<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"Colin Morgan has promised that the fifth series of Merlin will see &amp;quot;a maturing&amp;quot; of the show&amp;#039;s characters and themes. However, the Irish actor told SFX that fans will not miss out on the &amp;quot;banter&amp;quot; between his title character and King Arthur (Bradley James).  &amp;quot;Things are serious,&amp;quot; he hinted. &amp;quot;There&amp;#039;s a three-year gap [from the last series], so immediately you see Camelot in a different state, one that [Arthur&amp;#039;s] wanting it to be, and Merlin finds his place in that as well.  &amp;quot;There&amp;#039;s definitely a maturing in general of the whole series, but the banter&amp;#039;s still there between the two characters because that&amp;#039;s who they&amp;#039;ll always be, even though their situations are a lot more serious.&amp;quot; Merlin co-creator Johnny Capps previously hinted that the BBC fantasy drama will deal with more mature themes this year. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s a bit more adult and it takes the characters to new places,&amp;quot; he said. &amp;quot;[The show] needed to grow... up a little bit.&amp;quot; Merlin will return to BBC One next month. &amp;gt; Merlin: Kelly Wenham cast as Queen Mab? &amp;gt; Merlin exec on shock return, promises &amp;#039;amazing&amp;#039; scenes Watch the stars of Merlin discuss the series with Digital Spy below:  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/merlin/news/a406703/merlin-star-on-series-five-theres-a-maturing-of-the-whole-show/>