Atlantis: The Earth Bull Review

The new Doctor Who? The new Merlin? Or should this project just have been left lost in the depths?
Credit must go to the BBC- few broadcasting corporations in 2013 would dare to create a new series that goes to such painstaking lengths to ape its spiritual predecessor. In all honesty, on the basis of Episode 1, The Earth Bull, Atlantis currently seems to be little more than Merlin 1.5 in all-but-name. There's a new cast, a new premise and a new setting, sure, but things proceed in a very similar fashion to BBC One's Arthurian drama in this case.

In what can only be seen as a reversal of Merlin's climax, Howard Overman and the production team here elect to open events in modern day society. The series' protagonist Jason turns out to be an explorer, hell-bent on travelling the seas in search of his lost father, his trip somehow leading him back in time to the lost city of Atlantis. If that transition between time periods makes no sense to you, dear reader, then fret not, as there was no exposition or clarification on the matter on-screen to make life any simpler for the viewer on night. Regardless of whether Atlantis deals with the fantastical nature of its initial premise later on, it's a crying shame that the opportunity to ground its opening in some kind of reality was not taken at this stage.

Worse still, the central cast are nothing short of mediocre in their initial performances. Mark Addy arguably shines as Hercules for pure comic relief, yet that's hardly much comfort in light of the plainly underwhelming first appearances from Jack Donnelly as Jason and Robert Emms as Pythagoras. Juliet Stevenson clearly has a whale of a time as the mysterious Oracle, but she's hardly afforded the same impactful dialogue as John Hurt's Great Dragon was five years prior to this programme's première. While comparisons to Merlin cannot act as the solitary factor of our review here, it's telling that much of the charm and understated comedy found in the BBC's last fantasy hit appears to have faded almost entirely this time around.

In fact, placing Atlantis alongside its predecessors in terms of forming judgement is simultaneously the most beneficial and detrimental element of assessing the show's debut. Put simply, Doctor Who, Merlin and even Robin Hood got off to far more confident starts than the channel's latest attempt at a Saturday night drama, and for the first time in a notable period, fans may well be justified in questioning either why Who isn't getting more airtime in the 50th Anniversary or just why Merlin was axed in the first place. The narrative is compelling enough to confirm that there's some potential for a decent drama to develop, yet at this stage Atlantis is standing in the shadows of its predecessors, and the team are simply not doing enough to even begin to plot an escape.
2/5