Merlin’s second season has seen Bradley James’s Prince Arthur begin to question some of the decisions made by his father, King Uther, played by genre veteran Anthony Head. Taking a break from filming their climactic fight sequence in the eighth episode, Sins of the Father, the affection between the two is evident – even if, as Head points out, they’ll shortly “need to get back to beating each other into a pulp…” Words: Paul Simpson
This fight scene has taken nearly a whole day to film – is it usual to spend such a long time on a single scene?
Anthony Head: We’re covering the whole room, so it takes a while to relight. Each section we have to shoot both ways. We’re looking at both sides of the chamber, and from both ends.
Bradley James: Normally the fighting’s outdoors as well, so the camerawork isn’t as difficult. Here, the set is prohibiting.
