Merlin's Apprentice

I really liked the original Merlin - it had good characters, script, effects, etc.

Now, several years on, general technology and quality of TV shows have improved....so why do they all seem so lacking in this?

Sam Neill and Miranda Richardson top the cast list as they are the only well known actors, and the only links to the original, yet they both spend so little time on the screen that they may as well not have been in it.

The story regarding Merlin seems to make little, or no, sense when compared to the time-line of the original movie - unless I missed something

And what is with the pig???