Johnny Capps & Julian Murphy (‘Merlin’) interview – Part 2

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Series 4 Volume 1 of BBC One’s fantasy drama Merlin is released on DVD today.

> Buy the Series 4 Volume 1 DVD on Amazon.

CultBox caught up with co-creators Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy to ask them your questions…

@MerlinKnights asks: Would you consider making a Christmas episode with a snowy Camelot?

Johnny: “There is the possibility of that, but as we always run quite close to Christmas, it never feels like it’s a special event as we’re around Christmas anyway. But we’ve certainly talked about it and I wouldn’t rule it out at all.”

@AllieMunster asks: Is there any chance of an episode dedicated to the knights’ history and backstories?

Julian: “It’s interesting that, we do talk about bringing out more of their backstories because they’re potentially very interesting, so there’s a chance we will do stories that will reveal more about their past, yes.”

@ali_termite asks: Do you think you will be able to meet all the many expectations with the reveal of Merlin’s powers?

Julian: “I feel no more pressure than the writer of Superman felt about revealing it was Clark Kent.

“Generically the fact that Merlin’s identity is hidden is so classic, I’m not sure that in most genres you wonder around going ‘when are we going to reveal the identity of the hero?’ – there’s never really any need to and I’m not sure if we feel the need to either.”

@garam81 asks: Are there any plans for original Merlin novels, as opposed to one that are just novelised versions of the episodes?

Johnny: “Yeah, there are very advanced plans. They’re great! A series of fantasy novels are being developed for publication next year and they’re proper fantasy novels.

“They’re really spun out of the series rather than novels of the series. To be honest, the early material we’ve seen is incredibly good, it’s very exciting.”

With Series 7 of Doctor Who being held back until next autumn, when do you think we’ll see Series 5 air?

Johnny: “We never know about the scheduling until it’s in the Radio Times! They always keep it fairly secret.

“The thing about Merlin is that it performs extremely well up against The X Factor and the BBC are thrilled with that, so I think we’ll always be at that point of the year I think. They’ve asked us to deliver Series 5 for the same time so I think that’s when we’ll be again.”

Julian, when we spoke earlier this year you mentioned the possibility of an animated series – has this plan developed at all?

Julian: “It’s still talked about, as is a feature film. We’re talking a lot about a feature film, actually more than an animated series. But animation companies are interested in Merlin and I can see why.

“The difficulty with an animated series is timing it so that it comes after the television series. We don’t want to confuse the international market with another programme until you’re genuinely at the end of the live action series.”

@Hanxx asks: When do you think the film could be made?

Johnny: “Well, film development is such a long drawn-out process, so who knows! But we are discussing with the film division and are in the planning stages of that.”

@d_source Dee asks: What’s next for you once Merlin is totally over?

Johnny: “Having a holiday!”

Julian: “Going to Brazil and disappearing! Yeah, we talk all the time about the projects we’d like to go onto next. But Merlin is a very enjoyable program to work on and, to be honest, the more we get into the legend itself, the more exciting and rewarding it is to write. So although it’s very tiring, it’s creatively very enjoyable.”

Johnny: “We’ve storylined 52 episodes now between us and still when we sit down and start discussing stories, we’re still not at the point where we go ‘what the hell do we do this week?’ – we’ve still got plenty of ideas, so that’s always a great place to be when you’re making a show and don’t feel burnt out.

Merlin is a really gruelling process for everybody in that we’re shooting 13 episodes in a year. It’s really tough, we’re always in one level of pre-production, production and post-production.

“Even now as we’re storylining Series 5, we’re going straight to the mix and grade of Episode 9 which goes out on Saturday night! So the production schedule is very tight, but we never feel daunted by it, it’s always exciting.”

> Read the first part of our exclusive interview with Julian and Johnny.

What do you think of Series 4 so far? Let us know below…

> Buy the Series 4 Volume 1 DVD on Amazon.

Watch the Series 4 trailer…