Merlin: Secrets and Magic

Welcome to Secrets & Magic,

the show that reveals how Merlin is made.

Cut there.

Coming up - could this be the final curtain call for M and M?

Morgause and Morgana, that is.

He's put in a position that's hard for him to reason.

Here, have some water.

He has to kill Morgana.

We go straight to the dragon's mouth in an exclusive

backstage recording session with the legendary John Hurt.

One day...you will free me.

Plus, sparks fly as Merlin makes good his promise to unleash the monster.

This is the big moment, Merlin is keeping his promise.

All this and more on Merlin - Secrets & Magic.

The cast and crew of the BBC Wales drama,

Merlin, are back on set to make the penultimate episode of the second series.

It's a huge, epic finale. When you first read something like that,

you think, "Wow!"

It's the beginning of a dramatic double-parter

that features double-crossing...

What's happened?!

..deadly drinks...

..and of course, the dragon's den.

Action!

Bende thara dracan!

It's huge!

This is the beginning of the end.

It'll go out with a bang.

Camelot is in complete chaos,

and the magic-fearing monarch has one almighty foe.

Morgana has finally decidedthat she's had enough of Uther.

She can't live with the way he is any more.

She's decided that the time has come for her to do something about it,

and Morgause comes into the episode

'and facilitates this, but in a way that Morgana isn't really aware.'

Morgana agrees to something, agrees to a plan,

without truly understanding what it is.

Are you prepared to help me bring about his downfall?

I am.

You see Morgana become so impassioned

and so against Uther

that it's actually becoming quite dangerous and very worrying.

She becomes a vessel for a spell that is cast over all of Camelot.

It's the magic of Morgause that leads to some very dark knights in Camelot.

Protect the King! Get him out of here!

I wanted the Knights of Medhir to wear cloaks,

dark cloaks, and we spent

quite a lot of time thinking,

maybe they should have skeleton faces.

But then I thought again about, maybe they should wear masks.

Cos they're supposed to be knights,

but I didn't want them just having armour.

I wanted them to have cloaks that would move nicely in slow motion,

and be quite menacing and dark and hooded,

sort of like grim reapers.

'So we got a very good mask maker to respond to some of the pictures I'd seen around

'and out of that, she drew her own ideas.'

Really strong, visually.

It's certainly a pleasure to work with the stunt guys.

Under there is the man with the best name in stunts -

Rick English.

Eagle-eyed - and I mean exceptionally eagle-eyed fans - will recognise Rick

as the Dark Knight and a bandit from last year.

He's also going to be appearing in this series.

Rick has played many parts on...probably the most parts played by any one person.

And...action!

I never said thanks.

Cut!Cut there.

HE CHANTS SPELL

Well, that was a very fun day.

We spent, um, most of the day on that scene,

cos it's quite a big scene and it was a lot of fun to do.

Making this latest magical adventure may have been good fun for Bradley off screen,

but back in Camelot, the recent return of the sexy sorceress

has put Merlin in a rather tricky situation.

You have to help me.

The source of this pestilence is the witch, the Lady Morgana.

'He's put in a position where he has to make a decision'

which is very out of character.

Here, have some water.

I'm not thirsty.

He has to, um, literally poison a friend,

'kill a friend, but for the greater good. It's not an easy decision.

Here.

I'm fine.

No, you have some before I finish it.

'He can either save Camelot or let me live.'

Thank you.

So, in order to save Camelot and Arthur, the once and future king, he has to kill Morgana.

Does he poison somebody that he, in a way,