Warnings angst, dubious lots of stuff characters not making good decisions. 75.5K
Tony O does not befriend losers. Tony O is not gay, not crazy, he is not particularly nice and he is most definitely not royalty. Destiny disagrees.
Basically, this fic is the kind of madness you get when you mix reincarnation with denial, doubt, ust, the stupidity of awkward boys and the past in general. And trains! A lot of trains
Warnings for sexy times, war discussion, global disaster discussion 50735
King Arthur sleeps in Avalon, waiting to return at the hour of Albion’s greatest need. But once a year he awakes and spends a single day with Merlin, who will never, ever leave him.
The routine has been the same for centuries: Arthur begins a new life in wherever they are in time, he and Merlin meet, Merlin’s memory spell lifts, Arthur’s memories eventually flood back, the idiot has a chuckle at his expense, hugs him senseless and then cries for a bit when it hits him that Arthur’s really with him again. After that they pick up from where they left off until Arthur’s life in that time ends and it all starts again in his next life.
Except this time, when Merlin’s memory spell proves too strong to be lifted simply by their meeting, Arthur is forced to win Merlin over the hard way: with small-talk and dandelions.
Historical AU with magic. It’s 1913, the practice of homosexuality is unlawful, so is the practice of magic. When Arthur Pendragon and Merlin Emrys meet as Cambridge undergrads, they are both hungry for a real and true connection without secrets. For a short time they believe they may have found it. But war breaks out and separates them, and it seems unlikely that they will meet again. After all, what are the odds?
Sometimes, people seem to forget, in all this fighting for equal rights, that ‘gay couples’ are just ‘couples’. Merlin and Arthur, and a first-time hundreds of lives in the making.
Summary: The world remembered the legend. Merlin was beginning to forget the man. Thousands of years later, Merlin is still waiting, but he is beginning to wonder if Arthur will ever actually come back to him.
Post-finale reincarnation fic. Angst, but with a happy ending.
When Merlin Emrys is sent on a ’round-the-world assignment, he begins remembering a life of magic, dragons, and kings. To make matters worse, a strange woman starts stalking him along the way. And that’s before he even meets Arthur Pendragon, whose answer to climate change is going to save the world. Because apparently just saving Britain won’t be enough this time around.
NC17, 10000 words, Warning for mild consent issues inherent in prostitution written in a way that could be triggering
Merlin works in Camelot Massage Parlour, London. This is where Arthur finds him. | ‘Arthur’ chokes and flushes, as though they’re not standing in an erotic massage parlour, as though ‘Arthur’ doesn’t have a copy of Penthouse held loosely in one hand. “I’m hardly trying to pick you up, Merlin.” He chuckles a little bitterly. “Look, d’you really not know who I am?”
Reincarnation story set in 1940. In Albion’s hour of need Arthur is brought back from his rest in Avalon. He learns that the world is at war, and that the enemies have dark magic at their disposal. With the help of the mysterious Vril society the invaders are about to gain air superiority and become unstoppable. Only Merlin could fight the new magical threat, but Merlin has been missing for a long time.
Note: Written for this Kink Meme prompt: Arthur/Merlin, years into King Arthur’s reign. Merlin is immortal. As a result, he has stopped ageing physically ever since he came of age (or he simply ages at an incredibly slow rate)
Warnings: Character death , violence, swearing, 59,500
As Newton’s Third Law of Motion states: ‘For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction’. For years the world of ‘reality’ has pushed away the ideas and creatures of magic, forcing them back. Now magic has returned bringing with it chaos and nightmares and the only person who can reunite the worlds of reality and the supernatural is the Once and Future King. However, Destiny has lost its way and a small group of complete strangers (or so they think), guided by a mad woman, are left to search for the only weapon that might save them. But without their memories to help them they’re off the beaten track. Here there be dragons.
Merlin, in the wake of his breakup with Will, allows himself to be dragged off to the Midsummer Festival, an annual week-long SCA camping event run by the Barony of Camelot. Here he meets Arthur Pendragon, Prince of Albion –handsome, popular, and a complete prat. Merlin hates Arthur, Arthur hates Merlin; it is all perfectly simple, until it isn’t anymore.
16,368 Mature – Themes of depression, attempted suicide (historic)
Yet another autumn wanes and Merlin is tired. He wishes he could sleep through it, cover himself in leaves and hibernate until the world crumbles to dust, and he with it, the point of anything long since gone. And then, he finds a book whose author writes stories he doesn’t remember are his own.
This story features themes of depression and survivor guilt, experienced by Merlin at having lived through centuries as the last of his kind in every way. There is mention of an unsuccessful past suicide attempt. I have not warned for Major Character Death because Arthur’s canonical death is not directly written about or discussed, however, it is implied and assumed as known to have happened.
A Modern day Merlin AU set at the University of St Andrews, featuring teetotal kickboxers, secret wizards, magnificent bodyguards of various genders, irate fairies, imprisoned dragons, crumbling gothic architecture, arrogant princes, adorable engineering students, stolen gold, magical doorways, attempted assassination, drunken students, shaving foam fights, embarrassing mornings after, The Hammer Dance, duty, responsibility, friendship and true love…
Contains spoilers for 4×04.. A dragon egg can remain unhatched for a thousand years, but it takes many more for a dragon to grow. This is the story of Aithusa from birth to the dawn of Albion as the white dragon to guide Camelot towards its golden age.
Arthur was supposed to lie in wait for England’s moment of need, but it never came. It never will come. So instead, Merlin’s bringing him back for his own moment of need.
“Will he live?” Arthur asks, and curse the stupid tremble in his voice. Arthur’s lost men in battle before. Good men, honorable men, well before their time. But Merlin isn’t a knight, or a soldier. He’s… Merlin. Brainless, foolish, inept, devoted, kindhearted, courageous Merlin.
R, 3200 words, Slight angst that comes with immortality
For small creatures such as we, the vastness is bearable only through love. Or, four discoveries that shattered Merlin’s world and one that didn’t, not really, when he thought about it.
A place for you to leave your full series round up thoughts for all 5 seasons of BBC Merlin, and to read other peoples thoughts, best bits, favourite episodes, favourite guest stars, favourite outfits, and anything else you can think of.
We failed to mention this in the podcast episode, however, as per a write in request Iris recommended this fic about Arthur, Merlin, Tristan & Isolde:Refined – almostwhimsical. Thank you.
While clearing out Morgana’s old rooms, Merlin discovers a pair of unusual magical bracelets. Arthur wants to destroy them, of course, and so begins a quest that will take them over snowy mountains and through rain-soaked forests, dealing with Druids, bandits and inns of questionable repute. With the future of magic itself hanging in the balance and matters complicated by the changing nature of their relationship, Merlin discovers that destiny comes at a price.
A tribute to the shiny new Arthur of season 4, and his relationship with Merlin that seems to have evolved over the break. Sometimes it’s little things, in all the mortal peril, that turn a friendship on a new path. This is one way it might have happened, and it starts with Arthur breaking his leg.
He only meant to complain; you didn’t take serving girls on hunting trips, and the alternative interpretation didn’t even occur to him until Merlin said indignantly, “I’m not going to do that!”
Warnings: Graphic violence, sexual assault, Hurt, very little comfort
It is Arthur Pendragon’s destiny to unite all of Albion, but a reign of such power will not be won without sacrifice and bloodshed. When Morgana uses dark magic to lay a trap for Merlin, she unwittingly aids Merlin in becoming the weapon Arthur needs to defeat his enemies. With Arthur, and all of Camelot, at his mercy, Merlin struggles not to become that which he fears most – a dark sorcerer.
Will Arthur be drawn into a deadly battle with his friend and lover?
Will Merlin ultimately be destroyed by the malice lurking within his soul?
Will Camelot fall to the evil that Morgana has unleashed upon them all?
When Arthur returns from an impromptu hunting trip to find the stocks empty, he’s surprised by Uther’s leniency. But Merlin doesn’t get away with making Arthur’s excuses so easily this time.
Kings, even new ones, were not supposed to long for their menservants. They shouldn’t let their eyes linger on their wrists, the plump of their lips, or the shape of their thighs. Arthur knew this, but he still wanted. There was nothing about Merlin he didn’t want.
Arthur discovers Merlin’s magic, but no matter how hard he tries he can’t tell him that he knows – even when he starts having nightmares about Merlin’s death.
Merlin’s death is only the beginning; with no-one to protect the kingdom, Camelot falls to an enemy sorcerer and Arthur is forced to serve in the court that he once ruled. When an escape attempt goes horribly wrong, Arthur is rescued by someone he never expected to see again — and it’s their destiny to put things right.
“It figures that even as a dog, you’d be a prat.” Arthur gets turned into a dog, and is the worst pet Merlin’s ever had, despite being completely adorable.
Teen, 39,504 words, Non explicit Merlin burned at the stake.
Eight years have passed since Merlin fled Camelot after revealing his magic, leaving behind a home and a budding relationship with Arthur. Now, with his kingdom crumbling beneath a mysterious magical attack, Arthur reaches out to sorcerers throughout the land in search of a solution–and gets one sorcerer in particular he never expected. After so much time apart, Merlin and Arthur have to learn how to fit each other all over again, and all the while sinister forces bent on the destruction of Camelot threaten everything they have ever believed in.
When Merlin is captured and injured, Arthur must face up to his own feelings for his manservant as well as the many secrets he discovers are being kept from him.
Morgana’s second occupation has wrought extensive damage and in the weeks following his restoration, Arthur struggles to help Camelot recover its former strength. With starvation a looming threat to his people, he seeks the aid of his foreign allies. However, a helping hand comes from an unexpected source – the kingdom of Cornwall, which has been closed and silent to Camelot for decades. After accepting an invitation to visit the mysterious kingdom and its equally mysterious ruler, Arthur finds himself thrust into a web of secrets kept from him his entire life.
Considering Arthur’s future wife will be chosen less for compatibility than for her political value, Merlin may be the only marriage he’ll have that won’t end in bloodshed or a great deal of fortifying wine.
Merlin was flattered to be invited to compete in a magical tournament to crown the sorcery champion of Albion. Accepting the invitation probably wasn’t his brightest idea.
Explicit, 24300 words (warning: drunk on magic (dub con) sex scene, and magic flogging M/A)
“The king sent me to get you,” Merlin said, with a tone that implied strongly that he wasn’t rolling his eyes where Arthur could see, but just wait until his back was turned. “He said you’re to get changed into formal clothes and meet him in the Great Hall, there’s a delegation coming from the Summer Court.”
PG13 (with NC17 epilogue), 69000 words, Post S3, canon era fic
Between the trees of Cenred’s ruined kingdom, a heartbroken Arthur and an orphaned Merlin discover new feelings for each other, but quickly learn that nothing is promised, and no lie can stay hidden forever.
Explicit, slavery, rape (non graphic), 75000 words
Uther died long before Merlin came to Camelot, Arthur suffers from bouts of insanity, and Agravaine has taken over the throne, and turned Camelot into something unrecognisable.
Explicit – 44000 words, Established relationship. (Mention of the rape and murder of a female OC, who would be under-age in the 21st Century)
Arthur has come to the throne. He needs to establish himself and demonstrate his difference from his father. Too soon, a murder changes everything and Arthur has to go to war.
When Merlin first hears that Arthur has been betrothed, his ribs pull inwards with an odd little hitch, and he only allows himself a second—which he needs in order to coordinate spinning in place without falling on his face—before he’s running to Arthur’s chambers.
What do you get when you take a wonderful podcast listenership, and jokingly challenge them to a poetry competition?
Yep! More poems than you could ever even hope to read out on podcast. And with that Poetry & Chicken was born.
Enjoy!
