Merlin stars a person.
Colin Morgan ( born 1 January 1986 ) is an Irish film , television , theatre and radio actor best known for playing the title character in the BBC fantasy series Merlin , the lead in The Living and the Dead , and main roles in Humans and The Fall ; his stage role as Ariel in The Tempest ; and film roles in Testament of Youth , Legend and The Huntsman : Winter 's War . Merlin is a British fantasy-adventure television programme created by Julian Jones , Jake Michie , Julian Murphy , and Johnny Capps , starring Colin Morgan in the title role .