I heard about the latest version of The Three Musketeers and was interested. I saw that it would be on the new channel, BBC First, which was billed as a premium drama channel - which left me cursing - premium means "charge you a ton of money". The Musketeers was a ten episode season, so even if we got a free sample I would only get to see a few episodes. So I figured that I wouldn't get see the show.
However, BBC First was included in my package, happy days. Next I find that the first ten hours of BBC First would be the entire season of The Musketeers. Even better. Except for Peter Capaldi (the latest Doctor Who) I'd not heard of any of the actors. (However, I later discovered that the actor playing Aramis, Santiago Cabrera, had been Lancelot in The Adventures of Merlin)
It's been awhile since I last read Dumas but this version contains a great deal of expanded information about our four heroes. I also liked the hints about the shared history between Captain Treville and Cardinal Richelieu, such as Marie de Medici's attempt to overthrow her son the King.
Each episode was a stand alone adventure, and was a crackling good swashbuckling adventure.
With Capaldi, off to play Doctor Who, season two will have to find a new schemer to work in the background. I really enjoyed his Richelieu - he is not only the Cardinal of France but he is the First Minister, and we see something of the drive and ambition of the man - he seems to always be working in the best interests of France. I suspected in the episode The Exiles, had Marie de Medici offered him a better deal he might have taken it.
Ryan Gage as King Louis was a treat, the King is this strange mixture of ruler and little boy. He relies heavily on the council of the Cardinal .
The series as a whole was beautiful and I loved the Musketeer Uniforms.
Well worth watching.
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