'The Musketeers' Provides Swashbuckling Fun For Some & Camp Tedium To Others - Review Round-Up

BBC1 premiered their new series, The Musketeers, last night (19 Jan.) to an audience who couldn't be more undecided as a whole regarding what they had seen. The latest retelling of Alexandre Dumas's tale of pre-revolution fighters is one of the channel's flagship entertainment programmes for 2014, looking to fill the void for those trying to come to terms with the end of another season of Sherlock. A difficult task indeed, and one that many think has not been accomplished.

The stars of the new BBC series suited up and ready for action

SPOILERS AHEAD! The show stars Luke Pasqualino, Santiago Cabrera, Tom Burke and Howard Charles as our sword-wielding musketeers, doing good in 1630s Paris in the name of the King and country. That is until the very first scenes however, when Peter Capaldi's villainous Cardinal Richelieu kills off D'Artagnan's (Pasqualino) father and discredits the work of the Musketeers, sending them on the run. Their tale begins from there, trying to prove themselves as loyal and moral fighters who wish to only serve good, whilst also having to dispose of and discredit the evil doings of the twelfth Doctor Who.

Meet the cast of The Musketeers

The adventurous tale looks to keep the adrenaline pumping after the third season of Sherlock, rather than resorting to a pleasant period Sunday night romp like Downton Abbey or Call the Midwife. Perhaps for this reason alone the new series has split critics, who can't decide whether to love or loath the latest Dumas retelling.

King Louis XIII and Quuen Anne are portrayed by Ryan Gage and Alexandra Dowling

Next Page: What the critics have to say?

The Guardian critic Sam Wollaston loves some swashbuckling adventure on a Sunday evening and was left impressed and in a recommending mood after watching the first instalment of the BBC's new series. Noting that the show doesn't take itself too seriously, Wollaston praises the off-hand approach to the series and calls the whole thing a lot of fun. He writes, "will appeal to teenagers dreaming of adventure and love, of being swept off their feet by handsome men in leather or rescuing hot French babes... As well as new romantics, One Directioners maybe, fortysomething television critics etc."

Competition for Sherlock?

This view isn't shared by The Daily Mail's Jim Shelley however, who found the whole idea of a medieval adventure series that doesn't take itself seriously all too confusing. Calling it a "farce firing blanks," the critic for the Mail added that the final product "resembled a cross between Blackadder, a homoerotic ad for Armani leather trousers and a pop promo by hairy rockers Kasabian."

Peter Capaldi loves to play the bad guy

For those aren't homophobes, unbothered by the idea of leather clothing and male bonding, then the appraisals from Metro and MSN UK may persuade you to watch the new series instead. Metro critic Simon Swift admitted that the show is "no Sherlock," but conceded that it still provides ample entertainment at the end of the week. Whilst MSN writer Dan Owen was a little less impressed, singling out the production set-up and the acting, particularly the goateed Capaldi, but ruing the plot and dialogue of the show. Then again, with this being the millionth rehash of Dumas' tales, it was always going to be a tad familiar.

The Musketeers airs Sundays on BBC 1.

Peter Capaldi has been singled out for praise by most reviews