Merlin: Secrets & Magic (2009) s01e12 Episode Script
The Dragons' Den
Welcome to Secrets & Magic, the show that reveals how Merlin is made.
Cut there.
Coming up - could this be the final curtain call for M and M? Morgause and Morgana, that is.
He's put in a position that's hard for him to reason.
Here, have some water.
He has to kill Morgana.
We go straight to the dragon's mouth in an exclusive backstage recording session with the legendary John Hurt.
One dayyou will free me.
Plus, sparks fly as Merlin makes good his promise to unleash the monster.
This is the big moment, Merlin is keeping his promise.
All this and more on Merlin - Secrets & Magic.
The cast and crew of the BBC Wales drama, Merlin, are back on set to make the penultimate episode of the second series.
It's a huge, epic finale.
When you first read something like that, you think, "Wow!" It's the beginning of a dramatic double-parter that features double-crossing What's happened?! .
.
deadly drinks .
.
and of course, the dragon's den.
Action! Bende thara dracan! It's huge! This is the beginning of the end.
It'll go out with a bang.
Camelot is in complete chaos, and the magic-fearing monarch has one almighty foe.
Morgana has finally decidedthat she's had enough of Uther.
She can't live with the way he is any more.
She's decided that the time has come for her to do something about it, and Morgause comes into the episode 'and facilitates this, but in a way that Morgana isn't really aware.
' Morgana agrees to something, agrees to a plan, without truly understanding what it is.
Are you prepared to help me bring about his downfall? I am.
You see Morgana become so impassioned and so against Uther that it's actually becoming quite dangerous and very worrying.
She becomes a vessel for a spell that is cast over all of Camelot.
It's the magic of Morgause that leads to some very dark knights in Camelot.
Protect the King! Get him out of here! I wanted the Knights of Medhir to wear cloaks, dark cloaks, and we spent quite a lot of time thinking, maybe they should have skeleton faces.
But then I thought again about, maybe they should wear masks.
Cos they're supposed to be knights, but I didn't want them just having armour.
I wanted them to have cloaks that would move nicely in slow motion, and be quite menacing and dark and hooded, sort of like grim reapers.
'So we got a very good mask maker to respond to some of the pictures I'd seen around 'and out of that, she drew her own ideas.
' Really strong, visually.
It's certainly a pleasure to work with the stunt guys.
Under there is the man with the best name in stunts - Rick English.
Eagle-eyed - and I mean exceptionally eagle-eyed fans - will recognise Rick as the Dark Knight and a bandit from last year.
He's also going to be appearing in this series.
Rick has played many parts onprobably the most parts played by any one person.
Andaction! I never said thanks.
Cut!Cut there.
HE CHANTS SPELL Well, that was a very fun day.
We spent, um, most of the day on that scene, cos it's quite a big scene and it was a lot of fun to do.
Making this latest magical adventure may have been good fun for Bradley off screen, but back in Camelot, the recent return of the sexy sorceress has put Merlin in a rather tricky situation.
You have to help me.
The source of this pestilence is the witch, the Lady Morgana.
'He's put in a position where he has to make a decision' which is very out of character.
Here, have some water.
I'm not thirsty.
He has to, um, literally poison a friend, 'kill a friend, but for the greater good.
It's not an easy decision.
Here.
I'm fine.
No, you have some before I finish it.
'He can either save Camelot or let me live.
' Thank you.
So, in order to save Camelot and Arthur, the once and future king, he has to kill Morgana.
Does he poison somebody that he, in a way, cares about, but is suspicious of 'or does he let her live and, therefore, let the rest of Camelot die? 'Either decision is really difficult for Merlin.
' 'He kills her because he believes he had to.
' He kills her because Morgana's magic has taken her somewhere his magic never would.
'And Merlin and Morgana can't be friends because of that.
' They've started off in the same place, but have gone completely opposite directions.
Their friendship isn't going to come back from that.
We liked that, because Let's push Merlin into making a very difficult decision, 'and it is a awful decision that he has to make, 'but there is hope for Morgana, because Morgause takes her away' and there is absolutely a sense that Morgause will save Morgana.
SHE CHANTS A SPELL 'And that creates, for us, a delicious dilemma, 'because when Merlin gets to meet Morgana again, 'what will her attitude be towards Merlin?' What will her attitude be towards Camelot and what has Morgause been telling her? It was important to get that right and Jeremy Webb, director, was great, because he completely pushed us and spent the time on it.
I hope I never have to do it again.
It was horrible.
Horrible.
I made Colin cry! Well, I made Merlin cry, but it's the same thing.
Action! Now, dry-eyed and back in the dragon's den, Colin is soon to shoot the moment when Merlin makes good his promise.
