail and armour and I got a little bit bumped about but it all felt part of it. At the end of the day I felt like I'd done a day's work. "As an actor, there's not many days you go home and feel like you've done a day's work, because often you're sat about most of the day." The budget doesn't appear to be up to providing horses as part of the tournament, although Will's character is seen riding into town at the start of the episode. "I had to do some horse training but I'm terrified of horses and the horses they have there are massive. So a lot of my stuff was stuntmen. "I had a bad experience with a horse years ago. It reared up while I had hold of its reins and it nearly pulled my arm out of its socket. And then I realised that we are nowhere near a match for a horse that wants to move. I don't like being out of control and they're far too big to fall off." As you might guess, Merlin (Colin Morgan) discovers Valiant's secret and does his best to alert Arthur before it's too late. But convincing King Uther (Anthony Head) of the truth is another matter entirely. Anthony was captivated by knights in shining armour when he was a young boy. "We used to travel to France on camping holidays and my big thing was collecting these beautifully crafted toy knights." So the role of Arthur's all powerful father was just too good to turn down. He says: "Swanning around in chainmail and armour, getting to dress up in really cool clothes because I'm a king. Has it been fun? Hell, yes. It's as if I've come home."

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[Article] “Colin Morgan ('Merlin')”

by Neil Wilkes for Digital Spy, first published 5th September 2008. This is the first interview with Colin Morgan in the run-up to the series premier. 

[Original source]

(the following is a copy/paste of the article and screenshots)

Colin Morgan ('Merlin')

We grab the first interview with the young actor playing the titular role in new BBC One drama Merlin.

BY NEIL WILKES5 SEP 2008

There are now just over two weeks to go until your new Saturday night obsession begins. A fresh spin on the classic Arthurian legend, Merlin tells the hitherto uncharted story of the wizard's younger days. The story begins with Merlin's arrival in the city of Camelot, where the tyrannical King Uther has imposed a ban on any use of magic. We speak to the young actor in the titular role, 22-year-old Colin Morgan (recently seen in Doctor Who's 'Midnight'), to find out what happens next.

Why does Merlin come to Camelot? "His mother sends him there because he doesn't quite fit in with the people in his hometown. I guess his mother feels that going to Camelot will be a bit of a release for him, allow him to be himself and to get guidance from Gaius (Richard Wilson). But it becomes very evident to Merlin quite quickly that he can't be himself. There's a horrific incident that happens that makes it very clear that using magic in Camelot is death."

Is it hard for him to keep his powers under wraps, then? "He has to learn to guise it. He won't tell anybody about his powers, but he is thrown into these situations where he has to look for ways in which he can help people without others knowing. He doesn't always do it in the right way. We know about the great magician Merlin became, but we don't know about the mistakes he made along the way."

On arrival in Camelot he becomes manservant to the King's son, a young Prince Arthur (Bradley James). How do they get along? "They get off to a bit of a rough start! It takes a bit of work, but then they're thrown into a situation where they have to work together and learn how to be friends, I guess. As viewers, we know from the beginning that their destinies are intertwined, but very much within [this show] it's about how that happens."

Merlin is also described as quite "impulsive". How so? "On many an occasion, he will leap into a situation where he will do something which may not be right, but it's his heart and his impulse. He means well! That desire to help people and to want to do the right thing is what often gets him in trouble. And it just so happens that he does it in a magical way."

How familiar are you with the legend? "I think when we started [filming], I knew as much about the legend as anybody. The basic sword-and-stone story, stuff like that, and of course everyone has this image of Merlin being this old guy with a beard! I've since been reading up quite a lot on Arthurian legend and there's quite a big gap missing in Merlin's life, the time when he was growing up. Why wasn't that documented? This show explores one possibility."

You have a very strong northern Irish accent but Merlin doesn't. Whose decision was that? "For a while in the early auditions, I was keeping my own accent but I think we wanted to avoid making any statements as to where Merlin was actually from. From what I've read, there's evidence to suggest he was Scottish or he was Welsh. Going for a neutral accent made Merlin quite neutral."

The hype is now starting to build around the show. How does that make you feel? "You spend six months in this world of Merlin and suddenly it gets to this stage, where other things are starting to happen. I have never experienced anything like this before, but it's exciting and it'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. It's a very exciting time for everyone. I'm just very thankful that I've been given the opportunity to do it."

Merlin begins later this month on BBC One.