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The Musketeers

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The Musketeers
Alt=Series title over a Fleur-de-lis and an explosion
GenreAction, Drama
Created byAdrian Hodges
Based onCharacters in The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Starring
ComposerMurray Gold
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series1
No. of episodes4 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersAdrian Hodges
Jessica Pope
ProducerColin Wratten
Production locationPrague
Running time54-60 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC One HD
BBC One
BBC America (U.S.)
Release19 January 2014 (2014-01-19)

The Musketeers is a BBC television historical action drama series that is based on the characters in Alexandre Dumas's The Three Musketeers[1] and co-produced by BBC One and BBC Worldwide.[1] The first episode was shown on BBC One on 19 January 2014.[2] Shown in ten parts,[3] it stars Luke Pasqualino (D'Artagnan), Tom Burke (Athos), Santiago Cabrera (Aramis), Howard Charles (Porthos) and Peter Capaldi (Cardinal Richelieu).[4] Ten episodes have been produced, in one series which aired in January and February 2014.

Jessica Pope and Adrian Hodges produced the series for the BBC. The series is largely filmed in Prague. All the major actors, except Capaldi, have been "contracted for the long run".[5] The show was commissioned for a second series on 9 February 2014. [6]

The first series of The Musketeers is being shown in Norway starting 2 March 2014 on NRK[7]. It will premiere in the U.S. in June 2014 on BBC America.[8]

Plot

Set in 1630 Paris, D'Artagnan, Athos, Aramis, and Porthos are a group of highly trained musketeers who fight to protect the King and Country. The Musketeers shows Athos, Aramis, Porthos, and D'Artagnan as 'The Musketeers', commanded by Captain Treville.

Production

Conception

The BBC had been developing the idea of a new series based on The Three Musketeers since as far back as 2007, when the project was envisaged as a Saturday evening show to run between series of Doctor Who.[9] The eventual production of the series was finally announced in 2012, with Adrian Hodges in charge of the project.[10]

Filming

Paris was not considered as a filming location as over the decades development had detracted from the grittier architecture wanted. Dublin was also considered before settling on the Czech Republic which suffered little damage during the two world wars and many historic buildings were intact and many privately owned stately homes were rented for filming.

Filming for the serial took place mainly in Doksany, 30 kilometres north-west of Prague, where a Parisan square, a number of streets and the musketeers garrison were constructed. A disused convent had additional sets constructed including taverns, bedrooms and mortuary.[11]

Casting

During the filming, Peter Capaldi learned that he had been given the role of the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who.[5] The show's executive producer Jessica Pope commented that they would have to "recalibrate" plans for a prospective second series, in order to accommodate Capaldi now being unable to reprise his role.[5] The Musketeers was originally planned to be broadcast in 2013, but was later delayed until 2014.[12]

Cast

Series overview

Series Episodes Originally aired Average rating
(millions) 		DVD and Blu-ray release date
Series premiere Series finale Region 1 Region 2 Region 4
1 10 January 19, 2014 (2014-01-19) March 30, 2014 (2014-03-30) TBA TBA TBA TBA
2 TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA TBA

Episodes

Series 1 (2014)

Episode
No. 		Title Directed by Written by Original air date UK viewers
(million)[19]
1"Friends and Enemies"Toby HaynesAdrian Hodges19 January 2014 (2014-01-19)9.28
Young swordsman d'Artagnan and his father Alexandre are on their way to Paris to petition the king when they are attacked at an inn; Alexandre is killed by a man claiming to be "Athos of the Musketeers". Seeking revenge, d'Artagnan heads to Paris to confront and kill Athos. Meanwhile, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis are ordered by Treville to track down a missing contingent of Musketeers. Upon their return, Athos is confronted by d'Artagnan, before being arrested for murder. The king orders Athos' execution. To prove Athos' innocence Porthos and Aramis enlist the aid of d'Artagnan in recovering letters stolen from the King's messengers by the Red Guard claiming to be Athos. D'Artagnan accompanies them to discover the truth.
2"Sleight of Hand"Toby HaynesAdrian Hodges26 January 2014 (2014-01-26)7.58
The Musketeers engineer d'Artagnan's imprisonment in a cell alongside Vadim (Jason Flemyng), a notorious criminal, who to escape uses the visiting Queen. Vadim has a plan to bring about a people's revolution by killing the King and Queen. But Vadim is the master of sleight of hand and his plans are more criminal than political.
3"Commodities"Saul MetzsteinSusie Conklin2 February 2014 (2014-02-02)6.77
The four musketeers are sent to Le Havre to arrest the flamboyant merchant trader/explorer, Emile Bonnaire (James Callis), who is to appear before the King for breaking a trade treaty between France and Spain. The journey to Paris is fraught with danger from Bonnaire's friends and enemies. Porthos is badly wounded in an ambush. Taking refuge in Athos' derelict family chateau brings back memories to Athos of his brother and of Milady de Winter. Porthos is angry when he discovers the commodity, slaves, that Bonnaire trades in.
4"The Good Soldier"Richard ClarkAdrian Hodges9 February 2014 (2014-02-09)6.14
Aramis’s old friend Marsac (JJ Feild), a former musketeer, returns to Paris to kill the Duke of Savoy (Vincent Regan) whom he holds responsible for the deaths of 20 musketeers. The Musketeers capture Marsac and he seeks their help to discover the truth that implicates Treville in the massacre. They are also charged with protecting the ruthless Duke who is in Paris to sign a treaty with the King.
5"The Homecoming"Saul MetzsteinJames Dormer23 February 2014 (2014-02-23)TBA
Porthos wakes from a drunken stupor beside the body of a dead man. Captured by the Red guard he is judged and sentenced to death for murder. Before the sentence is carried out he is rescued by thieves and taken to the Court of Miracles, a slum of thieves, beggars, and whores run by Charon (Ashley Walters), where the orphan Porthos grew up. Athos, Aramis, and d'Artagnan unable to enter the Court of Miracles follow in Porthos's footsteps to discover the truth.
6"The Exiles"Andy HayBen Harris2 March 2014 (2014-03-02)TBA
7"A Rebellious Woman"Richard ClarkJames Payne9 March 2014 (2014-03-09)TBA
8TBAUnknownUnknown16 March 2014 (2014-03-16)TBA
9TBAUnknownUnknown23 March 2014 (2014-03-23)TBA
10TBAUnknownUnknown30 March 2014 (2014-03-30)TBA