But filming these fantasy scenes is never easy.
When coming to the technical way of filming scenes with the dragon, 'I'm perched on a ledge, which is looking like a cave about the size of a living room.
'And looking at a green screen that'll have a mark on it, 'or sometimes it's just a wall with a mark on it,' which is my eye-line for the dragon.
And then it's just down to using your imagination to imagine what it could possibly be like 'to talk to a 30' dragon.
The time has come, young warlock.
'The voice of the dragon is provided by the very famous John Hurt.
' We always try to record John's voice before Colin shoots his scenes with the dragon, just to give him something to work with.
'So we play in John's voice' The time has come, young warlock.
Where will you go? I am the last of my kind.
There is but one road I can take.
What does that mean? You will see.
Colin and I talk about the scene and how the dragon's going to react, what his looks are going to be.
We shoot the scene with Colin against a green screen, 'hearing John Hurt's voice within the scene.
'I think that helps Colin quite a lot.
' Cut.
What was great was in this series we got to record scenes with John in the studio in London.
That was a real experience, because he's such a legend and such a lovely guy that it was great to get a chance to be in the studio with him.
Please! I need your help.
Ahhhhhhhh.
You told me I would not see you again.
I'm not It's not just John's legendary voice he lends to the show.
As he delivers the script, small beads stuck onto his face track his every movement.
This not only helps the animators sync the dragon to the dialogue, but adds John's own performance and personality to the part.
'No matter how good the CGI of the dragon is 'and how real the audience think it looks, 'it needed to have the weight and the authority and that emotional experience 'of a really good actor.
And to have John Hurt changed that animation hugely 'and created this dragon that now has become a very important character to the show.
' Now promise I promise.
.
.
that one day, you will free me.
'What we decided, early on, was that the dragon says,' "You have to release me.
" Young warlock.
It was some time ago you promised to set me free 'He knows, at some point,' that promise is going to be called forward.
And that time has come.
Back on set, Colin and the crew are preparing for the moment where the monstrous dragon is finally unleashed.
This big chain here is what has been holding the dragon down in these depths for all these years and this is the big moment.
Merlin's about to keep his promise.
HE CHANTS A SPELL 'I think Merlin believes that the dragon is gone, he's free,' he's gone off, but, um I don't think we realise the implications of what the dragon's got going on in his head and I think Merlin's a bit worried about setting him free, but he's keeping his promise and he's seeing it through to the end.
The implications of that will become very clear.
Cut there.
Coming up - could this be the final curtain call for M and M? Morgause and Morgana, that is.
He's put in a position that's hard for him to reason.
Here, have some water.
He has to kill Morgana.
We go straight to the dragon's mouth in an exclusive backstage recording session with the legendary John Hurt.
One dayyou will free me.
Plus, sparks fly as Merlin makes good his promise to unleash the monster.
This is the big moment, Merlin is keeping his promise.
All this and more on Merlin - Secrets & Magic.
The cast and crew of the BBC Wales drama, Merlin, are back on set to make the penultimate episode of the second series.
It's a huge, epic finale.
When you first read something like that, you think, "Wow!" It's the beginning of a dramatic double-parter that features double-crossing What's happened?! .
.
deadly drinks .
.
and of course, the dragon's den.
Action! Bende thara dracan! It's huge! This is the beginning of the end.
It'll go out with a bang.
Camelot is in complete chaos, and the magic-fearing monarch has one almighty foe.
Morgana has finally decidedthat she's had enough of Uther.
She can't live with the way he is any more.
She's decided that the time has come for her to do something about it, and Morgause comes into the episode 'and facilitates this, but in a way that Morgana isn't really aware.
' Morgana agrees to something, agrees to a plan, without truly understanding what it is.
Are you prepared to help me bring about his downfall? I am.
You see Morgana become so impassioned and so against Uther that it's actually becoming quite dangerous and very worrying.
She becomes a vessel for a spell that is cast over all of Camelot.
It's the magic of Morgause that leads to some very dark knights in Camelot.
Protect the King! Get him out of here! I wanted the Knights of Medhir to wear cloaks, dark cloaks, and we spent quite a lot of time thinking, maybe they should have skeleton faces.
But then I thought again about, maybe they should wear masks.
Cos they're supposed to be knights, but I didn't want them just having armour.
I wanted them to have cloaks that would move nicely in slow motion, and be quite menacing and dark and hooded, sort of like grim reapers.
'So we got a very good mask maker to respond to some of the pictures I'd seen around 'and out of that, she drew her own ideas.
' Really strong, visually.
It's certainly a pleasure to work with the stunt guys.
Under there is the man with the best name in stunts - Rick English.