The Darkest Hour
Mark-Allan
This episode taught Percivals open arms are Available now
The Wicked Day
Mark-Allan
The lesson I learnt Lo, it’s that Merlin the show Oh has its self burnt
Aithusa
Mark-Allan
This episode had a great dragon baby And some night that was suspiciously shady Percival shot right through Giaus being a douche canoe And some stew jokes that were at best, a maybe
Carina
There once was a king who made camp, As the knights did not own a lamp, Cos it would get dark, Despite the sun’s arc, And Percival walked like a champ.
His Father’s Son
Mary
Arthur, the determined, picks up a quill: Arthur, the golden Arthur, the pure Arthur, the righteous Arthur, the mature Arthur, the bully Arthur, the king Arthur, who knows himself fully Arthur, who doesn’t know a thing Arthur, the cruel, the heartless, the clever, the loving, the just Arthur, the leader, the lonely, the fated, the destined, the one who bites the dust.
Arthur, the confused, abandons his quest.
“How are you today, Sire?” asks Merlin, his – friend? servant? brother?
“Whatever the story demands.”
Arthur, the plot-determined, picks up the script.
Esmé
He’s been through this so many times before: A trial, a task, something to prove his worth, Each time it seems he’ll be doubted no more; And therefore will not doubt himself in turn. Of course this lesson is hard to embrace, His self-worth bound to Uther’s praise and blame; Now Uther’s gone, his uncle takes that place And sets a new target at which to aim. He thinks that wisdom’s found in solitude, He’s told his heart is what will make him weak, But without Gwen, his heart, and Merlin too, His compass in the storm, his outlook’s bleak. But on this day, at least, hope will prevail, He learns: trust in his friends, and he won’t fail.
Carina
Arthur allied with Annis despite Agra-pain Not even Morgana could have him slain. No doubting the knights’ loyalty and pride In war, as in peace Merlin is by his side So Arthur learns his conscience should be his guide
Sydney
There once was a young king named Arthur Who couldn’t live up to his father So he shed a king’s blood And rejected his love For to be a good ruler he longed for
But secretly magical Merlin His loyal and terrible servant Proved that one’s friends Outweigh revenge And the pride that poisons one’s judgement
So, what is the lesson, you ask? Only to this I may add: Revenge is a dish Served colder than this Now King Arthur knows better than that
Mark-Allen
This show is a wonderful treat for us Although sometimes the logic is a bit porous But damnit it gets me all smiley In those moments where finally We get Rex quondam Rexque futurus
The Secret Sharer
Esmé
The manservant knows not what else to try: He’d hoped by now that Arthur knew — could see — That Merlin’s advice rarely led awry. The king will not listen to Merlin’s plea; His word means nothing next to Agravaine’s. Maybe not nothing. No, in Arthur’s voice Behind the anger Merlin hears the pain. Perhaps he knows he’s making the wrong choice. But still, it’s clear that Merlin can’t rely On his and Arthur’s bond to foster trust When Agravaine so easily gaslights The king into decisions so unjust. But Gwaine believes him, Gwen remains a friend; Gaius will keep his secret ‘til the end.
Sydney
A ring of flames In a hidden cave Secrets wrenched From the mind’s maze A tale of truths Tangled with lies Both friend and foe must hide behind Only the one who knows you Can betray you
Lamia
Mo
A married couple in a small village hear a scream, a sound When John goes out to look, there’s a body to be found Mary goes to Camelot swift and quick, fear in her voice so thick She finds Guinevere there, who pulls up a chair They see the king of Camelot, who unlike his father, is not an old snot Arthur says to send a healer, Gaius will come with you But there’s been cases of sweating sickness, so Merlin will have to do The Knights, Gwen, and Merlin visit the small town With a couple more struck down, it seems the sickness is going all around Merlin tries to heal with magic, but he’s certain he’s failed, how tragic They go to ride back to Camelot, but instead find a girl who’s pretty hot She doesn’t like Merlin, she’s terrified of him, but she likes Percival, probably his beefy arms With him, she won’t come to any harm Back at home, Arthur’s starting to freak out “They should have been back by now” he shouts Off he goes, with knights, Agravaine, and Gaius in tow Back at the camp, the Knights and Merlin have a small row Eastwards is the way they’ll go Leon is rude to Merlin; he thinks for a servant he’s got too much attitude Leon goes to give Lamia water and the knights get into a fight We check in on Arthur, he found some slavers, but it’s not that important We’ll talk about the man they found later They carry onto the village, where they find out the party left yesterday morn But luckily for them, Gwen left a trail of fabric torn Merlin and Gwen start to suspect Lamia, maybe their first assumptions weren’t correct In the village, Gaius explains the plot, there’s now peril where we thought nought Lamia’s apparently a snake lady, which seems a bit crazy Elyan is her first victim of the knights, once she kisses him, he’s out like a light They continue eastward, into Lamia’s castle But with Elyan unconscious, it’s a bit of a hassle Arthur is tracking them and Agravaine acts without motive He covers up some tracks for no good reason, do we ever find out why? No, we don’t, not even at the end of the season The knights have been led by Lamia to her home of skulls And now the danger never lulls One by one, the knights disappear, each one hearing the sound of Lamia’s tears Merlin and Gwen talk about why they weren’t affected And we find that homosexuality is what the writers neglected Merlin isn’t gay and neither are women Of course, that’s why Gwen’s not afflicted, and Merlin must be straight Otherwise on this show the homophobes would hate Lamia kisses Percival and Leon sees, apparently Lamia’s spell is broken with ease Merlin tries to battle Lamia, but he can’t handle it Gwen tries to help, stabbing with a sword But Arthur saves the day, women being able to save themselves is ignored The episode ends with Arthur and Gwen in a kiss But not before the sick are saved and Arthurs blatant misogyny, which you couldn’t even try to miss
Mark-Allen
Oh Shut up Agravain You are a massive pain
Lancelot Du Lac
Esmé
In earlier times I thought to put in verse, Unconsciously, just what I hoped to hear: No matter what the hardship, battle, curse, You will survive if you keep your friends near. And yet, today, the noblest knight has strayed, Betrayed the king, but more importantly Betrayed his friend. Not Lancelot, a shade – But Arthur doesn’t know; all he can see Is that a valued friend betrayed his trust, As did the woman whose heart was his own; The king learns friends will turn from him for lust And jealousy – he’s better off alone. And Merlin adds another tally mark: The magic is his blood might tend to dark.
Sidney
The moment before the young lovers unite And grasp their fairytale ending In the long shadows cast by their brilliant light A dark will to their sorrow is bending Black waters yield yet another foul scheme The lost one who should not return Strikes at the heart of their innocent dream Of true love, untainted and pure As all betrayals go, they howl and they plead The fairytale is ripped and unmasked Mercy is tried in word but not deed Better questions are left unasked If you must only wait one more day, Why can’t you forgive for the first time?
Mo
I hate Agravaine’s stupid face, I wish he’d shut up and learn his place. Arthur gets engaged and Morgana is enraged. Lancelot’s second death is super sad, and Gwen getting banished isn’t rad. Merlin learning Lancelot’s is a shade but doesn’t tell Arthur because he’s afraid?? It doesn’t make a lot of sense, but contemplating won’t be time well spent. This episode is pretty tragic, and there’s not even that much magic. I hope the “Herald of a New Age” fills the hole in my heart, but I’m worried I’ll have to wait for a good part.
A Herald of the New Age
Sydney
The herald, a sign of things to come The New Age, a world not yet arrived But in the heart’s frail atrium The past is painfully revived
Streaming out of haunted wells It is not thirst this water slakes Bloodlust and revenge compels The tortured spirit overtakes
One must stay hardened, the warrior knows But in this moment he must soften Lay down his sword upon on the stones And make a solemn promise
When to his knees the warrior’s driven At long last he is forgiven
Mo
Why be happy when you can be snappy Ask for a hug Merlin and you get a slappy
The Sword in the Stone
Mo
this episode is a stab fest, Arthurs not well dressed wear sandals in a forest, the idea’s not the best Agravaine finally dies, and nobody cries merlin becomes old, in a move that’s pretty bold the sword in the stone, helped morgana be overthrown merlin does some morally dubious stuff, he is no longer a hufflepuff Gwen gets crowned, and morgana’s nowhere to be found I can’t wait for season 5, I hope they keep my favourite characters alive
Arthur’s Bane
Esmé
((Spoiler warning))
The question is: does foreknowledge reduce The pain when tragedy arrives, permit Patient acceptance and sorrow to truce, Or to this warring grief must one submit? Will Merlin bear betrayal’s tragic ways More readily than Arthur when they come? Or will the naive hope of earlier days That bravery to evil won’t succumb Keep him from truly closing off his heart, So when inevitably the end is near He’s cut as deep, when by death they must part As if he’d not heard the words of the seer? Well, I recall the promise of the start; Would foreknowledge have protected MY heart?
Carina
When Merlinrevealed he could juggle, With flair and without any struggle, Arthur did gasp aloud, He was ever so proud, Then Merthur fans hoped they would snuggle!
The Death Song of Uther Pendragon
Esmé
It’s hard to say for sure if Uther’s shade Is truly a reflection of his mind Or if his time spent past the vale has made Him into something of another kind –
A spiteful spirit who is nothing like The man who bore the name “Uther” in life; The son, for his heart’s sake, does then decide This hateful being, who’d kill Arthur’s wife
And harm his friends, is not his father’s ghost But something else – proof magic will corrupt Even the memory of those one holds the most Dear – the evil is the horn’s vile educt.
But surely Merlin’s seen what Arthur can’t- That the shade’s uninhibited, for sure, But all this hate did fester in his heart While he still lived – he never did abjure
His genocidal ire ‘gainst Merlin’s kind; The ghost’s a true reflection of his mind.
Another’s Sorrow
Esmé
If it’s true that vengeance is best served cold Then after nine long years then Arthur’s death Should satisfy King Odin more – ninefold; If Arthur can deny Odin his breath Then this should be six times the just reward For six years’ grief that now can be revenged. At Odin’s throat King Arthur has his sword And finally this bitter feud will end. But Merlin stays his hand – he tells him, ‘wait,’ For bloodshed begets bloodshed every time, And whereas Odin’s sidetracked by his hate Arthur will not let hatred make him blind, Perhaps because from Uther’s bigotry The king has learnt, by contrast, chivalry.
Sydney
An empty burial chamber A name written on a stone The princess runs through empty halls Where stained glass windows glow
Her nightmare wears an old woman’s face And stalks her with slow steps The princess’ bleeding wrists betray The hidden snare is set
She tries, she tries, she tries again Escape, outrun, outwit The princess’ chooses who to save Every clue’s dismissed
She whispers, “He’s not here,” And the trap snaps shut its jaws The princess turns her face in fear She is the victim and the cause
Another’s sorrow is used to play Thefamiliar game of trust betrayed
The Disir
Esmé
The Triple Goddess watches patiently As king and servant stumble to their fate Like party-goers blind drunk, who cannot see The ground beneath their feet. It is not hate That motivates her to impart the mark. She has no stake in what the future holds. The Goddess gives it to the young monarch And lets him do as she herself foretold To those with power enough to hear her voice. Though Arthur’s future keystones are in place, For Merlin there remains a vital choice. Though Arthur disrespects the holy space, It’s Merlin whom the Disir need to reach – But what he’s seen blinds him to what they teach.
The Dark Tower
Esmé
He smells it on the wind – the fresh sea breeze – Or so he says, and winces as he does Internally – thinks Arthur surely sees Right past the awful lie. Of course he must, But Gwen’s life’s worth the risk, and there’s no time To come up with a believable lie. But either all the knights ignore his crime, Believing he should not be damned to die For such benign use of an outlawed gift, Or they aren’t thinking straight and just accept The strange excuse, all unlikelihood missed. At hiding magic Merlin’s grown adept… And he is glad, of course, to not be seen, But cannot help but ask what could have been.
