Merlin co-creator addresses divisive ending – and possibility of a reboot
Jake Michie has reflected on an alternative ending for the BBC fantasy series and whether a modern-day revamp might have worked.
Thirteen years after popular BBC fantasy drama Merlin aired its final instalment, series co-creator Jake Michie has addressed the show's ending, acknowledging that the concluding scenes "did not meet the expectations" of some fans.
Two-part finale The Diamond of the Day – co-written by Michie and Julian Jones – was originally broadcast on the 22nd and 24th December 2012.
The final scenes surprised some viewers by eschewing a traditional happy ending, instead seeing Arthur (Bradley James) perish following a battle with Mordred (Alexander Vlahos).
The series closed with Merlin (Colin Morgan) now inhabiting the present day, awaiting the time when Arthur would rise again.
"I see how that did not meet the expectations of some people who wanted a certain kind of ending," said Michie, in a new interview for Merlin fan podcast Ladies of the Lake.
"So a certain kind of ending would have been Arthur doesn't die... the proscription of magic has ended, Merlin’s secret is out in the open and that’s all fine and Merlin and Arthur carry on bickering away in a sort of glowing Camelot where all the foes have been vanquished and all the goals have been achieved and destinies have been negotiated and outsmarted."
Michie defended the decision to forgo this type of climax in favour of a more ambiguous ending, explaining that it's "quite fraught [...] when you write something that’s simultaneously a fiction that [also] has to honour certain kinds of expectations to do with the myth and legend".
"How far can you stray from those moments, and in a sense, how do you want to leave it?" he posed.
Merlin – which Michie co-created with Jones, Johnny Capps and Julian Murphy – ran for five seasons between 2008 and 2012, following the adventures of the young wizard and scoring a dedicated fanbase during its run.
Quizzed on whether there was ever any potential for the series to run longer, Michie replied: "I think if Merlin were to continue, it would have had to reboot itself.
"At the end of the final episode, Merlin does appear in the modern day, which is a very nice idea. I really liked the idea of Merlin being eternal and that Arthur would come again and Merlin would be there to help him, that Merlin would save the day again in another time and place."
He added: "There were conversations down the line, should we do that? Should we have Merlin in another time and place?"
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This idea of a modern-day Merlin – quite different from the previous five years set in a mythical, ancient Camelot – would eventually be dropped, however, for fear that fans were too attached to the previous version of the show and its characters.
"The trouble with that is we and the audience have become pretty wedded to Colin and Bradley," Michie said. "If Colin popped up as Merlin in another timeline surrounded by new characters, you could do it but I think the success of the show was those characters and those actors in the time and place that they were in."
You can listen to Jake Michie's full interview in the next episode of the Ladies of the Lake podcast, dropping on 24th December.
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Authors
Morgan Jeffery is the Digital Editor for Radio Times, overseeing all editorial output across digital platforms. He was previously TV Editor at Digital Spy and has featured as a TV expert on BBC Breakfast, BBC Radio 5 Live and Sky Atlantic.
