In 1630s Paris, Athos, Aramis and Porthos are a group of highly trained musketeers commanded by Captain Treville who meet d'Artagnan, a skillful farm boy with hopes of becoming a musketeer. The series follows them as they fight to protect King and country.
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. The eventual production of the series was finally announced in 2012, with Adrian Hodges in charge of the project.
Filming
Paris was not considered as a filming location because 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. Many historic buildings were intact and privately ownedstately homes were rented for filming. Filming for the series took place mainly in Doksany, 30 kilometres north-west of Prague, where a Parisian square, a number of streets and the musketeers garrison were constructed. A disused convent had additional sets constructed including taverns, bedrooms and mortuary.
Casting
During filming of the first series Peter Capaldi learned that he had been given the role of the Twelfth Doctor in Doctor Who. 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. Marc Warren joined the cast for the second series. The Musketeers was originally planned to be broadcast in 2013, but was later delayed until 2014.
Reception
The Musketeers initially received mixed reviews from critics. Reviewing the third episode 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". 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 changein 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 would have "plenty more opportunities for the Musketeers to hit their more dramatic strides". Upon its premiere on BBC America, Alessandra Stanley of The New York Times gave the drama a positive review, calling the series "not at all bad, just a bit old-fashioned". She also praised the updates made to the series, writing "purists may be dismayed that Mr. Hodges took so many liberties with the original plot, but purists are rarely any fun".
Broadcast
Series overview
International broadcast
Shown on BBC One, the first series of The Musketeers was broadcast weekly at 9pm on Sunday nights starting on 19 January 2014. The programme was the highest rated drama to debut that year. For the second series, it was moved to 9pm on Friday nights and screening began on 2 January 2015. The series premiered in the United States on 22 June 2014 on BBC America. The complete first series was "striped" on 3 August 2014 on the Australian Foxtel Cable TV channel BBC First, the day of that channel's premiere. The series started on 18 September 2014 on 'Box' Sky TV in New Zealand. The third series premiered in Canada on Showcase Canada on 10 April 2016. The full series was made available on Netflix Latin America on 16 April 2016, and on Hulu in the United States on 14 May 2016. The series premiered in the UK on 28 May 2016.
