HOLLYWOOD SPY EXCLUSIVE SPOTLIGHT ON NEW BBC EPIC SERIES "THE MUSKETEERS" WITH LUKE PASQUALINO, SANTIAGO CABRERA, HUGO SPEER AND TOM BURKE

As you know, your Hollywood Spy simply adores the ongoing trend of new epic shows on television, and BBC is preparing quite a lot of those for us: beside ATLANTIS which is ready to replace their MERLIN, and THE WHITE QUEEN and WOLF HALL, which will go medieval and royal, sometime ago I also announced that BBC is planning their television adaptation of THE MUSKETEERS! The good news is that the project in the form of a ten episode show is ready to start shooting this month and we also have the cast revealed with TV heartthrobs Luke Pasqualino and Santiago Cabrera leading the cast!

  MUSKETEERS STORY

Set on the streets of seventeenth century Paris, where law and order is more an idea than reality, the series follows MUSKETEERS Athos, Aramis and Porthos. They are far more than King Louis XIII’s personal bodyguards. They stand resolutely for social justice, for honor, for valor, for love – and for the thrill of it. D’Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino), 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 (Tom Burke), who has rejected his noble roots to become a Musketeer, has a past shrouded in mystery. He quickly befriends D’Artagnan, but is prone to getting in trouble. Porthos (Howard Charles) is a larger than life character, who has come from humble beginnings to become a soldier in the most elite regiment in the land, finding a family in the other Musketeers. Never short of admirers,

Aramis(Santiago Cabrera) has an effortless charm which leads him in and out of love. Despite this, he is a shrewd pragmatist who is ferocious in battle and commands a key place in the brotherhood. Constance Bonacieux (Tamla 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 life, and she becomes involved with The Musketeers. Cardinal Richlieu (Peter 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 (Maimie 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 (Hugo 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!

MUSKETEERS CAST

Created by Adrian Hodges from MY WEEKEND WITH MARILYN and PRIMEVAL, and scheduled to premier on the small screens in 2014, THE MUSKETEERS show will have dashing Luke Pasqualino ("Skins", "The Borgias", "Battlestar Galactica Blood and Chrome") playing the lead role of D’Artagnan alongside Tom Burke ("Great Expectations", "The Hour") as Athos, charismatic Santiago Cabrera (whom you remember as amazing Lancelot in BBC's "Merlin") as Aramis and Howard Charles (Royal Shakespeare Company) as Porthos. They all play a crack-team of highly trained soldiers. Meanwhile, Peter Capaldi ("The Hour", "The Thick of It"), Tamla Kari ("Cuckoo", "The Inbetweeners Movie"), beautiful Maimie McCoy ("Loving Miss Hatto"), and Hugo Speer ("Bedlam") will also star in this thrilling ten-part, fresh and contemporary take on the classic characters created by Alexandre Dumas in his much-loved novel.