A monstrous troll (Sarah Parish) and her aide Jonas (Adam Godley*) conspire to snatch power from Camelot, through use of a magical potion that transforms the verrucose beast into the glamourous phizog of Lady Cartrina, surviving heir of a fallen northern kingdom. Catrina canters into Camelot and rekindles romantic feelings in the infatuated King Uther (Anthony Head), although Gaius suspects something's amiss because the ambulant Catrina once had an incurable bone disease. Taking Merlin into his confidence, the pair struggle to expose Catrina as a manipulative troll trying to get Uther down the aisle...
This was a perfectly reasonable and entertaining episode, just very predictable and not dissimilar to a few older storylines. It certainly became more enjoyable once Merlin and Gaius became certain that Catrina was an imposter, but then the story encountered a few problems in keeping the narrative going logically. I mean, considering the close relationship Merlin and Arthur (Bradley James) share these days, it's a little silly that the boy wizard had problems bringing his concerns to the prince –- particularly as there are precedents that Arthur should trust Merlin's crazy theories. Also, quite why Gaius stood idly by and let Catrina marry Uther, even when he had an opportunity to stop the ceremony from his pew, just made his character look incredibly spineless. Merlin had gone through hell in his intention to storm into the chapel and stop the nuptials, aiming to do something that Gaius simply didn't think worth the personal embarrassment?Still, there was an amusing guest-star performance from the lovely Sarah Parish -- who evidently relishes hiding her beauty under heavy make-up, having also played The Queen of Racnoss in Doctor Who's "The Runaway Bride" awhile back. I'm also sure the younger audience will have been giggling whenever her prim Lady Catrina hunched over and start shuffling around like a warthog in private -- or the scene where Merlin discovered her in troll form, rolling around in straw and horse muck whilst breaking wind.
Overall, "Beauty And The Beast – Part One" was decent family entertainment, just nothing extraordinary or even equal to the improved standards of this second series. I'm also not yet convinced the story justifies a two-part episode, but I'll reserved judgement on that until after next week's conclusion. For now, I considered this fun but forgettable; a storytelling standard last year was awash with, which will hopefully blossom into something a bit richer in part two.24 October 2009
BBC1, 6.15pm
written by: Jake Michie directed by: David Moore starring: Colin Morgan (Merlin), Sarah Parish (Lady Catrina), Anthony Head (King Uther), Adam Godley (Jonas), Richard Wilson (Gaius), Bradley James (Arthur), Angel Coulby (Gwen), Katie McGrath (Morgana), Michael Cronin (Geoffrey of Monmouth) & Rhys Rusbatch (Guard)
* You know the face, right? Yes, it's Mike Teavee's dad from Charlie & The Chocolate Factory, amongst many other things -– from Son Of Rambow, to The X Files: I Want To Believe, and episodes of Breaking Bad, Mad Men and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.
