'Merlin' star teases 'dark' third series

Merlin star Colin Morgan has revealed that new episodes of Merlin will be darker than past instalments.

He told SFX that the third series of the BBC drama will see relationships between characters stretched to breaking point.

“Bad things are happening," he confirmed. "The third series is set a year in the future. We get straight into the action and we don't really hold back on a lot of the confrontations, and the changes in the characters are evident right from the very beginning."

He added: "Friendships are being forged and broken and reborn and burned again."

However, producer Julian Murphy insisted that comedy will still play a big part in the programme.

"It's still a family show," he claimed. "We're careful about what we do. We also keep a lot of humour. There's a fantastic story where a goblin (played by Mark Williams) appears, which is probably the funniest episode we've ever made."

The new series of Merlin will air on BBC One in September.