Series 2

The show was commissioned for a second series on 9 February 2014. [6]

Reception

The Musketeers initially received mixed reviews from critics which have become more positive as the series has continued. Jim Shelley, writing for the Daily Mail, heavily criticised the programme, saying: "The Musketeers didn't take itself too seriously but was still so bad it bordered on self-parody" and that "the quality of the sub-plots hardly merited its 9pm slot in the schedule rather than (like Merlin or Robin Hood) much earlier, consisting of such clichéd set pieces as a fight following an accusation of cheating during a card game and a randy musketeer being caught in the act and having to dangle out of his lover's bedroom window while his mates watched on chuckling." Overall, he said "The main problem with The Musketeers, apart from the quality of the script, the acting and the predictability of the plot, was that there are only so many ways to make sword fights between men wearing blue leather tunics that entertaining or exciting."[20]

Reviewing Episode 3 of the drama, Morgan Jeffery, writing for Digital Spy, praised the development of the characters, stating that there was a "real feeling of growth" and that it delivered "something a little more substantial."[21] Den of Geek writer Rob Kemp also gave a positive review, stating that The Musketeers had "won a lot of people over with its fun and adventurous take on this well-loved story," but also wrote that some of the dramatic elements felt "shoe horned and deliberate." Overall, Kemp had hope for the series and praised the change in focus in the third episode, saying that the "time was definitely right to start to explore the characters," before going on to say that the series will have "plenty more opportunities for the Musketeers to hit their more (and hopefully, better) dramatic strides." [22]

References

  1. ^ a b "Ben Stephenson orders over 20 hours of new drama from BBC Drama Production". 3 May 2012. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  2. ^ "Friends and Enemies". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  3. ^ Hemley, Matthew (3 May 2012). "Modern take on The Three Musketeers comes to BBC1". The Stage. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  4. ^ "The Musketeers". Broadcast Greenlight. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Life after Capaldi for The Musketeers". BBC. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  6. ^ a b "Series 2". Cultbox. Retrieved 9 February 2014.
  7. ^ NRK1 søndag 02. mars kl 21.45 Musketerene
  8. ^ http://www.bbcamerica.com/musketeers/
  9. ^ Holmwood, Leigh (11 September 2007). "BBC lines up swashbuckling shows". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 January 2014.
  10. ^ Hemley, Matthew. "Modern take on The Three Musketeers comes to BBC1". The Stage. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  11. ^ "The Location Guide". Retrieved 3 February 2014.
  12. ^ "BBC America Joins British 'Musketeers' Series". Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 23 October 2013.
  13. ^ "D'Artagnan". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  14. ^ "Athos". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  15. ^ "Porthos". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  16. ^ "Aramis". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  17. ^ "Cardinal Richelieu". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  18. ^ a b c d e f "Characters". BBC. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  19. ^ "Weekly Viewing Summary (see relevant week)". BARB.
  20. ^ Jim Shelley. "The Musketeers was a French farce firing blanks, by Jim Shelley | Mail Online". Dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-01-31.
  21. ^ Morgan Jeffery. "The Musketeers: Episode 3 review - Trading action for character drama by Morgan Jeffery; Digital Spy". Digitalspy.co.uk. Retrieved 5 February 2014.
  22. ^ Rob Kemp. "The Musketeers episode 3 review: Commodities by Rob Kemp; Digital Spy". Denofgeek.com. Retrieved 8 February 2014.

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