Words: 4177, Warnings/Rating: Teen And Up Audiences (mild sexual content right at the end)
“The great, loosely packed snowball hits Arthur straight on, collapsing against the strong line of his tense jaw and catching in the fringe of his hair from brow to sideburn. Arthur is perfectly still as it goes soft against the warmth of his cheek and begins to drip icy water down the collar of his greatcoat. Nobody breathes, Merlin included.”
The world remembered the legend. Merlin was beginning to forget the man. Thousands of years later, Merlin is still waiting, but he is beginning to wonder if Arthur will ever actually come back to him. – Post-finale reincarnation fic. Angst, but with a happy ending.
Words: 36,807, Warnings/Rating: Mature – Sexual Content, canon-typical violence
Uther begins to fear Arthur’s strength and power he holds over his knights and banishes him. Arthur must then begin to fight to become the king he is supposed to be. While it contains a MAGIC REVEAL, it’s one of the few stories where Merlin and Arthur leave Camelot NOT because of Merlin’s magic.
Words: 13012, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Arthur was tipped back against the wall, his mouth open for breath and staring at the small arrow-slit window over Merlin’s head, trying to work out how it could possibly be that good with Merlin, of all people.
Words: 28100, Warnings/Rating: NC-17 – Sexual content
Merlin’s dream is to get a gold medal and his passion is swimming. The World Championships seem like a good start but things get more complicated when he gets to know the Prince of Wales better.
Words: 50100, Warnings/Rating: Explicit sexual content – Adult having sex with a teenager. The teenager is above the age of consent in the UK, where this is set.
Modern reincarnation. Merlin and company have been reborn countless times; this is the story of the latest.
Words: 53153, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
When Merlin Emrys is sent on a ’round-the-world assignment, he begins remembering a life of magic, dragons, and kings. To make matters worse, a strange woman starts stalking him along the way. And that’s before he even meets Arthur Pendragon, whose answer to climate change is going to save the world. Because apparently just saving Britain won’t be enough this time around.
Words: 24601, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content; Major character death… sort of…
An unexpected opportunity sends Merlin packing for the coast. There, he meets Arthur, a Victorian-era sea captain who’s trapped, a bit literally, between life and death, and who refuses to leave the house he died in over a hundred years ago.
Sometimes, people seem to forget, in all this fighting for equal rights, that ‘gay couples’ are just ‘couples’. Merlin and Arthur, and a first-time hundreds of lives in the making.
Words: 57604, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Modern AU. Arthur and Morgana are Metropolitan police officers drawn into a strange case involving robbery of ancient artifacts. Merlin is a graduate student at Imperial College studying the healing plants of Ancient Britain under Gaius – or at least that’s what he tells everyone. Soon they, along with Gwen, Lancelot and Uther, will be facing a battle for the future of the country. Can they defend the realm from those who would seek to destroy it?
Words: 54616, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
The one in which Arthur works in finances and his suits are various (two) shades of grey, Merlin works in advertisement and has no boundaries whatsoever, Morgana drinks rum, Mithian stages a coup, Agravaine is aggravating, and Elena’s house is amazing. Also, Andy Warhol is mentioned in vain, and Arthur and Merlin fall in love in Victorian era style.
Words: 36506, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Arthur has been living abroad for several years, wanting to get as far away from his family and the expectations placed on him as possible, but the unexpected death of his brother brings him back home where he must confront the things that drove him away. He has to deal with the guilt of not being in his brother’s life for the last few years and how much he missed because of that as well as the fact that maybe his father wasn’t what he thought he was. And to make everything even more complicated there’s his brother’s boyfriend, Merlin, who might just be his salvation if their guilt and sadness doesn’t drown them before they even get started.
Words: 40000, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content
Arthur and Merlin meet in high school. When they’re separated after a magic duel gone wrong, hearts are broken, lots emails are written and a few cupcakes are set on fire. Sometimes it takes a while to figure destiny out.
(sequel, spanning the time gap mentioned at the end of Fundamental Imperfection, abandoned WIP, VERY DIFFERENT to main story)
Words: 12175, Warnings/Rating: Mature (occasional sexual content)
In which an argument about Dickens leads to a Twitter scandal, broken bones, midnight conversations, and transatlantic longing. (Or, an AU with Arthur and Merlin as moderately famous authors.)
Words: 87,404, Warnings/Rating: Explicit – Sexual content and graphic description of violence
In a world where magic is on the brink of being banned and sorcerers are looked upon as second-class citizens, Merlin Emrys does whatever is necessary to protect his loved ones and help those who are like him. Arthur Pendragon, despite his father’s open hatred of magic, has never had a reason to care one way or the other – until he discovers that his sister Morgana has powers, and is working underground to rescue those being targeted by the government. Merlin fights with words while Arthur is forced to face the truth about what is really happening to those who use magic, and despite an earlier encounter, it isn’t until a chance meeting between them one night that their worlds truly collide.
Words: 11322, Warnings/Rating: TEEN – no sex or violence and only minor cursing
Crossover with Dr Who (11th Doctor) – The Doctor, Rory, and Amy find King Arthur on the planet Avalon with no real idea of how he came to be there or how to get home. The tardis team embark on a mission to get Arthur back to earth and to Merlin.
Modern au, Merlin is a rather hard to please high fashion designer, Arthur is his surprisingly patient and well-read model. Fashion babble and snark ensue, and maybe even love.
“Merlin sighs… ‘I’m sort of like his gay tutor, it’s hard to explain.’ “
Told from Merlin’s point of view, it focuses on Uther’s stubborn quest to understand what it means to be gay so he can support Arthur. Several “Odd Couple” moments ensue as Uther and Merlin start to become something like friends. So much so, that Uther’s convinced Merlin should date his son.
We are hoping to make this interview more accessible for anyone who’s native language isn’t English, by providing a transcript. This will be vastly improved if you listen to the actual Podcast Interview with Bradley James, while reading.
I’ve been lucky with
those (character deaths) because I’ve felt that the moments they’ve happened
there’s been such a spectacle made of the deaths of those characters that it’s
nice to know that they meant something, judging by the moments in which they
have found themselves being unfortunately killed off… So I’ve been happy to tell
those stories because they’ve justified the moment of death in the character’s
story.
Peak drama, isn’t it? A good death. That’s what you want,
really…
Yeah, but I’m not sure you want to be doing it every single project, which is a streak I’m heading towards…
I mean, I won’t give any spoilers but anyone who has read The Liberator will know the fate of my next character.
Yeah. I was very unhappy when you died in iZombie.
Well, that was only
ever going to be a short run. Originally I got told it was going to be one
episode.
I was wondering whether it was extended because of feedback.
Well, I… where was
I? I was somewhere I needed to get out of, and I got this call saying ‘There’s
this show, it’s filming in Vancouver, you’ll be there for a few weeks, and you
can get away.’ And there was some personal stuff going on and I was like ‘I’ll
do it! Let’s get out of here’ and I get on a plane and I get up to Vancouver
and I read the script, which ends with a kind of ‘Oh, maybe this is my next
boyfriend…’ or something like that. And I was thinking ‘Well, that’s not going
to work very well, because…’
No one’s told me.
No one’s told me. And
I think essentially they were just making sure that I could say the right lines
at the right time and hit my marks before they went ‘okay, we’re going to
stretch this out’. But by the time they had made that decision, I think Damien
was on the cards. So there was only so much I could… I mean, I don’t know. I
think that was probably the limit of their desire for me to be on the show
anyway.
But, I suppose I didn’t
quite expect the reaction I got from it. People were very complimentary… and
very kind… about… Lowell!
Oh well done! I could not remember his name!
They had lots of kind
words to say about Lowell and yeah, it came about at the perfect time, and as I
was up in Vancouver doing that, my agent nudged Damien towards me. She’d sent
me four scripts at once, and then a few days later she gave me an email saying ‘I
appreciate you’re busy, but make sure you read this one.’ And I did, and the
rest is history.
And did you have that click moment?
I’ve had that three times in my life, where I’ve picked up the script and I’ve gone ‘This is mine!’
One of them is
Damien. One of them is Felix Sparks, who’s the character in The Liberator, and
the other one is King Arthur. And despite all the nerves about every man and
his dog going in for auditions and what have you – and I fully appreciate this
might be hindsight hubris of being able to say it now – but I’ve had it three
times where I’ve gone ‘I’m getting this part!’
And it’s not out of
me being like ‘I’m getting this part because I’m so good’, it’s me picking up
this script and instantly connecting to it, and going ‘I know exactly what I’m
gonna do when I go in that room, I know exactly the story they’re trying to
tell, and I know exactly the story I want to tell.’
I can’t explain it,
but it’s been there three times, and thankfully it’s worked out all of those
three times.
It would have been really sad if you’d said ‘Three times!
One of them was Arthur. One of them was – -‘ sorry, what was The Liberator
character name?
Felix Sparks!
Felix, not Simon. I’m so bad with names, it’s insane! But yeah, and then ‘The third one, I didn’t get…’, That would have been really sad.
Yeah, thankfully that
hasn’t been the case! I wish I could manifest that feeling for other jobs but I
can’t. As I say, it’s happened three times. Maybe something akin to, in real
life terms, falling in love with a character. And you can only fall in love so
many times. Maybe that’s what’s happened from an actor perspective. I’ve fallen
in love at first sight with those three characters.
So, for our listeners, just to do the promo bit: When is The
Liberator out, and where can they see it?
Fingers cross, with all that’s going on right now, we’re still on schedule, roughly speaking… Let’s just say vaguely that it’ll be out hopefully before the end of the year, and not quote me on that… obviously, here we say that, but if there’s an announcement made and it goes ‘In 2021….’ I’ll be…
It’s been the longest
post production period of anything I’ve worked on. When you see it, you’ll
understand why, but with any luck… I’m so excited for an audience to see it
because it’s a story that you don’t really get many opportunities to see, about
certain people from certain walks of life, and their involvement in the Second
World War, and their stories that we haven’t been told before. And the way that
story is told is something you won’t have seen before. The only thing I can
equate it to – I can’t really describe the visuals for you, because I don’t have
anything to equate it to, but the only thing I can describe is that when I
first saw things like 300 or Sin City, I was watching those and going ‘Visually,
I’ve never seen anything like this before!’ – Now, this isn’t like those
visually, but it had the same sensation for me where I saw it and thought ‘I’ve
never seen anything like this before’.
So partly for the
aspect of that medium that people are going to see I’m excited for them to see
it but also I’ve seen it without all the bells and whistles. I’ve seen it in
the form of it looking just like a play. And it’s the story that keeps you
going. The sexy artistry that comes with it is wonderful, but it’s not going to
hold the audience unless the story is there, and luckily I’ve seen it without
all that, and thus my excitement for people to see it. So fingers crossed I’m
not falling flat on my face with those words, as people turn off in their
droves.
Well we look forward to that over the next something months.
There you go! I love how vague you were able to be with that prediction. But yes, keep your fingers crossed for me, by the end of the year. Oh and also where you can see it: Netflix.
I imagine there is a
desire by Netflix to keep things on schedule, as I’ve got a feeling that
projects will be drying up over this period of time…
Netflix have been quite cute. I’ve seen… what’s the vicar
thing that we watch?
Vicar of Dibley?
Yes! Vicar of Dibley has been put on Netflix.
Has it?! Wow!
Yeah. After your meeting, after your phone call… go watch
it!
Yeah! Wow, that’s
incredibly…
Something else. I can’t remember what it was now, but a very
similar show to that.
Clearly mining the archive.
Yeah. I mean, it
really is the time for nostalgia TV.
Yeah, running out of new shows but also ‘People are at home
and they’re sad, what can we do? Vicar of Dibley!’
Dawn French chewing
everybody up!
I imagine that once
this is over no one’s ever gonna want to watch a re-run ever again.
Just throw out all of our DVDs because you’ve watched your
quote for life.
Yes! I know a few
people who claim to have completed Netflix. And I believe them.
But have they re-watched the Vicar of Dibley?
Not yet. This is the
first I’m hearing of it becoming available so thank for the head’s up!
It’s very exciting.
While we’re on quarantine… so, no one knew that you said yes to this interview, except–
Well thank you for
your question! It was from an Instagram Live, right?
Yes.
Because after the absolute cluster-f-bomb that was the first Instagram live I did – not that the second one was much slicker in operation – but I was on there with people watching me scroll through…
I mean, about 50 of those questions at a time were ‘Merlin Season 6?’ and of course there’s only so many times you can answer the same question, so I was like ‘Right, let’s do this properly!’
So I’ve written out all those questions and of course I’ve then written the handles that go with it, and then I picked it up and the recognition of the handle hasn’t happened until there’s a camera pointing at me and I’m broadcasting to however many people were watching and went ‘OH, I KNOW THESE GUYS!’
Of course Tom was
with me as well. I’ll have to remind him of the commitment he has made, on live
broadcast.
Well, tell him if you speak to him that if he does want to
come and talk to us, I have very little interest in talking to him about
Merlin, because I was a massive, massive Black Sails fan.
Okay, okay… Actually,
I think you’ve mentioned that…
Not that his turn in Merlin wasn’t excellent for what it
was.
But Black Sails is
your jam?
Black Sails is my jam, yeah.
The funniest… I don’t know if it’s still on there (phone), but I sent Tom a recording of me singing the theme tune song to Black Sails.
It’s such a good theme!
Which just sounds
like a bag of cats are being strangled, and then they kind of auto tuned it a
little bit, and yeah, he’s-
And that’s what ended up in the finale cut, yeah?
I presume so, yeah.
You get to ask him, when you speak to him. He’ll be able to give you the
insight. Or he’ll be able to play you back the video of me performing the theme
tune for him, if he’s still got it..
I mean, that’s worth the price of admission alone.
Yeah.
Honestly, every time we watch an episode I end up
cat-howling the theme tune for a long time after…
I do that, and then I
do impersonations of the guy… he’s not necessarily the bad guy, but he’s sort
of the bad guy…
Do you mean Charles Vane by any chance?
Yes!
With the growl…
Yes. I’ll do
impersonations against Tom on What’s App, which I’m sure he gets a kick out of…
I was going to say, does he appreciate them?
I usually get a video
back where he is sort of chuckling… the remnants of his chuckle from having just
watched it are still there at the beginning of the video.
Sorry, I interrupted your
question massively!
That’s okay! What I was going to say was that the only
people who knew that we were going to do this are our Patreon supporters and we
gave them the chance to ask us anything that they wanted to ask you.
Great.
Lychee Jelly wanted to know, what did you stock up on before the quarantine, or possibly more importantly, what do you wish you’d stocked up on?
What did I stock up
on? I went and bought Pro Evolution Soccer 2020. And I’ve barely played it. I’ve
been just as busy in quarantine as I was before, so I haven’t had a chance to
play it really, but I’ve played the odd game, my skills have deserted me. When I
was a kid? Pretty damn good. Nowadays that game has moved on. So I haven’t
played it massively…
What do I wish that I
had stocked up on? That is a phenomenal questions because I feel it will make
me realise what I am missing in my life right now and I have to say, nothing
glaringly obvious has presented itself…
The only thing that I
did go, I was like ‘You know what? Maybe I should get some weights or
something, and create some sort of gym…’ and I went online and every person in
the world had had that idea before me, and there were no weights available. So
thankfully I have an excuse for not doing any working out or anything. I can go
‘Oh, there’s no weights. Can’t do anything…’
That’s not really
answering the question, because I’m not really regretting not stocking up on it
but… so far everything is fine. There is no need to panic. I have everything I
need.
I we send our weights to Bradley, does that mean I have an excuse for not working out? Because I would like that…
Otherwise, honestly, overwhelmingly everyone just wanted to
know what the hell’s up with the mugs?
What are you talking
about?
I know. I did say that was going to be your reaction! And I’m pretty sure after Friday’s quiz it was going to transform into ‘What the hell’s up with the shirts?
Which, yeah, I also assumed…
You’ll have to
explain my confused facial expression for your listeners. That one’s lost on
me.
Fair enough. Anything to wrap up, seeing as you have very
kindly stuck with us for two hours and your phone call is coming up?
I don’t think so. I mean, thank you so much for joining us
and thank you so much for all your support, it has been incredible.
Not at all. My thanks to you! Essentially as I say, you’ve done a great job with your show and it’s an honour that you’ve picked up the show to spend the time that you do on it. The honour of being in the show is one thing, the fact that you guys are talking about it is wonderful, because you deal with it in such a way that is, very much like what I’ve found with the Merlin fan base, large part remarkably respectful which I understand… I thought was the norm, but I’ve spoken to people who have other shows, and apparently it’s not!
So, the Merlin fan base
as a whole I couldn’t be more thankful for, but in terms of your representation
of it, it’s a real pleasure to have you and the work you guys do for it, and I’m
sure your fan base are very happy about it, too, so thank you guys, I really
appreciate it.
Aww, that’s very kind!
Thank you.
Only honest. Spitting
the truth…
Any last words that you want to say to our listeners?
If only I had
something profound to say, other than… you know what? I said something that got
put in like, almost like a post card quote when we finished. In fact, I tell
you what I’m going to do…. Sorry, I’m searching for an email from approximately
a million years ago… Oh, is this it? …here we go!
Right. You may or may not recognise this picture. Again, great for podcasts…
Yeah, okay. Yep.
Okay, so we were
asked to give a quote with regards to the show ending and what have you. And
they used that bit. Here is the full quote. This is an exclusive. And I wish I
had proof read this first.
The Merlin have provided me with fond memories, great experiences, and beloved friends, and all the while we were supported by a devoted fan base who made the show a unique, surreal, and special experience. My words won’t do justice to the honour of being King Arthur, so I shall just say, that it has been an exceptional one, and that knowing the show has been a part of so many people’s lives has been humbling. Thanks for being with us on the journey. It wouldn’t have been half as much fun without you. The Once and Future King.
There you go.
The full quote was never released. But I say that because it still remains very firmly true, very much the case, and hopefully people who listen to your podcast will be able to feel the sincerity of my heart beating for those word, when I say them.
That was perfect. I don’t think there is anything else to
add.
Thank you so much.
Thanks for putting the effort into your questions and your interview and everything and best of luck with this podcast and all your future endeavours when you pick up… I’m sure you’ll pick up a new show at some point.
We are hoping to make this interview more accessible for anyone who’s native language isn’t English, by providing a transcript. This will be vastly improved if you listen to the actual Podcast Interview with Bradley James, while reading.
Yeah, they (Camelot
villains) do seem to never have tried to kill Arthur before Merlin showed
up…
I think there are
moments. I think you sort of have to… maybe allow for the idea of his age being
a bit of a protective shield up until that point. Because if you’re going along
the lines of people with magic not necessarily being soulless evil doers, then
there’s an argument there that there is maybe not as much of an attach, or a
focus on the attack of Arthur, until he suddenly becomes a force himself, and
it is seen that he is suddenly fair game.
That is something that I had to try and use as an answer as to why has Arthur not just been killed by now? This makes no sense. And believe me, the number of times where I would pick up a script and go ‘This makes no sense!’ were immeasurable. But you’re able to find a way. There’s a slight fudging on what you would consider the reality of the truth…
In fact, your show centres on this. You pick up on things that the writers weren’t able to nail down, when they were putting the show together. It makes me realise how tough a job writers and producers have, when they are trying to tighten up any loose end in a story line, and eventually it just gets to a point… House of cards. It’s like this! If I picked up this packet of top trumps, this whole thing just comes (crashing down).
There’s a visual gag
for your podcast listeners, but imagine I have a house of cards behind me,
listeners, and I’m about to pluck the jack of spades from the bottom there.
Anyway…
And you could literally make a house of cards out of Merlin
Top Trumps.
Yes I could! Here they are.
Very good.
I should have brought mine, we could have played.
You have a set of
Merlin Top Trumps?
I do have a set somewhere in my room, along with the teeny tiny Merlin and Arthur.
Oh, they’re up here somewhere. Here you go!
They’ve been scribbled on because Colin signed mine, and Colin’s version has me scribbling all over it. So our versions are not quite as clean as selling standard.
I think they’re probably more valuable this way.
Potentially.
I think ‘Mint in Box’ only applies until the person in the
box signs them, and then you’re okay.
That’s a fair point.
Yours have got cake on though, don’t they?
They do have cake on.
Yeah, Michelle had a dragon birthday cake at some point, and of course tiny plastic Merlin and Arthur figurines had to get involved in…
Oh, fantastic!!
…in the slaying of the cake.
They cut the cake
with little plastic swords.
We had to pre-cut with an actual knife, because turns out
the little plastic sword Excalibur isn’t all that good, at slaying dragons.
Oh, I’ve never opened
up that one… cause that’s in the dragon, isn’t it?
Cause ‘Mint in Box’, you’re not allowed to open it!
I’ve never opened it,
so I couldn’t tell you if it was any good or not.
Does not cut cake.
That is a shame. You
would have thought at the very least it would cut cake. If it can kill undead
armies, cake would have been no match for it.
Maybe cake’s the one thing that stops it.
Exactly! If only
Arthur’s enemies knew that that was the way of it.
There’s a Merlin episode…
Morgana’s in a cave, she’s tapping her fingers together with a smirk, and she says ‘Let them eat cake… muahahaha’
Spoof alternative series!
Oh yeah!
I mean, we were going to ask, very much on the premise that
we’re aware it’s not happening, but if there was a season 6 of merlin, if there
was a wrap up movie, what would you like the story line to be? And I guess,
would it involve cake?
What would I want a wrap up story to be… You’re sort of touching on… For lack of a better term, part of the magic of Arthurian legend is that he is the Once and Future King. If you wrap things up, you have taken away the mystery and that spark of excitement that the imagination creates around what that future is. And I wonder if I am really the man who should be telling that tale, or creating that tale, should I say?
I’m not sure I am the writer of such a story, because I don’t think I would do anywhere near the level of justice which would need to be done, to create a worthy enough version, of the ‘Future’ part, of the Once and Future King.
That was a very nice dodge…
It comes from being politically
aware with Merlin fans, but also it’s my genuine thought on it. I think
realising the currency of, and part of what’s made the show survive, is that it
has a future, I believe. And I’m not… the number of times that people ask
about Season 6… it’s the first question! It’s the first question that anybody
asks, and in it’s own way, that’s a compliment. But those questions probably
need to go to the BBC or people in a position different than mine.
I’ve got a couple of contacts at the BBC, we’ll get on that!
We’ll make it happen.
There is something a little bit… I mean, inspiring, yes, but
also ominous, about the Arthurian legend thing generally. The Once and Future
King thing… he’ll remerge when it’s all gone to hell. And the idea that the
things that we’ve lived through, that humanity has gone through in the past
thousand years, have not been sufficient, to warrant the return of the Once and
Future King, is a little bit…
Well, we’ve come out the other side of them…
Yeah. That’s true. That is true. But I think from a story
telling perspective, I would find it a little daunting to have to come up with
the thing that was bad enough, the thing that was worse than World War 2 and
the Black Death, to justify bringing back this king figure, when he hadn’t
turned up before. I think that’s a slightly daunting apocalyptic task.
Thus, why you realise
how I decided to side step that question earlier.
