[Whedonesque] Anthony Stewart Head's "Merlin" to air on NBC in US.

[David]

http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/entertainment_tv/2008/04/the-office-gets.html
The Chicago Tribune's TV writer, Maureen Ryan, details NBC's Fall line-up which includes ASH's new fantasy series, "Merlin".
It'll debut on Sunday evenings mid-season.

My first topic post! Please be gentle...


More... (http://www.whedonesque.com/comments/15967)

[Mr. Pointy]

I wonder if this is the new BBC "Merlin", which is a Saturday evening family slot replacement for Doctor Who and Robin Hood. I'll have a look around and post what I find.

Edit - yup, it is. From a little further down that article than I read...
MERLIN - "Merlin" brings to life a new legend for a modern audience. "Merlin" is an exciting, hour-long fantasy series set in the mythic city of Camelot -- but inspired by 21st Century storytelling. Before Merlin (Colin Morgan, "Doctor Who") and Arthur (Bradley James, "Lewis") became legends, they were ambitious young men looking for adventure, hoping to live up to their family's expectations, discovering love and finding their own true destiny, making mistakes along the way. The innovative, action-packed drama has cross-generational appeal and paints a picture of Merlin and Arthur's early life that audiences have never witnessed before. Anthony Head ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer"), Richard Wilson ("A Passage to India"), Angel Coulby ("Magicians") and Katie McGrath ("The Tudors") also star. A FremantleMedia Enterprises distribution of a Shine production for BBC.

Edit:

I found out a little more about Merlin. Tony is to play Uther Pendragon, King Arthur's father. The show has been in pre-production since 2005 and filming started this March.
Here's an article from The Guardian which has a lot more detail -
The BBC has started filming on Merlin, a fantasy drama about Arthurian legend featuring Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Little Britain star Anthony Head and One Foot in the Grave's Richard Wilson.

The 13-part drama will be broadcast in the autumn and stars a trio of newcomers as the young Merlin, Arthur and Guinevere.

Head will star as Arthur's father, Uther Pendragon, while Wilson will play court physician Gaius in the Saturday teatime BBC1 series, slated for the family drama slot occupied by the likes of Doctor Who and Robin Hood.

The drama will be set in the mythical city of Camelot, and focus on Merlin as a wizard on the brink of adulthood who clashes with a young Prince Arthur.

...

"The writer Julian Jones and award-winning team at Shine have delivered scripts which are bold and original, entertaining and enchanting and director James Hawes' bravura vision for this piece is perfectly suited to the adventure we are all embarking upon," said Jane Tranter, the controller of BBC Fiction, the corporation's department in charge of drama.

"Merlin is a wonderfully ambitious and beautifully crafted series which we're sure will enchant families later this year."


BBC conjures fantasy drama Merlin | Media | guardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/mar/17/bbc.television1?gusrc=rss&feed=media)

[white avenger]

I guess that puts the quash on "Ripper," at least for the present.

[Mr. Pointy]

I guess that puts the quash on "Ripper," at least for the present.

Damn! I hadn't thought of that. Still, I like the sound of Merlin...even more so when I found out that some of the Doctor Who production people were associated with it.

[Joyce Summers]

This sounds really good. I've always liked the story of Merlin since I was a little girl and have enjoyed most interpretations of it. Most particularly the one that had Helena Bonham Carter as Morgan Le Fay. It was excellent.

I hope this doesn't totally write off the concept of Ripper though :(. I've been looking forward to that since it was first rumored. Haha

[palabravampiress]

I'm not a huge Merlin fan, but...

I'll take anything that puts ASH back on my TV screen. For reals! This is good news. I do hope we get to see Ripper eventually, though.

[punkypower]

Hi all!!

The trailer is up today--enjoy!:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/29/bbc.television?gusrc=rss&feed=media