Saturday, 19 March 2011

Doctor Who May Face Competition from ''Merlin'' in the Autumn

Despite earlier reports that the programme would return with only ten episodes, the BBC exclusively revealed to SFX that Merlin will have thirteen episodes in Series 4, mirroring the style of Doctor Who. Executive producer Johnny Capps explains why there has been such a sudden shift in appreciation up at the BBC head offices.
"We’re no longer reduced episodes. We’re 13 again. There was talk there would 10, but there will be 13. We were very lucky with series three – it was hugely successful and we built our audience throughout, so I think the BBC now sees it as one of their most important Autumn dramas, especially for a Saturday night."
This makes a competition for the Saturday night drama timeslot quite likely, especially if Merlin and Doctor Who air around the same time. After all, both series often hit upon the same target audiences, especially the family of drama-lovers. Perhaps Merlin will be wise enough to start broadcasting later than its usual September start date, assuming that it will air in 2011, rather than the originally speculated date of 2012.
Of course, many of former's stars have played characters in the latter, and vice versa. Colin Morgan (Merlin) was in "Midnight"; Angel Coulby (Gwen) was in "Girl in the Fireplace"; Anthony Head (King Uther) was the headmaster Krillitane in "School Reunion"; and Richard Wilson (Gaius) was Doctor Constantine in "The Empty Child". Whoniverse alumni have also made appearances as guest stars, not least of whom would be Eve Myles (Gwen Cooper) as a short-lived singer or, more recently, Miriam Margolyes (a Blathreen in Sarah Jane) as Grunhilda.

Source credit goes to SFX, whose full report—interview included—ought to be read.

8 Comments:

Combom said...

having watched merlin - IMHO its pants!

The Scientist said...

Its a load of boring shite.

10thPlanet said...

Hmm . . . maybe I wasn't clear enough. I meant TIMESLOT competition, really, especially since the styles of the two are too similar to have at the same time. I'm not suggesting that people are going to be switching over to Merlin!

newelectricmuse said...

I like them both. Hope the series don't overlap.

Queen Vic Admin said...
This post has been removed by the author.
Sabrina said...

Interesting as Merlin and Doctor Who both air on the same channel on the same day in the same time slot. Maybe in the weeks where both air, Merlin can air at 6:30 whith Doctor Who straight after it at 7:15, or maybe a Sunday broadcast for Merlin.

Dalek1099 said...

great news merlin gets the 13 episodes it should get great show

Lucille7777 said...

I'm happy Merlin gets 13 new episodes. Perhaps Merlin could air on Sunday, as they are uneventful on BBC America.