With X-factor fever in full swing, the BBC needed to ensure they had a big hitter in their Saturday night 7.30pm slot, which was previously occupied by firm favourites such as Doctor Who and Robin Hood. Merlin does for Arthurian legend what Smallville did for Superman, by creating a modern, family-friendly version of the Young Arthur Chronicles. Having seen the first two episodes, it seems that the Beeb have done it again, although Merlin has some way to go before it steals any of the Doctor’s thunder.

In the first episode, Merlin (Colin Morgan) is sent to Camelot by his mother. She has taken the inexplicable decision to send her son, who has natural magic abilities, to Camelot, where magic is outlawed and punishable by death - apparently for his protection under the watchful eye of Gaius (Richard Wilson). Upon his arrival, King Uther Pendragon (played by Anthony Head of Buffy fame) has just beheaded a suspected sorcerer and has been cursed by the ex-magician’s mother to know the pain of losing a son. Luckily, his son is the spotty and arrogant teenage future king Arthur (Bradley James), so the audience are all pretty much on board with the plan to off him. After Merlin has a run-in with Arthur, he decides he would be fairly happy to see him die as well, until a dragon who speaks with John Hurt’s voice and is imprisoned in an underground cave tells Merlin that it’s actually his destiny to keep him alive. When Merlin manages to save Arthur’s life in Episode 1, he’s promoted to the position of Arthur’s manservant, to ensure he’s on-hand for all manner of future altercations. In Episode Two, Gaz from Two Pints of Lager (Will Mellor) plays a beefy knight with a magic shield, who also wants Arthur dead – are you spotting the theme here?

Despite, or perhaps because of, the silly plot, Merlin captures the imagination, packs in plenty of swashbuckling action and potential love interests for Arthur and Merlin and is an immensely pleasurable show to watch. The majority of the cast are fresh faces, and Bradley James and Colin Morgan both step up to playing these major roles well. It’s likely that we will see a Who’s Who of special guests popping up over the coming weeks which is always good fun, but for now, I’m perfectly happy with seeing Rupert Giles wearing an array of extremely fetching crowns.

Arthurian pedants will likely be annoyed about the liberties this adaptation takes with the legend, and even I’m left quite confused about why Lady Guinevere has been stripped of title and name (most people call her Gwen, apparently!) and has been re-employed as a servant to Lady Morgana – who despite being a big old villainous Morgan Le Fey in most versions, still seems fairly chummy with Arthur, Uther and Gwen at present. As with Smallville though, it’s definitely worth overlooking the inconsistencies and just enjoying the ride, hopefully some of these questions will be answered as the plot unfolds...

The current series of Merlin continues on BBC One on Saturday evenings during September and October 2008, while American viewers can look forward to seeing Merlin come to their screens courtesy of NBC in January 2009. Canadian and Australian networks have also purchased broadcast rights, although they have not yet announced when they will be showing the series.

Want to keep it forever? Buy the Merlin Vol. 1 DVD at Amazon now! (release date 24th November 2008) - Merlin Vol.1 [2008]