Peter Capaldi and Luke Pasqualino Lead Cast Of The Musketeers

The Borgias and Skins actor Luke Pasqualino and The Thick of It actor Peter Capaldi are to lead the cast of BBC One‘s new adaptation of The Musketeers to be penned by Adrian Hodge.

Press Release:

Luke Pasqualino (Skins, The Borgias) will star as D’Artagnan alongside The Musketeers, Tom Burke (Great Expectations, The Hour) as Athos, Santiago Cabrera (Merlin, Heroes) as Aramis and Howard Charles (Royal Shakespeare Company) as Porthos. Together they are a crack-team of highly trained soldiers. Peter Capaldi (The Hour, The Thick Of It), Tamla Kari (Cuckoo, The Inbetweeners Movie), Maimie McCoy (Loving Miss Hatto), and Hugo Speer (Bedlam) will also star in this thrilling 10-part series created by Adrian Hodges, which is a fresh and contemporary take on the classic characters created by Alexandre Dumas in his much-loved novel, made by BBC Drama Production.
Set on the streets of 17th-century Paris where law and order is more an idea than reality, the series follows Musketeers Athos, Aramis and Porthos who are far more than King Louis XIII’s personal bodyguards, but ultimately stand resolutely for social justice: for honour, for valour, for love and for the thrill of it.

D’Artagnan, a skilled fighter from rural Gascony, meets the three Musketeers while on a mission to right the wrong of his father’s death. Although he meets the men in unfortunate circumstances, he finds kindred spirits in the other soldiers. Athos, who has rejected his noble roots to become a Musketeer, quickly befriends D’Artagnan, but has a past which is shrouded in mystery, and is prone to getting in trouble.

Porthos is a larger-than-life character, who has come from humble beginnings to become a solider in the most elite regiment in the land, finding a family in the other Musketeers. Never short of admirers, Aramis has an effortless charm which leads him in and out of love. Despite this, he is a shrewd pragmatist who is a ferocious in battle and commands a key place in the brotherhood.

Constance Bonacieux (Kari) leads a dull but comfortable life married to a cloth merchant, but her life is turned upside down when D’Artagnan tumbles into her world, and she becomes involved with The Musketeers.

Cardinal Richelieu (Capaldi), while striving to achieve his vision of a thoroughly modern France, is a shadowy character who will stop at nothing to achieve his objectives. Milady (McCoy) is the Cardinal’s secret weapon, the most mysterious and beautiful of villains whose motives are often concealed.

The King relies on the advice of The Cardinal, his shrewd wife Queen Anne and also Captain Treville (Speer), the brave and respected commander of The Musketeers who keeps an eye on the soldiers to ensure they stay out of trouble. The series bursts with escapism, adventure and romance and is set to thrill audiences with cracking stories every week.

Creator Adrian Hodges says: “I’m thrilled to be working with such a dynamic, talented and attractive ensemble cast on our new version of The Musketeers. This series is all about passion, romance, heroism and action, and I can’t think of a better group of actors to embody those diverse qualities. I’m thrilled by their ability and commitment and honoured they’ve chosen to come on board to help us create what we hope will be our modern and original take on this great story and its classic characters.”

Ben Stephenson, Controller of BBC Drama, says: “The ambition of this drama is clearly illustrated with such a world class mix of talent – the perfect team to take the audience on thrilling action adventures every week.”

The 10-part drama (10×60) for transmission in 2014 is a BBC Drama Production for BBC One, co-produced by BBC WorldWide and BBC America. Jessica Pope is the BBC executive producer, Adrian Hodges is an executive producer and lead writer, and Colin Wratten is producer.

Filming will commence in March 2013 and was commissioned for BBC One by Ben Stephenson, Controller, BBC Drama and Danny Cohen, Controller, BBC One.