Merlin Series 4.



Last weekend Merlin returned to British television screens with the first half of the two-part opening episode of series 4. I do think that the BBC could've done a better job of advertising the date on which Merlin was to be released as I distinctly remember one advert saying that it would begin again in October, with no specific date. It's quite lucky that I happened to be checking the television guide to find out what time the series finale of Doctor Who (which was incredible by the way) was on otherwise I probably wouldn't have known Merlin was starting again! Though, I couldn't have asked for anything better than the premise of Merlin and the finale of Doctor Who in succession, so props to the BBC.

The Darkest Hour is set one year after The Coming of Arthur, but to be honest, not a lot has changed in Camelot. The biggest difference would probably be the health of Uther, who seems to have rapidly deteriorated from a head strong King to a weak and frail man who sits in his chair all day and stares absent mindedly out the window. Part one opens with Morgana opening up the veil to the spirit world unleashing the spirits of the dead back into the world causing havoc. Arthur and his knights then travel to the Island of the Blessed to try and close the veil; however, they encounter some dangerous difficulties along the way and there one character doesn't return.

Knights of Camelot looking good *wink*

What disappoints me most about this new series, is that there has been no obvious attempt to better the CGI effects of this. I've always felt that the fear factor of the creatures and beasts in Merlin is significantly diminished due to the poor quality of the visual effects and I'm sad that they haven't tried to rectify this yet. This is a great shame as mythical creatures play a very large role in Merlin, as you can imagine, so I do believe it is important to have believable and real-looking monsters. Even Merlin as an old and wise warlock is just hilarious because it looks like Colin Morgan in a beard  ... Which I guess, if you think about it, is exactly what it is. But the whole beauty of screenplay and modern technology is that it shouldn't look like it's an actor in a beard, but an actual warlock.

It was great to see that the essence of Merlin is still alive and kicking as the banter continues between Arthur and Merlin. The opening credits have been updated and now contain glimpses of Athur kissing Gwen, Morgana doing something evil and Merlin with a beard i.e. disguised as Dragon the Great (again). We welcome the arrival of Nathaniel Parker who plays Arthur's shady uncle, we'll have to wait and see as to whether he'll be here to stay or not.

There are many many lists of rumours about series 4 of Merlin currently on the internet, 'confirmed' and speculations and I won't reveal those spoilers to those of you who'd rather wait and watch, but it looks like it's going to be a very exciting series! Questions at the forefront of most people's minds are: whether or not Merlin will reveal his identity to Arthur, whether Arthur and Gwen will progress in their relationship despite the social barriers, what happened to the Dragon after Merlin set it free, and what new tricks Morgana's got hidden up her sleeve.

Havana Rakatan.

I first heard about this show from the drama teacher at school. Now I have far too much work to be going out late on a school night, but from the way she described the show I just knew that I had to see it. Prior to arriving at the theatre I had absolutely no idea what the show was about apart from the fact that it would involve a lot of dancing and Cuban music.

The dancing was absolutely spectacular with aspects of salsa, mambo, jazz, bolero, son, cha-cha-cha and rumba. The dancers were all very impressive and each and everyone had a unique style of dancing. The flexibilities of the dancers was incredible as it allowed them to do all sorts moves with their body that one would've thought were impossible! In addition, I have never seen such an effective use of costume before. It was like the dancer was made for the costume and not the other way round. The twirling and spinning of the costumes created a magnificent effect with spinning wheels of colour all over the stage. There were frills, sequins, ruffles, sparkles, long trains, skimpy swim suits and gorgeous black and white night dresses.


I thought the staging and scene-setting of the whole production was very well done. Initially the musicians
were positioned behind an opaque screen and we had no idea that they were there until the bottom half of the screen magically turned semi-transparent. This had a really cool effect as we could just see the silhouettes of a band and their instruments and it meant that the focus was still very much on the dancers in the forefront. As the show went on the musicians came into greater and greater prominence. The screen was lifted so that we could clearly see the row of musicians and in several scenes they were part of the show (i.e. they were the musicians in the club/in the market). In the second half of the show the musicians often came down from their little raised strip on the stage and onto the main stage and interacted with the dancers. The two main singers and the saxophone player became their own characters alternating between singing with the other musicians and being centre stage. This made the whole show seem a lot more lively and the dancing and music were much more connected.

