Quote:
Originally Posted by Irenicus
Pride and Prejudice the miniseries was the best Austen adaptation I've ever seen
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I concur, it was quite good, but then a lot of the BBC period dramas are, if you like that sort of thing (which I do), because they put a lot behind them.
The base stories are generally from a specific and established author with strong literary heritage, wouldn't be a period drama if this were not the case. Clearly not the case with Merlin, as it seems to be a completely new story with no
real roots. So you're left with whatever the screen writers come up with, and their ability.
The effect of the variability of which is evident in Dr. Who, I think. Some episodes are very good (my opinion of course) and some are dire. With Pride and Prejudice as with the recent Dickens adaptation, Little Dorrit (both penned by Andrew Davies), you have a well know and liked writer, who knows what he is doing with the material. It is rare to get a good screen writer on a project like Merlin (not impossible, just rare).
Thirdly, the actors involved. Period drama always attracts a good set established actors, often with strong stage careers (even the younger ones, e.g. Claire Foy) doing similar material. The big names in Merlin are only there as part of the promotional gloss. What were they thinking with the whole dragon thing... x_x.
Add it all up and Merlin is destined to look awful to the point that they're almost incomparable.