Ah the Great British Summer. The weather may be awful but at least it’s light long in to the evening – that’s enough to make me happy. Until I realise that there’s nothing on TV of course!
I had to join in the Willy Wonka meme craze
It’s the great self-fulfilling prophecy that nobody watches TV over the summer. The channels show more repeats and generally weaker content, so the viewing figures go down. Big surprise. There is actually an available audience if the content is strong though – as shown a few years ago when New Tricks (BBC One) and Dragons’ Den (BBC Two) were moved from early in the year to summer slots – viewing figures stayed the same, but audience share, which is arguably more important to the BBC, actually went up. There’s less competition if you do decide to put something good on!
This week of course we have the Euros starting – but I promise not to complain if you take those stupid flags off your cars; They increase drag, therefore fuel consumption, therefore pollution, but my big problem is the fact they say ENGLAND on them. If you need to write it what’s the point of having a flag at all! But perhaps I am digressing. The Euros and even more importantly the London Olympics (which are going to take out BBC One and BBC Three completely) mean there’s even less regular content to watch this summer than usual. Great time to start a TV blog huh?
Oh, that flag means England?
So if you want to avoid the sport and the dross, and the latest goings on in Albert Square and the Rovers’ Return don’t intrigue you (I hear someone’s having an affair… well it’s pretty much a guarantee) there’s always Big Brother. Kidding!! It’s the perfect time for the Box Set Binge. And I’d like to offer you a starting point. In Camelot.
Merlin launched on BBC One as a teatime Saturday night drama, like Doctor Who and even more like Robin Hood. The concept is simple, we’re looking at Merlin the Wizard as a teenager who moves to a Camelot where magic is illegal, and he is given a job as servant to Prince Arthur (who as I’m sure you can guess, goes on to be King). Merlin frequently has to save Arthur and Camelot from magical creatures by using magic himself – in fact that pretty much sums up each episode from series one and two, but stick with it! As the bromance builds between Arthur and Merlin, and the character depth increases with King Uther, Gwen and Gaius (Richard Wilson on fine form even with neck skin dangling almost as long as his wig) the show becomes darker, scarier and positively gripping. Fun for the whole family sounds off-putting but it really is true!
I’d like to especially recommend it to fans of Harry Potter or Doctor Who, and it’s perfect for those lazy rainy summer days. So give it a try, and before you know it you’ll be imagining it’s a dragon voicing those Sky adverts… Belieeevvvveee in Better, Young Warlock.
And now, just for my own personal therapy, I will continue my rant about flags on cars…
Buy Merlin on DVD from Amazon
Merlin – Complete Series 1 Box Set [DVD]
Merlin – Complete Series 2 Box Set [DVD]
Merlin – Series 3 – Complete BBC [DVD]
Merlin – Complete BBC Series 4 [DVD]
