Although there is a large storyline that spreads across the entire show, 'Merlin' is a series, because each episode presents a different threat to Arthur (the king) and Merlin (the wizard) has to protect him from said threat. If you watched one episode from one of the seasons you may not understand everything, but you will get the gist of the show.
'Merlin' is heavily dependent on lighting and sound effects and the musical score to bring an element of mystery to each episode.
The light tends to be used to illuminate the characters' faces. In the example above the lighting looks very natural as it looks like Arthur's face is being illuminated by the moonlight. This makes the final battle scene much more realistic and dramatic. It draws the audience in and makes them empathise for him. It also makes the audience realise that this is the final episode - this is the end - and that draws an emotional response from them. The audience are also concerned for Arthur and Merlin's safety, as if they are aware of the original story of Camelot they know that Arthur dies in the end and so some of them are waiting to see if the writers have kept to the original tale.
You can also see that the camera angle is creative and different compared to what you would see on a sitcom for example. The space to the right of Arthur allows the audience to see the surroundings. It's dark and stormy - fitting weather for a final battle (pathetic fallacy). The camera also appears to be slightly low angle because of the way Arthur raises his chin, which dramatically enhances his final speech to his knights. The audience knows that he is a king; he's superior to the enemy and this camera angle gives the audience confidence that Arthur's army will win.
The musical score further enhances Arthur's final speech, as the violins mirror the emotions of the characters and audience with long, consonant chords. The increasing pitch makes the audience nervous as the battle is about to begin - it makes them feel exactly how the characters feel. The lower tones match the medieval theme and suggests hegemonic masculinity, as well as the certain feeling that the end is nigh.
The editing is quite simplistic as to not confuse or distract the audience from the storyline. The spatial relationships between shots are basic (e.g. There's a lot of shot reverse shots during scenes of dialogue), so the audience always know where each character is in the scene. The 180 degree rule is never broken. This seems to be a common trait in single camera TV shows, as they are aimed at a wide audience including people of all ages. Breaking the 180 degree rule can be quite artistic and impressionistic, but it isn't suitable for a single camer show, because it's audience will be completely thrown by it. Each shot in a specific scene achieves graphic continuity (e.g. The final battle scene is very dark and serious, with the only light being fire and Merlin's spells). The special FX is quite impressive for a British TV show, as American TV shows are usually only able to access the really detailed special FX, because of their budget. For example, the American TV show 'Game of Thrones' looks very polished and a has a cinematic feel to it, because the show has a $6 million budget per episode, over 4 times that of 'Merlin'! Executive producer Julian Murphy said that their capabilities were limited because of the lower budget and that they actually had to scrap several stories because hey couldn't physically make them real enough for the audience. He explained that they "had to work within the world they had".
Usually, each episode entails a problem that could endanger Arthur's life and Merlin has to protect him without revealing that he has magic powers. The narrative begins with an equilibrium and ends with an equilibrium (although the ending equilibrium is somewhat different i.e. new characters are introduced). This narrative is very appealing to a wide range of audiences as it's simple and the problem is always resolved, which makes people happy. The sad endings are usually saved for the end of the season (or the very last episode), because it usually results in the death of a main character, and without them the show couldn't continue. The end of each episode tends to be open, as it leads onto the next.
Each scene tends to begin with a new location to establish another character or piece of the storyline. It's also common for the scene to begin hours after the last.
For example, this close up of Merlin is used to end one scene and the extreme long shot of the castle of Camelot is used to begin the next scene.
We can see that the time has changed within the diegesis of the show clearly, because of this establishing shot of the castle; we can see the morning sky. In addition, scenes in Merlin tend to end by using a long cut of either a character's face (like in the example above) to create tension, or of a suspicious event that will effect the storyline either later in the episode or in the following episode.
Even though the show is a series as opposed to a serial, I would guess that the writers would create the storyline with the entire season in mind. Each episode displays a different event of conflict that must be overcome, but at the end of the season it becomes clear why certain problems became evident. For example, in one episode an ally of Arthur is hypnotised by the enemy, who most of Camelot thought had been dealt with and didn't exist anymore. A few episodes later Arthur and his knights learn that the enemy is the one responsible and prepare for battle.
This TV show falls into multiple genres and sub genres, but as a whole I would class it as fantasy. Although it's based on old folklore and, to some extent, mirrors a reality of the past (kings and knights were the norm at one point), it also includes dragons and spells and wizards which we would consider to be unrealistic. The main storyline is very anti-realist, as a king who ruled many years ago wouldn't have had a wizard to protect him from harm. Without the anti-realist narrative, however, it wouldn't be anywhere near as appealing to its target audience (which is very large, as myself, my parents and grandparents enjoy watching it). It provides escapism for the audience, which is what draws such a large age range to the programme.
To conclude, 'Merlin' consists of many technical elements which make it very appealing to a wide range of people. The genre, the use of lighting, sound and camera and the format make this TV show very popular with its mysterious themes and creative cinematography.
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