Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Cast: Tom Burke, Santiago Cabrera, Howard Charles, Luke Pasqualino, Alexandra Dowling, Ryan Gage, Tamla Kari, Maime McCoy, Hugo Speer, Marc Warren, Emma Lowndes, Ellie Haddington, Laura Hobson, Charles Venn, Oliver Rix, Will Keen, Charlotte Salt, Celeste Dodwell, John Harding, Ed Stoppard.
Religion and politics, never easy bed fellows at the best of times, when the delicate balance hangs on the word of a young woman, that strange set of bed fellows becomes a dicey, almost inflammatory affair, which if left unchecked; could spell disaster for French-Spanish relations and have long consequences for the whole of Europe.
Emilie is receiving messages from her God and the nature of them and the way she is able to gather hundreds to her cause, is enough to make the French Court of King Louis nervous. The Musketeers are charged with curtailing the actions of the so called new Joan of Arc, but as ever, there is more to the situation than meets the eye.
It’s rare that the spotlight should fall so heavily upon a guest star in any type of programme, or for that actor to make such an impression to the tone of the overall episode but in Emma Lowndes’ Emilie, the essence of the programme was such that gravitas, already in high abundance in a great B.B.C. series, was taken to a strange new height. It acknowledged the power of the individual woman and bought into the open once more the question of why some have the problem with female authority, why some mock it and why some stand in terror of it. It is a ridiculous state of mind to have in the 21st Century but somehow it still pervades in the minds of groups of men, and the people behind The Musketeers show that supremely well.
It is a measure of the writing and overall direction of the programme that such strong parts have been made for the female section of the programme. Whether in the God invoking Emilie, or in Maimie McCoy’s fabulous Milady Di Winter, arguably the most fiendish and convincing of all the talented female actors to have taken on the role, or in Alexandra Dowling’s Queen Anne and Tamla Kari’s Constance, that the position of the women of the show is elevated to excellent quality.
This is not to take anything away from the male members of the cast, as they have from the outset been a tremendous watch for all fans of The Musketeers, especially with new addition Marc Warren playing Rochefort slotting so easily into the role and into the then seen as masculine world of swords and adventure. However there are not that many programmes such as The Musketeers that gives such importance to the roles of women and the makers should not only be congratulated but made to show other promising television executives that a programme doesn’t have to descend into gender politics to make a female actor stand out.
In the truest sense of the phrase heavily used by the four Musketeers, it really is a case of “All for one and one for all” that makes The Musketeers such a great highlight of the television week.
The Musketeers continues next week.
Ian D. Hall