BBC Merlin – Full Round Up
Join us for the Full BBC Merlin Round Up, where we discuss everything Season 1 to Season 5, and back again.
In Bradley James’ words: ‘Thanks for being with us on this journey, it wouldn’t have been half as much fun without you.’
You can find the Merlin Kill Count on our website, and check out The List of Destiny to see where we ranked all Merlin episodes.
Visit Poetry & Chicken to delight in our listener’s creative output.
We love hearing from listeners! Come talk to us on Twitter and Tumblr, or email us and please review us on iTunes.
If you wish to support us, you can do so from $1 a month via Patreon, or as a one off, by buying us a Ko-Fi or two. Thank you.
3rd January 2022 @ 10:49 pm
Okay, it obviously took me ages to listen all the way to the end of this round up episode (not because it was a chore but because I wanted to make it last as long as I could and so I listened to it little bit by little bit) – just wanted to say that I’m now sobbing because of Erika and Hannah Harper’s comments. Speaking straight from my heart, somehow!
And of course, Ruth and Michelle, let me say something that Arthur has never said before (maybe?): Thank you!!!
(And don’t worry, I’m not dying of a dragon-forged sword wound right now)
P. S. Really excited that The Sorcerer’s Shadow (my top episode) managed to stay in second spot on the list of destiny all this time even though it’s one that’s quickly overlooked or forgotten. Very happy that it also got your nod of approval.
5th January 2022 @ 1:22 pm
Seems like we absolutely kept the correct write ins to simply read out at the end. We’ve had so many people say that it made them cry, which is always the aim, right? … RIGHT?!? hahaha
There may be mistakes in the List of Destiny, and flaws to doing a list of ‘best ever’ in that way, but one of the good things about it, is that you judge each episode immediately after watching them, on their own merit, and not necessarily on how well you do or don’t remember them 10 years later… which is also why I always say there’s so many different ways of making a List of Destiny (just like there are lots of different ways of evaluating any form of data), this is just one of them.
5th January 2022 @ 1:31 pm
Well, according to the BBC the aim absolutely is to make people cry. So, you’re continuing a longstanding tradition. However, I think you made people cry for the right reasons!
About making lists of destiny: you’re absolutely right of course and it was one of the most fascinating things for me to listen to you defining and applying your criteria which made me reflect on my own.
As for the Sorcerer’s Shadow, (and sorry if I’ve said this before), I remember when I finished watching it for the first time and thought: Wow, that’s absolutely my favourite unless they’ve got something better in store. I never did see better!
Also, because I know you guys like to know what people do while listening to your podcast: I made my very last soup yesterday to your drinking game. Now that D&C has (sort of) ended, I can no longer make soup! That would be sacrilege.
3rd January 2022 @ 3:29 pm
I was coming on here to flag an interest in another fic rec episode, but I see you guys have that on the schedule 🙂 Don’t know if this would be a full episode, but also would be interested in recs on work the various actors did afterwards. I know you guys are big Black Sails fans of course, and its on my list to take a look. Thoughts on the other projects folks from the show have done?
31st December 2021 @ 7:19 pm
Thank you so much for everything that you did with the series. For its many flaws, it’s my favorite tv show of all time and while seasons 4-5 drove me crazy, there were episodes in it that were beautiful. I just wish the showrunners hadn’t led us on so much in the final season with their constant teasing about magical reveals and thinking that they would subvert the legend and give us a happy ending after all. I guess that’s what fanfic is for.
Thanks again ladies!
30th December 2021 @ 11:55 am
Hey guys, just a short one here (for once) as the Christmas times have been crazy manic, and not only is it the one year anniversary of the loss of a loved one, yesterday we lost another too, so apologies for not getting to comment in time for the round up stuff recently.
I believe that the title of the show is pretty much Merlin, ‘the adventures of’ part really threw me when I saw it on Netflix, that maybe the Mandela effect struck again and that everyone doesn’t remember it was actually the adventures of Merlin. I did check my dvd box sets and it still just says Merlin, and research told me that it is just Merlin ‘in canon’ shall we say. The adventures of’ part is for some other countries for some reason, but since this is a British show, ‘merlin’ is the proper title. I guess it’s a bit like how zootopia is named such everywhere except UK where it is is zootropolis instead haha.
I pretty much took away from this show in later rewatches it is a story about how much primitive mankind used to try and shuck responsibility of their own actions by blaming things on higher powers outside of their control, or How prophecy is a legit power manipulated by humans over time to force others to do things they wouldn’t otherwise. It is also a story of relationships outside the veil of just friendship and romance, focusing more on the bond between family (fathers and sons), and between fate-joined soulmates.
Lastly in my opinion it is a show about how humanity is it’s own gift and downfall, give them a tool of their own making (sword), or a supernatural power (magic) but as long as they are beings of emotion and flaws, the consequences of cause and effect are the same.
Destiny gets mixed up in the show a lot with a higher force controlling everything but actually destiny means it’s an ambition one sets themselves if they feel they are heading in that general direction anyway, e.g. as a child they were always fascinated by medicine and wanting to help people, thus it’s their destiny and own will to become a doctor. When prophecy and actual historical events came into the show, it muddied up things a bit.
Merlin would have decided for himself eventually he did not fit in a small town and likely save lives and befriend Arthur anyway because that’s the kind of person he is, no one needing to tell him anything prior about what he is ‘destined’ to do, because now he ought to do it as he had no other plans and an impressionable naive youngster. And prophecy and foreknowledge does more harm than good yet no one ever learns to shut the heck up.
This show for all its faults and ‘how I could correct all this in fanfiction’ ways, really is a blessing. Its a wonderful ease into the colourful complex tapestry of the Arthurian legend for young people and many from around the world unfamiliar with it. I’m so glad to have grown up with it for 5 years, watched it originally and seeing fresh faced babbies discover and get destroyed over it over a decade later haha.
Thank you guys so much for the podcast and everyone gathered to discuss this show and I hope you all have a really good New Years. I’m looking forward to the next time Ruth and Michelle get sloshed in a drinking game 😁
29th December 2021 @ 9:20 pm
Thank you for this excellent round up! It felt really good to be able to zoom out and talk about the show as a whole. I agreed with a lot of the superlatives; season 2 and 3 are my favorites, favorite character is Merlin, and Arthur’s brown coat was sorely underused. However, I think Morgana’s costumes have always been the best! No, they’re not historically accurate, but they were so delightfully ren-fair at the beginning, and then I loved the all black looks with the green eye shadow later 😆
I’m looking forward to watching the top ten episodes in the list of destiny, too! I’d probably throw in A Servant of Two Masters just because it makes me laugh, despite all it’s many flaws.
What would I like to hear from D&C in the future? Hmm…maybe character specific episodes, that could be fun. It would be interesting to hear how you two and other listeners would have changed the series, or how it ended, if you had a magic wand and could create whatever you wanted. I also love the fanfiction recommendation episodes, too!
Xoxo