Hurt, Cabrera, Ryan Join ‘Merlin’ Cast

By Vlada Gelman

John Hurt will voice the Great Dragon for FremantleMedia Enterprises’ and BBC1’s “Merlin,” which is destined to air on NBC. Santiago Cabrera (“Heroes”) will play Lancelot, while Michelle Ryan (“Bionic Woman”) has been cast as wicked sorceress Nimueh.

The actors join Richard Wilson as Gaius, Anthony Head as King Uther Pendragon, Colin Morgan as the young Merlin, Bradley James as Prince Arthur, Angel Coulby as Guinevere and Katie McGrath as Morgana.

The 13-part series will premiere first on BBC1 in September.

FremantleMedia Enterprises, which holds the exclusive distribution, licensing and home entertainment (excluding U.K.) rights to the series, sold the series to NBC and to CTV in Canada.

“Merlin” is created and produced by Shine Television.

"’Merlin’ is truly world-class drama on all levels, from special effects to storylines to production values, and the brilliant international cast further underscores the fact that this is event programming at its best,” David Ellender, CEO Fremantle Media Enterprises, said in a statement. “For FME, it was an obvious choice to invest in the series alongside BBC1 and Shine Television, and we look forward to bringing the show to a global audience.”