BFI -- Series 4 -- a preview ...
Tonight was the BFI World Premiere of the first episode of Series 4 of Merlin. And what a premiere it was! I met up with loreley_se and rodneyscat just a scant 15 minutes before the entertainment was supposed to begin after yet another harrowing day at the office.
And as I expected, the evening was absolutely marvellous. Fabulous episode, lovely Q&A afterwards, managed to chat with many of the Merlin regulars, and we wrapped up the evening in the BFI bar where we caught up with londinensa and finally met up with meredyth_13 and scribblemoose. It's always such a delight to finally meet up with fandom friends.
As for the main fandom event itself, below the cut you'll find some pictures from the Q&A with some commentary on the non-spoilery questions raised during the Q&A. And then, after the pictures, some of my comments on the episode itself -- obviously a wee bit spoilery but I'll leave some space in between so that if you wish, you can look at the pictures only. But just to sum up -- I think most people (regardless of ship/favourite characters) will find Episode One *very* satisfying.
And the gang's all here! Well, except for one noticeable absence. The moderator at the beginning of the panel announced that Bradley was ill and therefore unable to attend.
And here was the replacement for Bradley :D. Being a Bradley/Arthur gal, it was a shame he wasn't able to make it. But I'm delighted on behalf of my Colin/Merlin friends who enjoyed the pleasant surprise.
Katie was on top form tonight, probably the most chatty of the three actors. When she was asked about memorable moments during filming, she commented on a scene this past summer when she was filming on a lake in France. She was in full costume, sweltering under the heat (plus 40 Celsius), but she found herself quite revived by the fact that most of the male filming crew were in the lake itself, shirtless. It sounds like she rather enjoyed the view!
Oh look! More Colin! And where has he learned to smirk like that?
And here's Angel. She was somewhat subdued but told us that her most embarrassing moment during filming was just a few weeks ago. She prides herself on being a bit of horserider and when she was asked if she needed a box to mount her horse during filming she said no. Well after multiple takes where she couldn't get astride her horse, she accepted the offer of the box.
More prettiness. When he was asked about his work schedule, on the easy days when they're in Cardiff and in the studio, he typically gets picked up at 6 in the morning and works through until half past seven in the evening. If they're on site, pick up time is usually between five and half past five. In fact, even today they were filming and after the Q&A they were headed back to Cardiff for another day of filming tomorrow.
Jazz hands!!!
I cannot resist crinkly eyed Colin. He answered a question and the audience went "awwwww". The moderator quipped back immediately with a "The audience is always going to awww at you."
More Katie looking fabulous. Apparently she's spent a lot of time in the "green box" this season as many of her scenes have used only a few real props and the rest have been CGI created.
He just is adorable. When he was asked which character he'd like to play for a day, he answered: the Dragon. :D
Angel commented on how much fun it is to have the Knights on set now as part of the group. The general consensus is that they're all lovely, fun guys.
And one last picture of Mr. Morgan.
Now, onto thoughts about the first episode and the preview trailer ...
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S
p
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L
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Where to begin? Let's start with Arthur and Merlin. There was no reset. This is 12 months into the future and you can see that both Arthur and Merlin have grown and matured into their responsibilities. There's still that lovely banter between them, but this time, it's just banter -- and it's as though both of them are expecting it. Arthur genuinely respects Merlin, calls him brave at one point, and the number of fond looks Arthur sends his way is *amazing*. It's nearly fanfic come to life!
They're still willing to die for each other. Without going into too much detail, Arthur leaps in front of Merlin to save him from some nasty critters. As for Merlin, he's fully admitted he'd die for Arthur if that's his destiny. And in fact, that's why he's joined Arthur and his Knights on this quest -- to sacrifice himself if necessary.
On the Arthur/Gwen side, for the first time in the entire series, there's actually a scene between the two of them that shows some chemistry. Arthur is about to leave on essentially a suicide trip and Gwen tells him to be careful, etc. Arthur manages to say the right thing to make her smile and, as he says 'that's the memory he wants to take away from this', they hug. It's just a sweet, lovely scene.