Whilst there is some plot to the first part of the show, there isn't really any in the second. They've managed to incorporate every single aspect of Cuban life into this production with their love of music and dance. There are some bits which look quite modern, and others which are very traditional with tribes people and the issue of slavery. This meant that there was a huge range of costumes and different styles of dance, everything was exciting and nothing was the same or expected.

I guarantee that this show will have you bopping up and down in your seat as the lively music and the vivacious dancing make you feel really energentic and happy. There were actually some very comic moments in this as well, for example: the male dancers were lined up in a row, stripping, and just as they were unbuckling their belts, the lights dimmed *sadface*. There was also a very comic dancer who could do the most brilliant impression of a skeleton. His whole body just went loose and he looked like he'd completely lost control of his limbs, but it wasn't messy. I just loved how this whole production fitted together with both the music and the dancing and I highly recommend this show if you're looking for  a great night out!

The theatre is very easy to find as it is located opposite LSE in the heart of London. The nearest train station Holborn on the central line and from there you walk in pretty much a straight line until you see the theatre. Ticket prices range from £15-£42 but personally I don't believe that spending £42 is worth it when I could see everything perfectly clear from my £15 seat.

This was Havana Rakatan's 5th season and according to my teacher who has been every year, it just gets better and better! Havana Rakatan ends on the 9th of October but there are still tickets for Saturday and Sunday night's shows so if you want to see it this year, get your tickets now! If you've missed Havana Rakatan, don't worry, I'm sure they will be back next year with even better dance moves so keep an eye out for it!

The Sunday Express: "The hottest, the coolest, the sexiest dancers in town. Irresistible"

The Secret Circle. 

Ooh what a hot bunch of people you are.

Not so long ago I heard someone complaining about the lack of witches in supernatural dramas, well, complain no more for 'The Secret Circle' has landed! Another television adaption of one of L.J.Smith's series (the first being 'The Vampire Diaries') has arrived on our screens. The Secret Circle follows the life of Cassie Blake and her peers as she starts a new life in Chance Harbour after the mysterious death of her mother. There's something different about Cassie and everyone seems to know her secret apart from Cassie herself. Weird things start to happen to Cassie the minute she sets foot in Chance Harbour and it's not long before she's discovered that she is in fact a witch, just like her mother was.

The Secret Circle has received mixed reviews with some saying that it was a mistake to air this show straight after The Vampire Diaries on a Thursday night whilst others are saying that this is a great new show with fresh up and coming actors and actresses. Perhaps airing The Secret Circle after what is probably it's main competitor, The Vampire Diaries, wasn't such a great idea, but despite the fact that I agree with some of the negative criticism of The Secret Circle, the show has rapidly risen to second place on my current list of favourite shows, second only to The Vampire Diaries. You could say that this judgement clearly shows that I have a thing for supernatural dramas and therefore I am biased as to whether or not this show is perceived as 'good'; however, not so long ago shows like Gossip Girl and 90210 were topping my list of shows. Gossip Girl is now onto it's fifth series and 90210 onto it's fourth and this is probably the reason that shows like these have come down in my esteems. Whilst the plot lines are regurgitated and repeated across both these two dramas, The Secret Circle brings something fresh and new, which makes it far more interesting and entertaining.

I definitely think that these young actors and actresses are the ones to watch. Each and everyone of them is different and brings a unique character to the group and they all play their roles superbly. My favourite character so far is Adam, played by Thomas Dekker. Dekker has already got an incredibly impressive resume considering he's still only 23 years old having starred in films such as My Sister's Keeper, Heroes, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, 7th Heaven and The Land Before Time (Aww. Yes, that is the series of Dinosaur videos we all watched as kids) just to name a few. The title role belongs to Britt Robertson who plays Cassie Blake and she too has worked up a very large number of films and television programmes to date. She plays the struggling and innocent damsel in distress role perfectly with her petite body and sweet voice. The other notable actress is Phoebe Tonkin, who plays resident bad girl Faye and although many critics have cited her as the one to keep your eye on, I find it difficult to connect with her character who makes it so easy for you to hate her - perhaps that's the beauty of her acting.

All in all, I believe The Secret Circle to be a great show that demonstrates much hope for the future and if you're undecided on which of the many new fall TV shows to start watching, I'd definitely recommend this one.