I would repeat, that we have come through all of those scenarios and let’s hope that we don’t face the one that does require him.
I know that you haven’t listened to the Season 2 podcasts yet, but we’ve spent quite a lot of time in Season 2 realising that Merlin narratively exists for Arthur, and for Arthur’s story, which fits in with what you were saying earlier in regards to approaching Arthur’s character, and how you went about that. I guess I’m just wondering whether that’s something that, from the ‘Inside Perspective’ came across, or whether that’s something that you thought about, something that you talked about…
To touch on what we
mentioned before. Arthur can only see Merlin as his servant and he becomes his
confident essentially. Arthur cannot be aware of all the extracurricular things
that Merlin does for him. So it’s very difficult… I’m probably going over old
ground here, but Merlin is there to serve the story of Arthur, and as an
audience we are given this special insight, that nobody else gets, apart from
Gaius and one or two other characters. But even they don’t get the full
picture. They get versions of what happens, they don’t get to see what Merlin
goes through, they maybe get to hear about it. The audience is in a very privileged
position to be able to see everything that Merlin goes through. And thanks to
Colin’s performance you’re there, gripped with it the whole time. What he
feels, you feel, because he’s able to do that to us as an audience. He’s so
gifted as an actor, and that is again part of the reason why an audience stays
with the show. Because they are made to feel that way about this guy, who
seemingly has the weight of the world on his shoulders and yet is able to give
the pretence to everybody in that world that everything is fine, he goes for
the occasional pint down the tavern, and that’s his life.
So, there’s me spearing off on a tangent again, but I think I’m probably retracing the steps in saying the fact that, from my point of view, certainly while we were doing the show, approaching it as ‘this is Arthur’s show’ because anything else he just can’t know about.
And it would be so tempting to be like ‘Oh, maybe he knew that, maybe he knew this’ – No! There can be none of that! Because if you have one moment of him going ‘hang on a minute’, than it all falls apart.
It’s interesting, because that’s something we were asked
about by one of our listeners, when we were watching and talking about the
moment in Ealdor. Did Arthur know or did he not know, is he suspecting, is this
the moment where Arthur maybe gets a bit of an inkling that maybe Merlin is
magic. It’s what you said Ruth, that if he is, that makes the rest of the whole
show and his actions cruel, rather than just oblivious.
Yeah… Yeah. I hadn’t
really gone down that…
Rabbit hole?
I hadn’t really gone down that rabbit hole. – Thank you. Excellent term. – for the reason that I’d always felt very strongly that there could be no indication of Arthur picking up on anything.
I think there’s a
huge temptation for actors to… you want to try and make your character smarter
than they are. There’s a huge temptation to not seem like you’ve been
outwitted. And I think if there’s any trace of that, that you see in Arthur, I
have failed massively, because he’s the one guy who, by the time you get to the
moment where – again, spoilers – by the time you get to the moment where
something does happen, the payoff only comes with Arthur not having had any
acknowledgement of it before.
Yeah, totally.
Right at the start of the show, how much of the full plot
did you know? We are quite interested in the behind the scenes stuff of TV
shows that we don’t know about. How many seasons did you sign on for? Did you
know it was going to be five seasons?
Yeah, myself and
Colin were straight out of drama school, so we didn’t know any better, and we
signed on for five straight away. Which I wasn’t ever sort of nervous about.
And the other thing that happened was I remember people saying ‘Oh, I hope we
get a second series’ and I just remember thinking ‘Well, of course we will!’
I signed a contract and everything!
Yeah, exactly! In
hindsight out of pure naivety. But also because I thought what we’re doing is
good! Of course we’re gonna do a second series or a third series. So yeah, I
don’t think it was always acknowledged that it would be just five years, but we
had signed on for five years.
And in terms of…
obviously for me, you’re aware that Prince Arthur is going to become King
Arthur, you just don’t know when. I think when we initially got it, I maybe
received the first three scripts. I think there were certain elements to the
show that maybe took my surprise in terms of where they went with certain
things. But on the whole you could maybe argue that I had the most obvious
journey, given the awareness everyone has. Even on base levels. You say the
name King Arthur to people and they have some recollection of it. Certainly in England
or Britain. They have some semblance of what you’re talking about. Even some
people play dumb about it, they’ll be like ‘uuuuh…’ they’ll know about King
Arthur in some way. Because they’ll have been told a story when they were a
kid, or they’ll have seen a movie, or something. So arguably I probably had
things mapped out for, me at the beginning, in a clearer way than any of the
other actors did.
Though how much of that is your knowledge of the Arthurian legends, and how much of that was actual discussions with the writers and producers about in regards to what they were going to put in the show?
Probably more
knowledge of Arthurian legend. If I had a criticism, and I use that word carefully,
if I had a criticism of the producers, it was that there was maybe a lack of
information on the future. And that might have been because they weren’t too
sure themselves where it was going to go. But sometimes scripts wouldn’t arrive
that quickly before we were shooting them…
I’ve never worked on
a job as hard as Merlin, since. And it was my first big job and I am so please
for that, because everything has been a walk in the park, relatively speaking,
since. The hours we did, the way… just, just all sorts of things. And in no way
is this a complaint because all of it was a small price to pay for what was a
fantastic experience. So I’m not complaining about it at all. But the way
things were handled, through circumstances out of the hands of the producers or
the writers… there’s deadlines that need to be met here or there. And once a
show starts becoming successful, a lot of people want to get involved and want
to put their name to it. So all of a sudden you’re answering to… I remember we
started the second series and all of a sudden we’re getting visits from every
producer at the BBC who wants their name connected to it in some way, so they
can put it on their CV later on and go ‘Yeah, I worked on that’. Makes sense.
That’s the deal. That’s what they have to do to progress in their career and
what have you. But it doesn’t make the process any easier. Bizarrely, you
remember the people involved that were able to step back or be quiet sometimes,
which is not an easy thing to do.
So I would say, for
all sorts of reasons, out of the hands of the people we were in direct contact
with, we weren’t always given as much of a head’s up as I have since received
on storylines and information, that definitely helps, when you are playing a
character.
And the way I’ve
worked since… I wouldn’t want to go back to the way that we worked on Merlin,
because I’ve since been exposed to a way of collaborating that is much better,
much more effective, much more helpful. But again, I’m so thankful for having
been through that process with the way Merlin was put together, because I feel
ready for almost anything, or certainly a lot of things. There’s lessons I’ve taken
from it, and then been able to help out with other productions I’ve been on and
go ‘Oh, well. This circumstance happened here and this is the problems we had
and this is how it got solved…’
I’ve steered off again… Did that answer your initial question??
It does! And it was really unexpected and really interesting
because I always assumed that cast, especially main cast, are going to have
meetings about what’s happening in this season, get to the end of the season,
are we going to be renewed or not? If we are going to be renewed, here’s what
we’re thinking the plot’s going to be. But also, okay, we’re singing you on for
five years. Over the five years here’s the story we want to tell. So it’s
fascinating to hear that that was not the case,
Well, look. I’d go back to the point earlier. I’d just come out of drama school, I didn’t know any better. Colin was the same. We graduated the same year, we turned up, fresh faced, not knowing what the deal was. And I think we both learnt a hell of a lot because of that experience.
Not that we were
taken advantage of, but there were certain naiveties in the way we approached
things, that I do not allow now. Because it’s just not helpful for me. I’ve
learnt my lessons through that show. So I look back on it and think how
grateful I am for having had that experience, because I learnt most of the
lessons I needed to learn about the industry on the show, but I don’t look back
on it negatively, because I had such a great time doing it.
That feels an awful lot like Star Wars. I worked with alpacas on Star Wars – The Force Awakens. It was a great experience, it was huge amounts of fun, and I look back on it and go ‘you did not pay me enough money for this’.
That sounds about
right.
You learn stuff.
It’s like any first job, isn’t it? You start doing anything and you have no idea what the boundaries are, what is appropriate to ask for, what is appropriate to question, you’re just like ‘Thank you, a job, I sign the contract, you’ll pay me money, that’s awesome’. And it’s not that they’re being mean or manipulative in what they are offering you, you just don’t know how to ask for anything else or to question anything, so you just accept it as it is.
Yeah. I mean, the fact that I was playing King Arthur takes away any qualms I have about… If I was doing a role that was not something I was passionate about, but the passion for the role was there. All of these hardships… I mean, hardships, let’s be real. All of these obstacles that were there, in no way was it unbearable. That’s not at all the case. It was just that there were lessons learnt, which in the future I have since gone ‘Okay, I’ve met that situation before, and I would rather go this way, than the way we went on that thing.’
The other element to it (filming Merlin) was that we had Anthony and Richard, who are certainly experienced and were incredibly mentors, wonderful to have around and we learnt so much from them. We learnt so much from them. You got different perspectives on what was going on. Sort of dragging this into the politics of working on a show, and I’m not sure to what degree your audience would take an interest in hearing about the behind the scenes difficulties to it, I don’t want to make this a boohoo…
I don’t know, we find it fascinating, so they’re gonna have
to suck it up
Fair enough. But as I say, for all those lessons learnt, it was all a very small price to pay for what were five… I just look back so fondly on five fantastic years. I wouldn’t have done (the quiz) the other night if I had a negative kind of… I’ve had one or two experiences on set where I’ve come away just not feeling great about the experience. And that leaves it’s mark and I’ve just sort of left it there and gone ‘Ok, that’s what it was, and what have you…’
I haven’t got that about Merlin at all, as I say, going through things for the quiz the other night just brought back all these brilliant memories, these brilliant times that I had, and yeah, whilst being overwhelmed with nostalgia, I was overwhelmed by a sense of being… I’m waxing lyrical about being grateful about it, but that’s truly the case.
Though while you’re going down memory lane… what was your
first day on set like? Mostly in regards to Anthony Steward Head?
Anthony I met on the
read through, because there was another guy whose face was in the little
casting box. We’d been given like a sheet of paper to say who the cast were,
and there was another guy’s headshot any time I went into the office. For ages
it was just mine and Colin’s faces up there. And then faces started to appear
either in like the makeup room, or you’d meet someone from a department from
the pre-show ramble you go through, and they’d be like ‘So and so has been
cast’ or ‘They’re talking to this person, they’re talking to that person’, so
when we got to the read through I’d heard a name of somebody else to play the
role. And I sort if didn’t have any particular feelings either way. I was like
‘okay, that’s the person playing my dad. I can see why they cast him, or want
to cast him’. And then I turned up for the read through, and Anthony’s standing
there. And I hadn’t watched Buffy for… when did the last series of Buffy
finish?
Finished in 2005…
2005? Okay, so it had been 2 or 3 years. And I had watched all of Buffy. And I turned up to the read through and Anthony’s standing there and I literally turned to someone and went ‘What the hell is he doing there? What’s he doing? Who is he playing?!’ and he goes ‘Oh, he’s your dad…’ – ‘WHAT?’
So of course I went
over and we sort of had a very quick adjustment to this father and cheeky son
dynamic that saw us through the 3 or 4 years that Anthony was with us. It
formed very quickly, that dynamic that remained.
And, you know, there
were moments through the show… there was a lot of time hanging out, certainly
in France. There was a champion’s league finale one year, that we were filming
somewhere in the middle of nowhere and Anthony had this plush set up for him to
go home to, and I was staying further away from wherever we were, and it meant
that I would miss the champion’s league finale. And he was like ‘Come round and
watch it at mine!’ and little things like that happened. I’d have missed it. He
had no interest in football to speak of, but little things like that, where he
was kind of playing the role of my faux dad off set as well. And you know, I
was so grateful to have… not just an actor like him playing my dad… I mean, any
time I see a clip nowadays I think ‘Christ, he was good!’
Yep.
