In a land of myth and a time of magic.....

“I’ve had some troubled nights,” said the inscrutable Morgana – or maybe she meant “knights”? Whatever, no sooner do I mention “Sir Lancelot” (see my previous post “The Lady of Shalott”) than I discover that the Pick channel is showing repeats of the BBC TV series from just over one decade ago (2008-2012), the wonderful and magical Merlin. Incidentally, this is a timely appearance since The Time Tunnel has just ceased its run – sob, sigh – on the Horror channel. But no matter! The Merlin in question is not the pointy-hatted, white bearded cliché of popular imagination, but a delectable young Colin Morgan, hiding in plain sight in a land, Camelot, to be exact, where the practice of magic is forbidden. Working as stable boy-cum-servant to a handsome, adolescent Prince Arthur (Bradley James), the young Merlin plies his craft in secret to bring about good health, freedom and justice to all. This duo are paralleled by the dark and unfathomable Morgana (Katie McGrath) and sweet-as-honey Guinevere, (Angel Coulby). With knights and maidens, lashings of sword-and-sorcery action, a talking dragon (voiced by John Hurt) and other magical creatures, and for a touch of class, Richard Wilson as court physician Gaius, what’s not to love? Showing weeknights on Pick channel, between 8 and 9 pm...