Review: Why BBC's Merlin Episodes Need to Be 50 Minutes Long

Last year the fans were horrified when the fourth series of Merlin was commissioned and there was a suggestion that there would only be ten episodes rather than the usual thirteen. I admit I was one of the aforementioned horrified because the thought of the show being cut down for what was ultimately budget cuts seemed unfair. The show wouldn't have gained an extra few minutes, just have three episodes cut.

But following the end of Series 4 I cannot help but feel that the show could do with some sharpening. For one thing, anyone who has now bought the series on DVD will see that a wealth of material was cut from all the episodes for no other reason than the episode was clearly running too long and had to be shaved. For example in The Wicked Day which saw the demise of King Uther Pendragon and the accession of Arthur loped off an entire side-line in which Arthur and Gwen talk about the moral issues surrounding using magic to cure Uther. They were deep, rich scenes and I thought it was an outrage that they were cut, especially since rather painfully cringy scenes involving 'Emrys' and Arthur were kept in.

Another issue that frustrated me was the portrayal of the character Agravaine. This is no slight on Nathaniel Parker's performance but the character was completely undeveloped and unrealised. He was introduced in the first episode of the series, literally appearing from the shadows, and then stayed in the light until Merlin finally kills him in the last episode in a gloriously remarkable scene which has absolutely nothing to do with Agravaine and everything to do with Colin Morgan's amazing acting.

The most frustrating thing about him was that his origins were never explained. He literally appeared out of no where and was then treated as if he had always been there. It is possible that the writers wanted us to think that Agravaine had always been there. It was the only explanation that my mother could come to to explain why the show had failed to give him any background or motivations for wanting to kill his own nephew and replace him with his sister.

Oh, wait! There was an explanation. Agravaine was in love with Morgana, apparently. But why? She never gave him any reason to love her and she certainly never treated him as if he would prosper from helping her. The entire logical of this motivation was completely flawed and filled with holes. Yet the worst thing was that a scene in the second episode of the series in which Agravaine explains his love for her was cut. On the DVD you can watch the scene in which Morgana cruelly twists Agravaine's arm while he declares his undying love for her. Even with this scene it is still a weak motivation for this character who up until now had never been seen or heard, but without it we literally had to wait until episode thirteen for Agravaine to even suggest that this was his one and only motivation. This completely blighted not only the character but the whole backbone of the show.

Still, the show might have been a lot better if this scene had been left in and told the audience immediately what ended up just being wild speculation on the road to nowhere. Therefore I think the show could benefit from being 50 minutes long as opposed to 42 minutes long.

But I also think that in order to achieve this the show does need to be cut down. The creators need to learn not to waste precious screen-time as they did during Series 4. What could have been the best series ever was slighted by numerous screw-ups and poor choices in the editing suite. There were at least two episodes which the show could have done without last series, including the episode in which Elyan was possessed and the episode with the snake-woman Lamia. These were episodes which could have been used to explain other series plot holes, which as Agravaine's backgrounds and other motives (to back up the unconvincing ones he was given) or wrap up the whole story of Arthur's birth - which was never explained and yet Arthur suddenly appears to have full knowledge of.

Agravaine was Ygraine's brother yet he showed no genuine motivation on her part for revenge. The killing of Uther wasn't deeply portrayed enough and could easily have been justified by his flaky and ridiculously conceived love for the she-wolf. Many opportunities were wasted and the show needs to get its act together for this next series.

After all, it is due to be the last one.

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Review: Being Human, the Half-Way Point

So, I know a lot of us were wondering what the future of Being Human would hold. We all wondered whether we could get by without our Fab Four, with the original cast number being taken down to one. We all wondered whether Annie would be strong enough to hold the show alone or whether the new characters would be as good as George and Mitchell without copying them.

Could the show cope without characters like Herrick as the Big Bad? Could the feared 'Old Ones' really be a massive threat? Could the show come up with a better plot than last years which foresaw the end of John Mitchell, every fangirl's wet dream?

But most importantly, would the show be able to survive the wave of unshakeable fan girls crying at the TV, "It's rubbish without Mitchell!"

Well, after all that wondering and with four episodes down (The Series half-way point) I can say this: Toby Whitehouse has kept the show fresh and alive where other show creators have failed.

For one thing the plot for Series 4 has so far bested all other plots to date. With a fantasy/sci-fi show there is always the pressure to 'top' what has come before. Take Doctor Who, for example. Once RTD brought back Gallifrey and the Time Lords in the New Years Special which also bid Bon Voyage to David Tennant's Doctor, we all wondered how the Hell Steven Moffat was ever going to top it. And what has followed since then?