But as a person. You know, to have him assume that role. He didn’t need to. You work with actors who turn up, they do the job, and off they go. There’s nothing wrong with that, that’s just the way they work. But Anthony would very much engage himself as Anthony, in the stuff that would happen off set. We’d be in France and I spent – – In the first year of being in France I spent two months in a hotel in a village in the middle of nowhere. There was nothing in this village. Nothing.
And I was required for all two months of the shoot and everyone else went home at some point, and I was going stir crazy in this little village, in the middle of nowhere, I knew no one… there was a weekend where I was literally there by myself. This was early on and the crew hadn’t quite congregated. We eventually found ourselves in Compiègne as a whole group and things became fantastic in that regard, but before that we were all staying in all different parts, no one knew where anyone was, we couldn’t get together and spend weekends going for a meal.
And yet, while we
were out there, Anthony was there, with a bunch of people much younger than
him, and invested his time in you as a person, away from the show, away from
acting and what have you. We’d be sat down and he’d have me pestering him while
he was trying to eat his dinner but he wasn’t there going ‘go away, please’
with his body language or anything like that.
He was very generous
with his time and with his… with his… affection’s not the right word, but… I suppose
generosity, maybe?
Wait… Have I just
said he was very generous with his generosity?
You have, but we understand what you meant…
Erm.. He was very
generous with his….
Self?
Hmm. I want to pin it
down but I also don’t want to waste your time whilst you listen to me um and
and ah about trying to find words.
Seeing as we are talking about Tony Head… Tony Head is the reason why I started watching Merlin, literally that was it
I mean, love you n’all.
I mean, you’re great now, but Giles was going to be in
another television show and as far as I was concerned that was enough, I was
sold.
Yeah.
It was very difficult at first, being a huge Giles enthusiast, watching Tony Head do that was very difficult. I find it a little bit traumatising to be honest.
Yeah. Yeah. He
changed… this word is something I don’t mean in a literal sense, but his weight
shift from Giles to Uther is almost opposite ends of the spectrum. And what I
mean by ‘weight’ is more ‘light weight’ and ‘heavy weight’ in terms of… The
head mistress of my school was Mrs. Gillsen. She was about five foot tall, very
slim lady, and shorter than most of the students, but the weight that she had,
the presence that she had, was incredibly. So I don’t mean weight in the
physical sense, I mean it more in a sense of your presence being light or
heavy. And of course as Giles he’s got a lot of light weight, and sort of like ‘Oh,
yes, very good’, searching through books and stuff and pushing up his glasses,
and then as Uther his presence is just in the room, and it fills the room that
he is. And that is only a credit to Anthony in terms of being able to transform
like that. And as you say, you start off and you’re like ‘Oh, there’s Giles!’
and I don’t think it’s long before you’re like ‘There’s Uther!’
‘Oh my god…’
Yeah. Yeah…
But on sort of description they’re not parts that are
entirely unrelated. There’s a kind of ‘paternal figure to child of huge
destined greatness’ and are you going to antagonise or support that destiny?’ I
guess. So maybe coming into it there was a deliberate ‘No! Must be very very
different.’ Though obviously the part of Uther does speak to a certain tyrannical
heaviness, I suppose.
Well, I wouldn’t want
to put words in his mouth, but Anthony has two daughters, who he’s remarkably
close with. And I would say that in Buffy he probably was in more natural
territory, of being able to be that more natural paternal nurturing type. And
in Merlin it sort of helped out that he doesn’t have any sons. It’s uncharted
territory for him. And you kind of get that awkwardness in Uther being a parent
that I think Anthony had an understanding of in terms of suddenly being like ‘Oh,
I have a son!’ Because I think he was making discoveries in that himself. He’s
certainly aware of what it’s like to be a boy, but to bring one up was not
something he’d experienced before. So I think there was a lot of that journey that
Anthony was able to learn from his own experience into the character.
That’s really interesting, yeah. Obviously, having kids, but
of a different gender…
Yeah, and of course there’s no mother figure around for Arthur, to give him guidance on how to do it, whereas that’s obviously very much present in his home life and what have you, with bringing up girls and going to his wife and asking for advice on whatever he needs to know to bring up girls and then suddenly being by himself and being like ‘Alright then, I’ve got this young actor here who sort of seems to look up to me and ask me a lot of questions about stuff. He seems to like football a lot. What do I do? – – Well done, young man…’
You know, there’s
probably a lot of correlation between the two situations he found himself in.
How many questions about Buffy did you ask?
Not that many! Stories would appear but… as I say, I hadn’t watched the show for a few years and enough time had passed, so I wasn’t in that place anymore…
It’s funny, because you talk about the idea of Merlin living on, and it’s not that Buffy has died by any stretch of the imagination, but it was very much an experience of the time for me, and then I put it to one side. And I’m sure there are people who that is very much the experience with Merlin as well, but I didn’t quite have that ongoing experience with Buffy. I was like ‘Right, I’ve seen it. Done.’
It’s almost like you
binge watch things now on Netflix, and you go through it, and then it’s gone sometimes.
Not quite as drastic as that with Buffy but certainly by the time it came to
working with Anthony, it wasn’t that I was desperate to know all of those bits
and pieces, but I was certainly fascinated when a story would arise about the
show, and very keen to get him to elaborate on whatever story it was.
We met… He introduced
me to Brandon Alexander. No, not Brandon Alexander. Brandon…
Nicholas Brendon?
Nicholas Brendon!
Sorry, his character was called Xander.
Yes!
He introduced me to Nicholas Brendon and I remember that at the time being like ‘Oh, wow!’ and I guess he must get that reaction quite often. That over-familiarisation – which I had, because I knew Anthony. ‘We’re buds now, because I’m friends with Anthony!’
So yeah, I certainly
didn’t pester him too much on that front.
So I think we can conclude that Bradley played it cooler,
than you would manage Ruth.
Oh, I’m sure!
I think there’s something interesting about just the time of
their airing. Buffy was sufficiently long ago that unless you did have boxsets
or DVDs or whatever else, it was sort of gone for a long time. Whereas Merlin
finished sufficiently recently that it was on Netflix probably 3 or 4 years after
it finished, rather than 20?
Yeah! What we had…
the show finished at the end of 2012, but the show aired in over 180 countries.
And what happened is it finished at different times, for the next 2 years I
think it was? So you could tell when the show was airing in a certain country,
because 3 months later the fan mail that would come through was from that
country. And you’re like ‘Oh, I guess Chile is watching Merlin now…’
And then, once it had started to finish its natural run in each of these regions it then got to Netflix. Netflix picked it up, and suddenly this whole new… and this continues. There’s still an audience. The number of messages you get from people saying ‘Oh, I only discovered the show last week and I watched all five series in seven days’ and you’re like ‘It’s been around for ages! How did you miss this?’
It’s created a fan base that… that’s one thing I don’t think I expected when I signed on for it straight out of drama school. I may have been very hubristic about the show continuing on from season to season, not thinking anything of it. I had no idea that 12 years on there would be people still getting into it and being supportive in the way that they are. The level of support is incredible and even though they don’t necessarily hear from all of us, I am very aware that it’s appreciated by everyone in the show. Because also it’s only very few occasions where it crosses any lines to being inappropriate. That’s the other aspect. We seem to have an audience that is very respectful.
Yeah, I was wondering in how far that kind of loyalty and that excitement does occasionally become a problem, when you’ve got iZombie, or Medici, or Liberator coming up, and people are still yelling at you about Merlin…
I mean, define ‘yelling
at me’
All caps on twitter…
Yeah, well, look…
there are obviously going to be people who see you a certain way and want you
to fulfil that role in their life, let alone in the show. And the truth of that
scenario is that you cannot… or certainly I can’t, and I think I speak for
all of the cast, surely… in no way can you allow yourself to be limited by the
limitations that are set for you by people wanting you to remain, say if you’re
in my position, Arthur.
Because it’s not
sustainable, from a practical point of view of living and making a living, it’s
not sustainable from a creative point of view, from fulfilling the things that
I want to achieve in my life. I can’t do that by remaining in the frame work
that certain fans would want from me, I suppose.
But that’s the way it
is. Again, it’s that weird sort of unfortunate… not unfortunate, but it’s an off
beat compliment, that people had such a sensation of joy or whatever it is that
they connect with the show, that they want to hold on to that.
And then there’s a
huge number of people who are incredibly supportive of the things that I have
gone on to do, the things that Katie, Angel, Colin, Anthony, Richard have all
gone on to do. Even the guys that we saw the other night, the knights. They’ve
found themselves receiving a level of support that I don’t think they imagined
when they picked up this script that they were handed by their agent however
many years ago ‘Do you wanna play a knight in this show?’ – ‘Oh, go on then! I’ll
give it a go’ and however many years later they’ll be doing a play, or they’ll
be… you know, Eoin and Tom funded a movie that they made because they found
themselves in a position where the support for them, from the majority of the
Merlin fan base, was in such a place that they wanted to enable Tom and Eoin to
make this film, which is incredible.
I’m referencing it, but the other night is possible purely due to the fact that the Merlin audience has been so gracious and so supportive. Now, granted, we’re playing to the crowd by doing a quiz about Merlin, but the fact that they were still there to be able to do that for is remarkable. And I couldn’t be more thankful for that. Hopefully it continues and hopefully, on a personal level, I hope I continue to do work and give performances that is worthy of that support…
Well, I think so far you’ve certainly followed through on all expectations because you ruined all of our Christmases and then you’ve gone on to die in every single role you’ve done since, so…
Yeah, that’s… happened two or three times now. I’m trying not to get a complex about it. When I turn up they go ‘This is a character we want to kill!’
Becoming a bit Sean Bean-y, maybe…
Yeah. Ironically one
of them being killed almost at the hand of Sean Bean. Take him, not me.
We are hoping to make this interview more accessible for anyone who’s native language isn’t English, by providing a transcript. This will be vastly improved if you listen to the actual Podcast Interview with Bradley James, while reading.
Hello, I’m Bradley
James, and you are listening to Destiny & Chicken, A Merlin Podcast
(Intro Music)
Ruth and Michelle!
How are you?
We’re good thank you, how are you?
Very good indeed.
Marvellous.
Where are you right
now, sorry?
We’re in our garden.
Oh, okay. Lovely.
Outdoor space.
I have no connection
in my garden unfortunately, otherwise I would be outside, too.
I don’t know, I enjoy the Merlin Cave, I think that’s fun!
Oh what, this? This
was very much going to come down until I realised that we would be speaking
today, so therefore I thought who’s going to appreciate this more than Ruth and
Michelle. So it’s lasted a couple of extra days, which has made numerous Zoom
meetings very awkward…
Well we appreciate it, thank you
My pleasure! – –
Yeah, a lot of people asking why there are multiple pictures of my face behind
me, as I talk.
I do like the idea of you in very professional Zoom
meetings, just surrounded by a shrine of you.
Yeah. It’s made me
quite grateful for the times when the internet connection hasn’t been great and
it’s been really pixelated. What’s that behind you? Oh, nothing, I’m just..
just.. something. Nothing. It’s a mess.
Nothing, just don’t look, it’s fine!
I understand you guys
weren’t very well?
No, we weren’t, no. We got the COVID. Actually, very mildly,
considering. We’re fine, now. But it was not fun for a bit.
I take it you guys
live together?
Yes!
Right, okay.
Yeah, I blame her!
And the other one had
no chance?
Yes, absolutely. No chance in hell.
Ruth is currently drinking tea that she cannot taste
Oooh, really?
Yeah, It’s really very surreal indeed. And considering food
is one of the very few things that we’re allowed to enjoy completely unhindered
at the moment, it’s been very depressing.
Right, I’m so sorry
to hear that.
Thanks! I trust it will get better at some point.
