The BBC have released a 40-second trailer for the fifth series of Merlin, which will premiere later this year. It heralds the dawn of a new era now Arthur's king and Gwen's become his queen, and the footage looks to be continuing the darker tone began in series 4. I can't say I'm hugely excited, because I think Merlin's taken far too long to reach this point in its life (The Legend Begins says the tagline. What, five years into the show?!), and the biggest problem remains the iffy plotting and the similar basis of most stories.
But, despite all that, I'll keep watching. It's a fun show for a Saturday evening, and obvious a good tag-team partner with Doctor Who each year on the BBC. But I'll no doubt spend much of the series counting the show's tiresome clichés. I already counted a few just from the trailer.
Merlin has no premiere date yet, but rumours suggest it will follow the first half-series of Doctor Who, sometime in October.
Update (03/08/12). The BBC have now released an extended version of the above trailer, which includes a lot more footage:
