The Musketeers

This new BBC take on Alexandre Dumas's classic swashbuckling adventure adds modern filmmaking techniques and more humor to the familiar story. Luke Pasqualino is handsome country-boy swordsman D'Artagnan, who comes to Paris seeking revenge for the death of his father and ends up joining forces with the Musketeers—serious Athos (Tom Burke), scrappy Porthos (Howard Charles), and philandering Aramis (Santiago Cabrera)—against the schemes of Cardinal Richelieu (Peter Capaldi). While following the novel's general outlines—we have the foppish king (Ryan Gage), the savvy queen (Alexandra Dowling), the married young Constance (Tamla Kari) for D'Artagnan to fall in love with, and the scheming Milady (Maimie McCoy) working for Richelieu—it's more episodic than epic, with each segment revolving around a new plot set in place to frame the Musketeers (who are beyond the cardinal's control), manipulate the king, or discredit the throne. This version features a mixed race Porthos, a product of the slums who is a social outcast—except in the brotherhood of the Musketeers, where ability and loyalty are the measure of a man. Although it's a fun and breezy show with attractive young characters and caper-style stories in Old World settings (the Czech Republic stands in for 17th-century Paris), there's ultimately not much substance to the roles or the scripts. Compiling all 10 episodes from the 2014 debut season, extras include behind-the-scenes featurettes. A strong optional purchase. (S. Axmaker)