A friend of mine, who
I do a podcast with, back in February had two weeks of being like ‘It’s so
weird, I can’t taste or smell anything’. Nobody knew this as a symptom then for
anything. And he was like ‘Oh my god, I lost it now, for the rest of my life’.
Thankfully whenever we were in contact, I was away. I wasn’t in England. We
were talking on Facetime or whatever. Now I realise, he had Coronavirus, had I
been in close contact with him, I definitely would have been struck down by it.
And loads of people since have come out with all those kind of symptoms where
they’ve gone ‘Oh, turns out that’s a symptom now, I had that.’
Well that is literally what convinced you (Ruth) that we had
it. Because I didn’t lose my sense of smell or taste, so it was like ‘Maybe it’s
just flu. Maybe it’s okay….No, turns out no.’ But yeah, we’re fine!
Well good. I’m
pleased you’re better and on the mend.
Thank you.
Forgive me, what are
your day jobs?
I work in academic publishing. I publish counselling and
psychotherapy textbooks.
That makes a hell of
a lot of sense.
And I work for Vauxhall City Farm, one of the city charity
farms in London.
Yes, I did know that!
That’s brought up, isn’t it?
Yes, sometimes there’s animals in the background of the
podcast.
Ah, really? Okay…
This was when we did Shadowhunters, we had a baby goat that
sadly lost its mum, that was staying with us for a week, being looked after and
bottle fed through the night. She’s on one of the podcasts, fairly hilariously.
I think we make it three minutes into the episode before she yells for the
first time
Yeah, she got very distressed when she wasn’t being held…
Just like me!
Just like all of us, really.
Yeah, very true.
So we had a little bit of a head’s up in regards to you
listening to our podcast, in weird fandom ways, as these things go, by Kat
McNamara telling a friend of ours, at a convention in Belgium.
Yeah! Let me try and
trace back the steps here… Somebody told me about it. – – Who the hell told
me about it? – – But what I then saw was some artwork, because you do those
pictures, and I think I saw that in a tweet or something like that and I connected
the dots and realised ‘That’s that podcast that someone told me about’. And
then I was speaking to Kat and she knew who it was, because you guys are massive
Shadowhunters fans, right?
Yeah!
So she was aware of
it and spoke to me about it, and I gave it a listen. You guys do a fantastic
job. I always think you’re very fair with everything you say and you handle
things very well, and you go into aspects of the show that I hadn’t even
thought about before, so it’s always very enlightening. – -I’ve got some
catching up to do. You guys have started the second series..
We’ve nearly finished the second series now.
You finished it? Oh,
right…
Nearly. We just did Sweet Dreams last week. The episode with
Georgia Moffett?
Oh! Destiny and
Chicken!!
Yes! It was quite exciting…
Where is she? She’s up here somewhere… There, can you see her?
Oh yeah. Well, the bottom half of her face.
Little bottom half of
her face, there you go.
I don’t know why I just did that. You know the bit where you duck under to look up and it’s like, it doesn’t work that way, it’s 2D.
I feel like Zoom has
brought out a grandma and grandad in all of us, when it comes to technology. A
relative of mine answered the phone on Facetime the other day like this (puts
phone to ear). And I was like ‘I can see your ear, are you showing it to me on
purpose?’ ‘No? What do you mean?’ – And that’s been me on Zoom. It’s been a
honing process, learning how to use it, and it’s ended up with me creating a..
trying to… (deep sigh) Merlin. Oh dear. The end is nigh I feel for me…
I dunno, I think you did okay. You managed to zoom with like
a thousand people the other day.
You were there, did
you see it?
We did!
We *saw* it. We got kicked out of the quiz very early on..
Oh…
It’s okay, we weren’t doing very well.
Well, firstly, thank
you very much for taking part. I really appreciate it!
That’s alright.
And also, sorry for you getting kicked out. I have a feeling that was a common trope there, because the app we used… it seemed like a lot of people were having problems. Basically I just had my phone with me, and as I’m talking to my laptop I just got a slew of messages from about 20 people working behind the scenes, trying to make this happen. And eventually someone saying ‘Just make sure you apologise to everyone’ and I thought ‘oh god, what have I said now?’ And I’m there scrolling through message to the side of the screen, just like ‘Don’t look over there, look over here!’ and I’m reading back through 50 messages of people panicking. It’s the swans feet underneath the water, which I was witnessing on my phone.
On that note though, kudos! I was expecting an awful lot
more constant checking of ‘behind the scenes’ people’s messages. I think you
were really subtle about it.
I have a guy… his
name is Matthew Mellalieu, and anything that delves into any form of territory
involving technology, he… saved my arse basically. He was my producer the other
night and the job he did… my god. And the amount of questions he has to put up
with from me asking really stupid things… yeah, he’s a saint! So thankfully
he was the predominant voice coming through, in amongst lots of others. And
meanwhile I’ve got the guys that came on, sending me abuse, which I’m trying
not do be distracted by, while very much appreciating the ribbing that I’m
receiving from them.
What are friends for?
What are friends for
indeed, but to try and make you laugh, or cry, when you are speaking to a
thousand people or however much it was
Live on the internet
There you go! Anyway,
it was a fun night, I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you guys did as well.
We did, yeah! And yeah, we did quite well on the questions
that were season 1 and season 2
Oh, right, of course!
Didn’t do great on the questions after season 2
Fair enough
It’s been a long time…
Well, once you guys
have finished your complete works of Merlin, the next quiz you guys are going
to be on top of
Possibly, or we’ll have forgotten season 1 and season 2
You’ll have forgotten the first bit, yeah, fair enough!
Seeing as we’re talking about the Merlin Quiz… considering
the fact that you had a thousand people attending, with only 4 days notice, and
you managed to break a third party app because there were too many people… What
about Merlin do you think inspires that kind of loyalty?
Wow. There’s a
question. I’m not sure I’m able to get into the mindset of the people we’re
talking about there. I can only really comment on what was my experience and
whilst I was working on the show, I never let go of a sense of joy and pride,
even though there were ups and downs whilst we were doing it, but I never let
go of the joy and pride of being involved in it. It’s then very difficult, and I’ve
learnt this lesson both ways, to judge how something is going to be received.
Your experience very rarely I’ve learnt translates to the experience that the
audience has. Merlin I would say is the exception to that.. not that I’ve just
decide it’s a rule… but is the exception to that comment, because the experience
I had was phenomenal. I just came out of drama school and I landed the role to
be Kind Arthur. From the very moment… from the very moment I even had it
mentioned to me, actually! I was busy doing a show with the producers, Johnny
Capps and Julian Murphy, and they told me about Merlin the Summer before it all
got going. Sorry, I’m veering off topic here, as you’ve asked me about the
audience.
No, go for it. It’s your interview!
They told me about Merlin when we were doing a show called Disconnected, which would have been July/August time of 2007. And in December, going into January 2008 every man and his dog started going in for an audition for this show called Merlin and I was like ‘Hang on a minute! I’ve heard about this show. I’ve heard a lot about this show!! I know what this show is about.’ And I hadn’t heard anything. There was just silence. And I was there, very patiently while they saw everybody who had come out of drama school in the last two years, they saw *everybody*. I seemed to be the only person whose phone didn’t ring about this. And then eventually I get this call from my agent. She sends through the script and I try and act relaxed about the fact that it’s so late in the day that I’m hearing about it. I pick up the script and go ‘Oh, this is fun! This hasn’t been an anti climax of the last however many months it was’. And I went in and I was prepped to the nines in terms of what they sent me, and I ended up just having a chat with James Hawes and then walking out, having not done anything you would normally do in an audition and being a bit confused and like ‘Oh no, that was a test, wasn’t it? I didn’t pass… oh no!’
Anyway, sorry, the
massive tangent I’ve gone on there is basically trying to depict the moment
that was the first time I picked up the script and had a perpetual sensation
about this show, even before it materialised into anything, even before I
arrived on set. It was the moment of picking up the script and my imagination
just going (clicks fingers) ‘Wow! This could be something!’
So… to try and bring
it back to the question you asked, what a terrible interviewee I am!
Essentially, being able to take that experience that I was having, and match it
to something an audience was having at the time of the show being on, is what I’ve
found to be quite a rarity.
The confusing thing
for me is the fact that that has continued. The show finished in 2012 and 8
years later the response that we still receive from it is huge. Your guess is
as good as mind as to why that is. I think I’m probably too deep inside the
whole thing to be able to answer why that is. And why I didn’t just say that at
the beginning of your question is a mystery to everyone!
We were surprised about it ourselves. We finished Shaodwhunters, which had been live and the podcast episodes were coming out live, and it all felt quite current and it made sense that people were paying attention to a podcast of a show that was still ongoing, and when we were finishing it and thinking ‘Okay, what do we want to do next’ and decided that we want to do Merlin, it felt like a terribly self-indulgent choice. Like, okay, we love the show but it’s been over for almost 10 years and is there going to be anybody who’s interested in going through this again, that’s not just a pure nostalgia trip, and there were a few people we spoke to and said ‘We were thinking of maybe doing Merlin’ and they were like ‘Oh my god yes do Merlin!!’ And then we started it up and a whole bunch of people have come out of the woodwork, who we’d never spoken to before, who were going ‘My god, I’ve been looking for somewhere to talk to people about this show and I’ve been waiting for a conversation about for ever, and I’m so glad that you’re here!’ and like Wow, yeah, sure, that’s great, that’s fantastic! But it’s not something you can count on with a show that’s been done for ten years because stuff continues… so in answer I guess to your follow up question of our question… We don’t know either.
I think what I’ve
realised recently… I haven’t watched the show since Christmas eve of 2012, I
haven’t watched a full episode. Largely because I don’t think I can bring
myself to, from an emotional stand point. I think it will tear me apart in many
ways. In good ways! In positive ways. But just doing this quiz that I did the
other night, I obviously had to delve into.. I mean one, my garage! And two,
the memory banks of the whole experience. And wow! All those memories that came
flooding back, the experiences that I had, and the nostalgia that hit me had
such tangible form in my mind. I remembered my mind-set, and my feelings
towards this and this and this. And I kind of thing that might have been the
case when you were watching the show on a Saturday night. There’s a certain
atmosphere around Saturday night television. And I remember the atmosphere
around that time of year, always starts in September, the kind of back end of
the summer, and there was just this thing around 7 o’clock or whenever it was
on a Saturday night, and even if I wasn’t about to watch the episode I’d be
aware that it was on, and that whole package nostalgia erupted as I
reinvestigated the show to come up with 25 questions that people would find
mildly interesting.
Did you come up with all the questions? I was actually
wondering about that
I came up with… yeah,
I came up with pretty much all of them. Like, I had to sort of like…
Check?
Yeah, Like Katie’s
for example with the water bottle. I remember there was this whole thing with
the water bottle.
Yeah, we did not know that one!
I seem to have
memories of it being part of the behind the scenes stuff and what have you. And
I realised as these questions were coming up, I thought ‘Are these too hard?
Are these too easy?’ so I thought let’s just mix up the tone of them, so they’re
not all stuff you can see from the show. Let’s make sure that whoever wins this
is like a die-hard basically. But yeah, the majority of it was just me trying
to throw together bits of information I remembered, or specific episodes that
were in my mind, and research telling me stuff that I didn’t even know. And
mind you, I say that.. a lot of people did very well in that test! It was
scary.
Yeah, before we got kicked out we were kind of around the
200 – 250 mark.
So in the top quarter
then!
Yeah, I mean, the bottom part of the top quarter, yeah. But we looked at the gap between our point score and the give people at the top and yeah, we’re not going to catch up with those people. S’not gonna happen!
I’m still blaming the gin & tonic on the failure of
reaction time, that’s what I’m blaming it on!
