As Merlin fans know, it was recently announced that the TV series is coming to an end after five seasons. The last episode will be airing in a couple weeks in the UK.
The final season of Merlin debuts on Syfy on January 4th and the last episode is expected to air on March 29th here in the States.
I recently had the opportunity to talk with the show’s star, Colin Morgan, and I asked him about the possibility of a sixth season, if he’d be interested in taking part in a spin-off, if he felt satisfied by the finale, and what he’ll miss most about the show.
There was some information coming out of Comic-Con last year that a sixth season and movies were being considered. Did you know, going into season five, that it was going to be the final season?
Yeah, you know, if I’m honest, from the beginning we knew that it was only going to make five series. We had signed up for five. It was always the plan to do five series. So, we knew at the beginning of series four that five would be final one.
Do you know if there was there any truth to the possibility of a sixth season?
As actors, we always have to respect the wishes of the producers because they created the show. It’s their project and when we do publicity we have to respect what they’d like us to talk about so that’s what we did.
Sure. There’s been talk of possibly doing spin-off projects, and I don’t know how real this possibility is with the producers having left the company and moved on to other projects. If the circumstances were right though, would you be open to participating in something like that in some way?
Who knows. Never say never, because the show’s done so well and it has such an amazing following. The fifth season feels like such a right way to end it though. I think it’s such a strong ending. It’s the strongest the series has ever been. So, to continue it on, from an actor’s point of view, there’s a risk that I might not enjoy doing that. The risk that it might be something I don’t believe in like I believe in the rest of it. But I mean, who knows, if the opportunities present themselves.
Without giving anything away, do you like where the story ends up? Where your character ends up? Does it feel fitting?
Definitely. It’s all like I expected. You know, I wasn’t sure where it was exactly going to go and certainly when I read the final script, I was surprised about the story that they told and the way they told it. But, yeah, I think it’s 100% right. I think everyone will be really satisfied with it.
Right. Has it sunk in that you know that you’re not going back into production this time? Do you miss it?
There’s a lot of things that I’ll miss. I think the big part of what we’re all going to miss is all of the people who work on the show. Because it’s the same crew that we’ve had, really from the beginning, from day one a lot of them have been right from there. It’s the lot who’ve been with the show for many years. So, it’s the friends, it’s the people that you’re not gonna see everyday. That’s the big part of it because, at the end of the day, everyone worked so hard on the show. We work every day on it and there are people that you see and you develop a relationship with. So, I think that’s the biggest part of what I’ll miss.
In part two, I asked Colin about his character’s journey, something that he would have liked to have seen, another character he would have liked to have played and more. Click here for that.
What do you think? What will you miss about the Merlin TV series?
I love Merlin and thankfully I found it a little late so I have all 5 seasons to watch. I love the series and want more but I don’t like the idea of a spin off we’re they go back in time and add a few things. One of the reasons people like Merlin is because of the story behind it with King Author and Lancelot. People remember being a kid and wanting to be a knight of Camelot and fight wizards and even though many don’t pretend to be knights anymore they still love the story’s. Before I found… Read more »
Well I don’t know why, but in my opinion I think the producers picked great actors for the show, like somtimes it feels like it could be there second name!
I cried for two days about this one.
I started watching Merlin this year, and I absolutely love the tv show. Today I finally finish Merlin (got to love netflix!). Anyway…. I agree with Colin it was a good ending… I don’t agree that they should of killed off Arthur, they could of done without killing him. My heart literally broke when Arthur die and Merlin felt so depress. I for one say forget the spin off and bring back the show Merlin!! There a way to bring back Arthur Pendragon alive, you just need a creative mind. There also ways to bring another war or plot for… Read more »
Merlin has been one of my favorite shows of all time. As I was watching the final minutes of Merlin, I kept hoping Arthur would live because the whole plot of the final season was about magic once again reigning in Camelot but unfortunately the creators,writers,etc. commited the cardinal sin of story telling………You Never Kill the Main Character(s) of a Fantasy TV Series unless you plan to bring them back via another season and/or via a TV movie. In conclusion, I understand why the old Merlin was cranky…..walking for centuries by Avalon to see if Arthur had returned would make… Read more »
My thanks to all of you idiots who revealed the series ending! For those of you who DON’T want to know what happens…quit reading comments NOW!!!
I will miss the Merlin series so mutch and i didn’t like the ending.
It was so sad. If there will be a merlin spin off i want the same actors.
Merlin, is one of Canada’s most watched TV series on a weekend.
I would have loved a more happier ending for Merlin and Arthur in the fnal episode.
Anyway good job to Colin Morgan and Bradley James for making the series very exciting and enjoyable..
I will certianly miss it…please bring back Merlin.
Merlin had a story to it, we saw Merlin as a youth then through his adventures, he
matures into a wise magician. The final episodes have not been show yet on
SyFi, so I do not know the ending. I would like to have seen more of Colin Morgan
and Bradley James and their joking around(and the dragon)
Why would the producers replace Merlin with”robot combat teams” is this all they can create with their brilliant minds!!! Its absolute garbage ! Not entertainment!!
Bring back MERLIN or turn off TV!!
The ending sucked and was NOT necessary .These are all fairy tales we can change an ending and the world wont end. Aurthur did NOT have to die and Merlin feel a failure .All they had to was make it LOOK like Aurthur dies but Merlin and the Dragon saves him,The world sucks , why leave the viewers in depression over the end of a make believe story .Maybe give them two options , for those who want to feel like crap they get the one they did , for the rest of us , we get to see them… Read more »
I think you mean Morgana not Mordred ha..I agree though, they actresses were mixed up lol. I don’t agree that Gwen was ugly, just not near as pretty morgana
I ran out of life the day I learned that the series ended.
every night I can not sleep if k not sleep with the adventures he could have lived merlin.
I have many ideas.
I do not want anything at all k series is over and it’s my favorite and she is my favorite actor, colin.
I just hope they can make a movie and a spin-off of merlin colin or at least leave them.
I will not be able to live without merlin, please do something!
I am truly sadden by the end of the series. My family and I looked forward to watching it and now feel like a member of the family has past. When we were watching the last two shows we didn’t know this was rhe end of the series. After watching it we could not believe that such a great show came to an end. I would like to thank all the cast and crew for a great show. You will be missed
Is Gossip girl going to be axe.
I had my doubts about season five, but if Colin Morgan was satisfied with it, I’ll try to keep an open mind; I’ve enjoyed the first four seasons. 🙂
I agree, I’ll try to stay open…. but I don’t like the way the legend ended and as this is my favorite all time show, I really feel like I won’t like ANY ending….
Thank you for this Colin Morgan interview. I love his answers. Very insightful.
[…] I recently spoke with actor Colin Morgan about the Merlin last episode, season six, the possibility of him appearing in a spin-off, and what he’ll miss most about the show. You can read that here. […]