The Knights! They just rock. With mighty, mighty fists of steel. We have Gwaine and Percival lifting/stealing a cooked avian bird of some kind from the kitchen (with Merlin's help). We have Percival saving three children from the monsters by picking them up in his arms and carrying them to safety. We have Elyan stepping in with a torch to scare away the monsters at a much needed time in order to save Percival's life along with those of the children -- and then looking at Percival and commenting that he couldn't have all of the glory.
We have Leon -- noble Leon -- being all noble. (As an aside, apparently Rupert is quite accident prone. To the extent that all of the members of the Q&A basically agreed that Rupert *could* be the Bloopers Reel :D.)
We have Lancelot!! Protecting Merlin and his magic, still pining quite obviously after Gwen but committed to do whatever he needs to do in order to protect his prince/king. On that note -- the previews and the comments of Julian and Johnny were rather interesting indeed. In the preview of episodes yet to come, there was definitely a kiss between Gwen and Lancelot along with Gwen in a prison chamber and Arthur asking Gwen what has she *done* (no context of course). And Julian and Johnny said they were definitely exploring the three sided relationship between Arthur, Gwen, and Lancelot. Hmmmmm...
And then we have a broken Uther who barely eats and doesn't speak whom Gwen is looking after. There is a lovely scene between Arthur and Uther when Arthur comes to essentially say good bye to his father as he doesn't expect to return from this quest.
And of course we have the mysterious Agravaine -- brother of Ygraine. It's quickly revealed that he and Morgana are in cahoots. But -- to what extent? And *why* are the two working together? Interesting times ahead.
And finally -- Johnny and Julian gave us the following two tidbits of information:
#1 -- there is talk of "Merlin -- the Movie!" -- huge audience reaction.
#2 -- John Hurt's dragon may not be the sole member of his kind. There was definitely a dragon egg in the preview :D.
And on that note, I'm calling it a night. Here's hoping you've enjoyed the pics and some of the commentary.
And as I expected, the evening was absolutely marvellous. Fabulous episode, lovely Q&A afterwards, managed to chat with many of the Merlin regulars, and we wrapped up the evening in the BFI bar where we caught up with londinensa and finally met up with meredyth_13 and scribblemoose. It's always such a delight to finally meet up with fandom friends.
As for the main fandom event itself, below the cut you'll find some pictures from the Q&A with some commentary on the non-spoilery questions raised during the Q&A. And then, after the pictures, some of my comments on the episode itself -- obviously a wee bit spoilery but I'll leave some space in between so that if you wish, you can look at the pictures only. But just to sum up -- I think most people (regardless of ship/favourite characters) will find Episode One *very* satisfying.
And the gang's all here! Well, except for one noticeable absence. The moderator at the beginning of the panel announced that Bradley was ill and therefore unable to attend.
And here was the replacement for Bradley :D. Being a Bradley/Arthur gal, it was a shame he wasn't able to make it. But I'm delighted on behalf of my Colin/Merlin friends who enjoyed the pleasant surprise.
Katie was on top form tonight, probably the most chatty of the three actors. When she was asked about memorable moments during filming, she commented on a scene this past summer when she was filming on a lake in France. She was in full costume, sweltering under the heat (plus 40 Celsius), but she found herself quite revived by the fact that most of the male filming crew were in the lake itself, shirtless. It sounds like she rather enjoyed the view!
Oh look! More Colin! And where has he learned to smirk like that?
And here's Angel. She was somewhat subdued but told us that her most embarrassing moment during filming was just a few weeks ago. She prides herself on being a bit of horserider and when she was asked if she needed a box to mount her horse during filming she said no. Well after multiple takes where she couldn't get astride her horse, she accepted the offer of the box.
More prettiness. When he was asked about his work schedule, on the easy days when they're in Cardiff and in the studio, he typically gets picked up at 6 in the morning and works through until half past seven in the evening. If they're on site, pick up time is usually between five and half past five. In fact, even today they were filming and after the Q&A they were headed back to Cardiff for another day of filming tomorrow.
Jazz hands!!!
I cannot resist crinkly eyed Colin. He answered a question and the audience went "awwwww". The moderator quipped back immediately with a "The audience is always going to awww at you."
More Katie looking fabulous. Apparently she's spent a lot of time in the "green box" this season as many of her scenes have used only a few real props and the rest have been CGI created.
He just is adorable. When he was asked which character he'd like to play for a day, he answered: the Dragon. :D
Angel commented on how much fun it is to have the Knights on set now as part of the group. The general consensus is that they're all lovely, fun guys.
And one last picture of Mr. Morgan.
Now, onto thoughts about the first episode and the preview trailer ...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
S
p
O
I
L
E
R
S
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Where to begin? Let's start with Arthur and Merlin. There was no reset. This is 12 months into the future and you can see that both Arthur and Merlin have grown and matured into their responsibilities. There's still that lovely banter between them, but this time, it's just banter -- and it's as though both of them are expecting it. Arthur genuinely respects Merlin, calls him brave at one point, and the number of fond looks Arthur sends his way is *amazing*. It's nearly fanfic come to life!
They're still willing to die for each other. Without going into too much detail, Arthur leaps in front of Merlin to save him from some nasty critters. As for Merlin, he's fully admitted he'd die for Arthur if that's his destiny. And in fact, that's why he's joined Arthur and his Knights on this quest -- to sacrifice himself if necessary.
On the Arthur/Gwen side, for the first time in the entire series, there's actually a scene between the two of them that shows some chemistry. Arthur is about to leave on essentially a suicide trip and Gwen tells him to be careful, etc. Arthur manages to say the right thing to make her smile and, as he says 'that's the memory he wants to take away from this', they hug. It's just a sweet, lovely scene.
The Knights! They just rock. With mighty, mighty fists of steel. We have Gwaine and Percival lifting/stealing a cooked avian bird of some kind from the kitchen (with Merlin's help). We have Percival saving three children from the monsters by picking them up in his arms and carrying them to safety. We have Elyan stepping in with a torch to scare away the monsters at a much needed time in order to save Percival's life along with those of the children -- and then looking at Percival and commenting that he couldn't have all of the glory.
We have Leon -- noble Leon -- being all noble. (As an aside, apparently Rupert is quite accident prone. To the extent that all of the members of the Q&A basically agreed that Rupert *could* be the Bloopers Reel :D.)
We have Lancelot!! Protecting Merlin and his magic, still pining quite obviously after Gwen but committed to do whatever he needs to do in order to protect his prince/king. On that note -- the previews and the comments of Julian and Johnny were rather interesting indeed. In the preview of episodes yet to come, there was definitely a kiss between Gwen and Lancelot along with Gwen in a prison chamber and Arthur asking Gwen what has she *done* (no context of course). And Julian and Johnny said they were definitely exploring the three sided relationship between Arthur, Gwen, and Lancelot. Hmmmmm...
And then we have a broken Uther who barely eats and doesn't speak whom Gwen is looking after. There is a lovely scene between Arthur and Uther when Arthur comes to essentially say good bye to his father as he doesn't expect to return from this quest.
And of course we have the mysterious Agravaine -- brother of Ygraine. It's quickly revealed that he and Morgana are in cahoots. But -- to what extent? And *why* are the two working together? Interesting times ahead.
And finally -- Johnny and Julian gave us the following two tidbits of information:
#1 -- there is talk of "Merlin -- the Movie!" -- huge audience reaction.
#2 -- John Hurt's dragon may not be the sole member of his kind. There was definitely a dragon egg in the preview :D.
And on that note, I'm calling it a night. Here's hoping you've enjoyed the pics and some of the commentary.