Well at least you –
excuse the pun here – entered the competition in the right spirit.
Well, yes indeed!
Also you didn’t tell anyone it was going to be speed based.
No, I don’t think I
even knew.
If we’d known we maybe would have drunk less.
But maybe you would have had less fun that way!
We did a test of it a
couple of days before, and it was an absolute farce, as none of us knew any of
the answers. I was there just trying it out and our scores wouldn’t have got onto
any leader board, had it been included. Matthew was there and he knew all the
answers, and he still got most of them wrong. So I think that pressure of
wanting to get it quickly threw people off a little bit… Or added an element of
skill!
It’s just any time you give anyone a buzzer (buzzer smashing
mime)
That’s me while I was
hosting the quiz! Just outside of shot was all the chaos, while I tried to
remain calm within this rectangle frame.
I mostly liked the one question that was clearly put up
accidentally. I dropped my phone and possibly knocked over something in the
panic to push the button on the unexpected question.
Oh yeah, someone… I
think their finger slipped and he suddenly started throwing the question out. It
was maybe one of Rupert’s. We’re talking and all of a sudden the question came
up ‘ooooh my god what happened when??’
Everyone go! Questions! Questions!
Winding back a little bit to podcasts…
Yes, sorry, I keep
veering off on tangents
No, that’s okay. But seeing as we were talking about
podcasts… Are You Having A Draft?
Yes!
How long was that a thought that you had? Was it always a
podcast thoughts? Or was it just that you really wanted to do something with it?
Okay, so here’s the
story behind it – Another story. I was in Poland at the start of last year. I
was working out there. And Marcus, who is my co-host, was an agent at the time,
and his agency had a guy come in to talk to the agents about podcasts and to
give them a general head’s up on the deal of podcasts. Cut to them being in the
pub afterwards
Obviously
Obviously. And Marcus was just casually chatting with this guy, and talking about our fantasy football league, which we’ve done for however many years. What usually happens is that a lot of the guys in the league will talk about the league and how we do it and what have you, and what usually happens is that someone’s either not interested and they’ll change the subject, or someone goes ‘ph my god, I want to be part of that!’ – And this guy suddenly went ‘That is a brilliant idea for a podcast! It is niche!’ and Marcus was like ‘Oh, really?’ and he’s like ‘Yeah! Would Bradley be interested in hosting it?’ to which Marcus sort of deflated a little bit because I think he thought ‘Oh good, I’ve got myself a podcast here.’
So I get a phone call
from Marcus and he goes ‘Guess what?’ – ‘What?’ – ‘How would you feel about
turning the draft into a podcast?’ – ‘How would we do that?’ – ‘I don’t know!’ …And
then he tells me the story blah blah blah. So I get back and I’ve got a hiatus
of about two months over the summer, before I go to Atlanta. And in these two
months we basically recorded a whole bunch of, if you listen back on it,
nonsense. Trying to figure out what it was that we were going to make this
podcast about. By the end of those two months, I’m off again, but we sort of were
in a place where I thought ‘Actually, we might be able to do this’. So we put
it all together. Our producer Zac had control of the editing and we didn’t
really know anything in terms of the bells and whistles you have to put on it
afterwards. We were just recording stuff and then going blergh (vomit mime)
there you go Zac, you sort that out! And you guys will be very aware of this
process… Where did you get your music from by the way?
Amazingly, it’s stock. We spent about three days listening
to unending stock clips. Sufficiently medieval-esque, whilst also not being too
Lord of the Rings serious business-y. And that’s what we landed on.
It’s a great choice!
We weren’t sure about it when we picked it, but it got to a
point where we had to stop listening to stock track snippets.
Also, the way they work, so we use Audiojungle amongst other websites, and it’s like the songs have a watermark, the way photographs do, except it’s just a lady saying ‘Audiojungle’ every ten seconds or so, so you can preview it, but you can’t steal it, without paying for it. And after about half an hour you have no idea anymore what any of the jingles sound like, all that’s in my head is just this lady going ‘Audiojungle… Audiojungle…’
When I was a kid,
that was like trying to record songs off the radio on tape cassette and then
all of a sudden a voice would go ‘ATLANTIC 252’
No, you ruined it!
Damnit!
I’ll have to wait for like four hours for that one to come
on again.
…Music ….Podcast …Zac.
He put it together,
he goes ‘There you go’ and we listened to it and I was very aware that I didn’t
want to put anything out that was just going to be for the sake of it. But we
got to a place where I was happy with it in terms off… you mentioned it earlier
Ruth in terms of being ‘indulgent’. And I certainly don’t think we escape
indulgence at all. Sometimes we swim in those waters. Sometimes we deep dive.
But we try to keep out of them as much as possible.
And yeah, it’s been fun basically. The whole point of the league was that we were getting to that age where we were starting to see each other less regularly. Some of the guys, things had happened in their life, where they just weren’t around. And any time you saw them it was by quite specific appointment. And a big part of why we created the league in the first place, seven, eight years ago, was to have a regular date, at least once a year, where we met up with friends that were threatening to drift away. And that is the very core of this whole thing and remains the core of the podcast. We’re not football experts. We’re friends who have a subject in common and enjoy the camaraderie and basically ripping into each other about that as well, that’s a big part of it.
And maybe that touches on what you asked earlier with regards to the show. There’s probably an element of the community and that communal feel that the show brings. I don’t know if that’s because of the dynamics of the characters, because of the presentation of Camelot as an idea, and an ideal of a time and place that people could exist in, and what that sparks in people’s minds on whether they want to be a part of that. And then you’ve got what you guys have probably discovered. You’ve got this creative project together which is born purely of the basis of what seems to be a very close friendship that you guys have, and if you didn’t have that, you wouldn’t draw people in to listen to it. I wouldn’t have listened to the first series if there wasn’t that core relationship between the two of you, that is really what we’re investing in. And it’s really that we have that common subject matter at the same time that also provides that continuity and I think you need both of those things.
That’s an interesting aspect because we have a number of our
listeners who listened to The Descent Is Easy, our Shadowhunters podcast, who
then started listening to Destiny & Chicken, and they’ve never seen Merlin,
but they started watching it, because they wanted to keep listening to our podcast
on a weekly basis.
Well, thank you for drawing
an audience towards it! I couldn’t be more grateful.
You’re welcome! But it’s kind of mind blowing. The concept that there’s people out there who are going out of their way because they want to keep listening to our podcast.
It’s a bit of a head trip.
As I say, I think it’s
a great compliment to you. Whether they are aware of it or not or whether they
can articulate that this is the reason, the fact is that people want to be
involved in your friendship. Or not be involved, but want to vicariously live
through your friendship. And again, we’re drawing parallels here. Merlin and
Arthur provide that for people. There is a desire to vicariously live through
their friendship. Their brotherhood as it were.
Interesting. And well done for bringing it back to the show, which we keep failing to do!
One of the things that I’ve been finding really interesting as we’re going through the episode is Arthur. This dude that’s at the centre of the story. One of the things about podcasting the way we do about a show is that you watch it in an entirely different way because you’re picking up on things that you have to sustain a conversation for over a number of weeks, and it means you think about things in a very different way than I did, when I was just enjoying it as a fan initially. And I think this idea of it being Arthur’s story in a really fundamental way I found really interesting. And I’m wondering if that’s something that you felt as you were making it. And also how you came to Arthur as a character, because you seem to have a huge amount of empathy for him, and he’s not necessarily always the easiest person to like.
Okay. I’m not sure if
all actors do this, but there’s an argument to be made for when you are playing
any character, you are in your own show. There’s a fine line you have to toe,
that you are not getting in the way of the story that is trying to be told, by
the writers, directors, producers, and in fact if the show doesn’t have your
name as the title, you obviously have to work within certain parameters. But
ultimately, the story you are there to tell, is your characters.
Now, the unique thing about Merlin is, I completely agree, that it is Arthur’s story. Because it specifically, the whole way through, the objective of the show is Arthur’s destiny. And we are reminded of that in every episode in some way, shape, or form. However it is told through the plight of the man who has the most work to do for Arthur to fulfil that destiny. And so, you have a character called Merlin that the audience can relate to like that (finger snap).
The vast majority of
human beings on this planet are not royalty, they’re not going to assume a
throne and a kingdom. So we as an audience find it a lot easier to relate to a
guy who’s just turned up, doesn’t really have much, and is constantly making
discoveries, not just about the world, but about himself, because that’s an
experience we’ve all been through.
So when you’re
approaching it from the actor’s point of view and you’re saying ‘Right, I’m
playing Arthur’, there is no point until… well, I won’t dish out spoilers cause
I know you guys go series by series, but there is no point where Arthur should
have the same viewpoint of Merlin, as the audience does. And in terms of… when
you get onto a set… even when you get someone who’s a grip for the day, or a
new caterer or something, the show is called Merlin, and there’s the guy
playing Merlin. There’s going to be a certain level of behaviour towards that
person. That’s just the way dynamics are on set. And it’s important, as a cast,
that the minute the camera is rolling, there is no trace of that anywhere. Because
this character… nobody knows about what the audience knows. And so, unless you’re
approaching it as your own show, unless you’re approaching it as ‘Arthur’, you’re
gonna fall into the trap of going ‘Oooh! This guy’s special… for some reason… don’t
really know’ but that can’t be the case, so you have to get rid of that whole
trace.
So very much so, I
was approaching is as though this is Arthur’s journey to becoming King Arthur. And
the blueprint is very simple. He starts off in one place. Not likeable. You’re
not meant to like this guy. You’re meant to go ‘Hey! This isn’t the guy I
thought was going to appear when they mentioned the name Arthur.’
That’s point A, and
if you want to simplify it and say where he gets to is point B, there’s a very
clear journey that he has to go on. And he learns a hell of a lot. There’s a
lot of lessons on the way to becoming King Arthur. Cause he’s got a long way to
go.
Now, linking the chain here. In terms of having empathy for that… Whilst on the outside you’ve got a guy who is unlikable, there are reasons for the traits, that an audience is exposed to. There are reasons behind those traits. And there’s a backstory to… there’s a backstory to all of us. We are all responsible for moments in time where our behaviour has been less than exemplary. There’s probably an explanation behind it. There is moments where we all fall foul to some form of negativity and it comes out in a certain way. And so, once you understand what it is that is making Arthur behave in a certain way, you can easily gain empathy for a person, because you understand that… not that you take away responsibility as though it’s not their fault, but we are all dealt a hand, and you are then responsible for how you play that hand. I’m over simplifying it, but without droning on too much about the nature vs. nurture aspect of life…
And to get more specific, when I turned up at drama school, I had come from a village where it was all guys. We all played football. There were barely any girls in our village. And to this day I’m still very close to this group of guys, we have a very close bond. But there is something that happens to your energy as a person when that is the case. So I turn up at drama school and I’ve sort of morphed into this ‘lad’ for lack of a better turn, who wants to be an actor. You don’t see that too often, though it is represented every now and then. And I turn up at drama school and there’s a variety of people there, all with different sensitivities, different characters, all with different… I’m being exposed to types of people that I’ve never been exposed to before in my life. And there’s a bit of a through line with something I went through at drama school that I was able to use when it came to trying to approach Arthur. With Arthur, it’s not that he’s not exposed to these people, but he’s a prince when we first meet him, and people don’t often say no to a prince. They mould to fit around him. The lifestyle you lead is enabled by the people around him, wanting to be part of his life, not specifically because of his character, but because of his world. So you get this version of Arthur that has not had boundaries set out for him to be any other way than what we see. All of a sudden Merlin turns up and everyone starts to try and kill Arthur so that changes things. We have five seasons of examples of why Arthur eventually ends up being ‘King Arthur’ and not ‘Oh god… Ugh! King Arthur…’