Series 5 - The Destruction of the Universe and the Second Big Bang resulting in a BRAND NEW reality.
Series 6 - The Death of the Doctor, the Revelation of River Song's identity...

And what does Moffat have in store for the future? An answer to 'The First Question'. The only concern we have here is HOW much more than Doctor Who do after THAT? Because it is clear that the end of the last series foresaw the demise of the Eleventh Doctor (Who, by the way, is the Greatest Doctor of All Time. All Hail Matt Smith!) and from the sounds of things, this will be a regeneration that will make the Tenth Doctor's looking even more dreary and annoying than it already was!

Back to Being Human...


The plot of this series is definitely a step out of the comfort zone for many BH fans as the story has moved far away from its humble origins in a wafer pink house in Bristol. The story focuses on the destiny of George and Nina's daughter Eve who is apparently destined to bring about the destruction of the vampires. With the destiny comes two sets of enemies: on the one side we have the Old Ones, and elite group of vampires who fear the prophecy of the young baby. Then we have the mysterious Woman from the future, speculated by many to be Eve.

With the deaths of Mitchell, George and Nina, three of the original four line-up of Vampire, Werewolves, Human-Then-Werewolf and Ghost had been lost. Many people doubted before the show came back a few weeks back that the show could keep going after having suffered such heavy casualties on the cast list, leaving only the ghost Annie behind.

There is no denying that the original four characters were very popular, especially the vampire Mitchell. I, for my part, could not see the appeal of him as he seemed to demise as a character after Series 1 and by his death at the end of Series 3, he was my least favourite character. Even his finally getting together with Annie for a short interval felt a little empty because Mitchell had lost so much of what made him a sympathetic character. His desperation to hide and run away from his mass slaughter of the Box Tunnel 20 changed him and he had passed the point of no return. There was no going back. Aidan Turner was right to leave when he did because, in all seriousness, there was very little wriggle wrong for Mitchell's character any more.

However the loss of George and Nina, the Golden Couple of the show, did strike me as disappointing. Nina was my favourite female character: feisty and argumentative I grew to love her all the more my love of Mitchell declined. And as for George... he was always the heart and soul of the gang, but without Mitchell and Nina, he lost his edge and it right for him to die.

And so we were flung into Series 4 after the first episode with several things to get used to: a life without them, and a new life with Tom and Hal.

Tom we already knew from the last series as a young and not-too-bright werewolf, the adopted son of the Vampire Slayer McNair. With the death of his father it seemed only natural that he would move into HH with Annie and George, and with the death of the latter he has taken over in the show as Chief Werewolf. One of the appealing things about Tom is that he is so different from George and Nina. Although his lack of basic knowledge outside killing vampires and the cafe in which he works can be annoying at times, it is refreshing.

It is clear that the show is trying to re-create the friendship between the Werewolf and the Vampire with Tom's friendship with Hal. Of course, having spent most of his life killing vampires, this is difficult. Yet following Episode 3 in which Hal was forced by Annie to get a job and help support the household, it was nice to see the trust between Tom and Hal develop. It helps that they are really forced together by Annie, and by Baby Eve.

And as for Hal, the new Chief-Vampire in residence, he had an even tougher act to follow with the popularity of Mitchell. Yet all the fears of the fans have been averted and some (Including myself) actually prefer Hal. The king is dead, all hail King Hal!

The appeal of Hal's character lies in his classy self-control. Even people who still long for Mitchell admit also liking Hal, almost because he is impossible to dislike. He is oddly charming with his anal router of things he has to do to stay off killing and his enjoyment of the Antiques Roadshow (I think all of us regular viewers had a giggle by Tom and Hal's rejection of the "show about conmen...") and BBC Radio 4. But probably the reason why he is so difficult to dislike is because he has beaten Mitchell at one thing many fans, even the ones who adored him, held again him - his constant emo whining about how difficult it was to stay clean.

Hal is an Old One who has been clean of blood for fifty years following his live-in situation with another ghost-werewolf set. Mitchell was a one-hundred-and-twenty year old vampire he didn't manage to stay clean even once during the show's run despite his constant attempts. With every failure, sympathy for Mitchell faded but by bit. With Hal, we can start afresh. Here we have an odd-ball, strangely likeable vampire who has yet to fall off the wagon...

And all of us hoping he manages to protect Eve without killing someone in the process by feeding off their blood.