Eagle-eyed - and I mean exceptionally eagle-eyed fans - will recognise Rick as the Dark Knight and a bandit from last year.
He's also going to be appearing in this series.
Rick has played many parts onprobably the most parts played by any one person.
Andaction! I never said thanks.
Cut!Cut there.
HE CHANTS SPELL Well, that was a very fun day.
We spent, um, most of the day on that scene, cos it's quite a big scene and it was a lot of fun to do.
Making this latest magical adventure may have been good fun for Bradley off screen, but back in Camelot, the recent return of the sexy sorceress has put Merlin in a rather tricky situation.
You have to help me.
The source of this pestilence is the witch, the Lady Morgana.
'He's put in a position where he has to make a decision' which is very out of character.
Here, have some water.
I'm not thirsty.
He has to, um, literally poison a friend, 'kill a friend, but for the greater good.
It's not an easy decision.
Here.
I'm fine.
No, you have some before I finish it.
'He can either save Camelot or let me live.
' Thank you.
So, in order to save Camelot and Arthur, the once and future king, he has to kill Morgana.
Does he poison somebody that he, in a way, cares about, but is suspicious of 'or does he let her live and, therefore, let the rest of Camelot die? 'Either decision is really difficult for Merlin.
' 'He kills her because he believes he had to.
' He kills her because Morgana's magic has taken her somewhere his magic never would.
'And Merlin and Morgana can't be friends because of that.
' They've started off in the same place, but have gone completely opposite directions.
Their friendship isn't going to come back from that.
We liked that, because Let's push Merlin into making a very difficult decision, 'and it is a awful decision that he has to make, 'but there is hope for Morgana, because Morgause takes her away' and there is absolutely a sense that Morgause will save Morgana.
SHE CHANTS A SPELL 'And that creates, for us, a delicious dilemma, 'because when Merlin gets to meet Morgana again, 'what will her attitude be towards Merlin?' What will her attitude be towards Camelot and what has Morgause been telling her? It was important to get that right and Jeremy Webb, director, was great, because he completely pushed us and spent the time on it.
I hope I never have to do it again.
It was horrible.
Horrible.
I made Colin cry! Well, I made Merlin cry, but it's the same thing.
Action! Now, dry-eyed and back in the dragon's den, Colin is soon to shoot the moment when Merlin makes good his promise.
But filming these fantasy scenes is never easy.
When coming to the technical way of filming scenes with the dragon, 'I'm perched on a ledge, which is looking like a cave about the size of a living room.
'And looking at a green screen that'll have a mark on it, 'or sometimes it's just a wall with a mark on it,' which is my eye-line for the dragon.
And then it's just down to using your imagination to imagine what it could possibly be like 'to talk to a 30' dragon.
The time has come, young warlock.
'The voice of the dragon is provided by the very famous John Hurt.
' We always try to record John's voice before Colin shoots his scenes with the dragon, just to give him something to work with.
'So we play in John's voice' The time has come, young warlock.
Where will you go? I am the last of my kind.
There is but one road I can take.
What does that mean? You will see.
Colin and I talk about the scene and how the dragon's going to react, what his looks are going to be.
We shoot the scene with Colin against a green screen, 'hearing John Hurt's voice within the scene.
'I think that helps Colin quite a lot.
' Cut.
What was great was in this series we got to record scenes with John in the studio in London.
That was a real experience, because he's such a legend and such a lovely guy that it was great to get a chance to be in the studio with him.
Please! I need your help.
Ahhhhhhhh.
You told me I would not see you again.
I'm not It's not just John's legendary voice he lends to the show.
As he delivers the script, small beads stuck onto his face track his every movement.
This not only helps the animators sync the dragon to the dialogue, but adds John's own performance and personality to the part.
'No matter how good the CGI of the dragon is 'and how real the audience think it looks, 'it needed to have the weight and the authority and that emotional experience 'of a really good actor.
And to have John Hurt changed that animation hugely 'and created this dragon that now has become a very important character to the show.
' Now promise I promise.
.
.
that one day, you will free me.
'What we decided, early on, was that the dragon says,' "You have to release me.
" Young warlock.
It was some time ago you promised to set me free 'He knows, at some point,' that promise is going to be called forward.
And that time has come.
Back on set, Colin and the crew are preparing for the moment where the monstrous dragon is finally unleashed.
This big chain here is what has been holding the dragon down in these depths for all these years and this is the big moment.
Merlin's about to keep his promise.
HE CHANTS A SPELL 'I think Merlin believes that the dragon is gone, he's free,' he's gone off, but, um I don't think we realise the implications of what the dragon's got going on in his head and I think Merlin's a bit worried about setting him free, but he's keeping his promise and he's seeing it through to the end.
The implications of that will become very clear.