Merlin set for fourth series

Fantasy drama series Merlin has been commissioned for a fourth run, it has been confirmed. The BBC1 show stars Colin Morgan in the title role and features Anthony Head, Richard Wilson and John Hurt. The third series has been pulling in audiences of six million on BBC1 each week. Its current run will wind up with an edge-of-the-seat climax on December 4. Ben Stephenson, the BBC's controller of drama commissioning, said: "Merlin continues to perform outstandingly well against X Factor and offers audiences an alternative treat on Saturday nights. "I'm pleased to confirm that the magical world of Camelot will be returning next year for a fourth series of this fresh and modern retelling of a classic British legend." Series three has seen a number of guest appearances including names such as Emilia Fox, Miriam Margolyes and Warwick Davies. The new 10-part series will start filming in March. The BBC said the drama has enjoyed huge international success, selling to 180 countries.

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Patrick McLennan is a London-based journalist and documentary maker who has worked as a writer, sub-editor, digital editor and TV producer in the UK and New Zealand. His CV includes spells as a news producer at the BBC and TVNZ, as well as web editor for Time Inc UK. He has produced TV news and entertainment features on personalities as diverse as Nick Cave, Tom Hardy, Clive James, Jodie Marsh and Kevin Bacon and he co-produced and directed The Ponds, which has screened in UK cinemas, BBC Four and is currently available on Netflix.

An entertainment writer with a diverse taste in TV and film, he lists Seinfeld, The Sopranos, The Chase, The Thick of It and Detectorists among his favourite shows, but steers well clear of most sci-fi.