I think they have chosen not to follow the book because this will allow them to do a number of series if it is a success. A lot was happening in France and Europe at this time so they can use the characters to explore that.
Woah! What? They have chosen not to follow the book? What madness is this?
Woah! What? They have chosen not to follow the book? What madness is this?
Uh-oh, I'm not going to like this, am I?
Avi, if you follow the link I posted in post 64, there is an interview with Adrian Hodges where he explains the reasoning behind his decision. I have to say, I really like the sound of it and think there is a good chance that this will be excellent. I really hope so, because I am still looking for something to fill the huge Merlin-sized gap. ( Atlantis was a major disappointment and I had to give up on that).
Avi, if you follow the link I posted in post 64, there is an interview with Adrian Hodges where he explains the reasoning behind his decision. I have to say, I really like the sound of it and think there is a good chance that this will be excellent. I really hope so, because I am still looking for something to fill the huge Merlin-sized gap. ( Atlantis was a major disappointment and I had to give up on that).
Beware of spoilers though.
Oh.
Okaaaaay.
So NOT the book then....
Sorry, I didn't realise this. I just told my husband, and he rolled his eyes and said 'OK, there'll be a gay marriage then...'
LOL! I hate to tell him, but that might just save it for me. I always felt there was more between Athos and D'Artagnan than Dumas could freely express.
Thanks Yellowrose. Apologies for being rather slow on the uptake.
Sorry, I didn't realise this. I just told my husband, and he rolled his eyes and said 'OK, there'll be a gay marriage then...'
LOL! I hate to tell him, but that might just save it for me. I always felt there was more between Athos and D'Artagnan than Dumas could freely express.
Thanks Yellowrose. Apologies for being rather slow on the uptake.
Nah, Athos is more older brother material and has far too much baggage. Arimis on the other hand intended to join the priesthood.....;-)
This is sounding really promising, just hope it lives up to my expectations. The clash with Mr Selfridge is a pain, not to mention new NCIS.
LOL - sometimes! If I have been good (so never then ;-))
I don't know why, I just assumed it would be on a Saturday (the old Merlin slot - S5 Merlin slot). And also, that my youngest would be watching it with me. But I realise now it is going to be on too late for him, and I suppose I should take the hint and understand that means the plot is going to be too adult for him (though I don't remember the book being very adult).
Yeah it's not really looking like family viewing. Have you seen the trailer for it? In the very first shot there is someone dying in a pool of blood. Visible blood :o can't have the kiddies seeing that.
Sorry, I didn't realise this. I just told my husband, and he rolled his eyes and said 'OK, there'll be a gay marriage then...'
LOL! I hate to tell him, but that might just save it for me. I always felt there was more between Athos and D'Artagnan than Dumas could freely express.
Woah! What? They have chosen not to follow the book? What madness is this?
Uh-oh, I'm not going to like this, am I?
Not quite, they will be following the book but also making their own adventures. The basic premise, of D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers fighting against M'Lady and the Cardinal is the same.
Only in the first series. The Cardinal will have to be written out in episode 1 of series 2, because the actor isn't available any more, too busy doing something with a blue box and pepperpots.
Only in the first series. The Cardinal will have to be written out in episode 1 of series 2, because the actor isn't available any more, too busy doing something with a blue box and pepperpots.
Although it would depend on filming schedules for Capaldi to still appear as Richelieu, I believe Adrian Hodges has already given some indication they'd be looking for a new "baddie" for Series Two of The Musketeers.
The more I hear about this show, the more I'm looking forward to it. Having seen Luke, Santiago, Howard and Tom on The One Show yesterday, I can't wait. Roll on Sunday!
Many keen readers of Dumas and scholars alike will be put off by what the producers of this series are doing. One must remember that this is an adaptation and certain liberties have to be taken to differentiate it from its predecessors and to entertain modern TV audiences.
Dumas himself had this to say: "I start by devising a story. I try to make it romantic, moving, dramatic and search through the annals of the past to find a frame in which to set it: and it has never happened that history has failed to provide this frame, so exactly adjusted to the subject that it seemed it was not a case of the frame being made for the picture, but that the picture has been made to fit the frame"
Such methods led Dumas into byways of history, emphasising the life of individuals as opposed to public ones, a sort of second string sub-history more attuned to the tastes of the casual reader. Essentially, he was not really writing historical novels but historical romances, unlike the man who he was following in the footsteps of; Sir Walter Scott, regarded as the father of the historical novel. He produced what is known as the Waverly novels, which were hugely popular in France and elsewhere in Europe.
His central characters are invented heroes in real situations, almost always at turning points in history. In the course of the narrative, these invented heroes, usually naive individuals come into contract with conflicting historical forces, typically embodied in authentic historical figures.
Dumas certainly carried on this tradition with the d'Artagnan Romances (encompassing three parts, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne, which tends to be split up into three separate novels due to its length (The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière and The Man in the Iron Mask)and his magnum opus, The Count of Monte Cristo.
For Scott history was a primary consideration, constituting the very fabric of the novel, for Dumas it ultimately remained a secondary one. Dumas was fairly cavalier in his approach to historical fact and rather approximate in matters of age and chronology. Richelieu for example was four years younger in the Musketeers novel, the French queen Anne of Austria was three years older and the figure who Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras wrote about in fictionalised form (Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan) who in turn formed the basis for Dumas' version, was sixteen years younger.
The novel's time span as chronicled by the events in text appears to be only slightly longer than a year, but the narrative nonetheless begins in April 1625 and extends to include the siege of La Rochelle and the event that occurred with the Duke of Buckingham in August 1928. And, after all, why not? Dumas never intended to pose as a serious professional historian, of whom there were all too many in France during his life.
The crux of the matter being that Dumas, considering his approach and what is known of him, would probably not have taken offense to liberties being taken with his works, certainly not to the extent that J.R.R Tolkien might have (see Letter #210 for example), although even Tolkien wasn't wholly opposed to the idea of continuation and adaptation as is generally believed.
The story has been done to death. Why not try something original?
I am not sure where "need" comes into it. The question is do we want a TV Musketeers series? You may not, but I would not mind a decent TV take on the story, so I will not judge it before I see it.
Comments
Woah! What? They have chosen not to follow the book? What madness is this?
Uh-oh, I'm not going to like this, am I?
Avi, if you follow the link I posted in post 64, there is an interview with Adrian Hodges where he explains the reasoning behind his decision. I have to say, I really like the sound of it and think there is a good chance that this will be excellent. I really hope so, because I am still looking for something to fill the huge Merlin-sized gap. ( Atlantis was a major disappointment and I had to give up on that).
Beware of spoilers though.
Oh.
Okaaaaay.
So NOT the book then....
Sorry, I didn't realise this. I just told my husband, and he rolled his eyes and said 'OK, there'll be a gay marriage then...'
LOL! I hate to tell him, but that might just save it for me. I always felt there was more between Athos and D'Artagnan than Dumas could freely express.
Thanks Yellowrose. Apologies for being rather slow on the uptake.
Nah, Athos is more older brother material and has far too much baggage. Arimis on the other hand intended to join the priesthood.....;-)
This is sounding really promising, just hope it lives up to my expectations. The clash with Mr Selfridge is a pain, not to mention new NCIS.
Well it's already been promoted from cult show to normal TV so it's doing well.
Can you hear me rolling my eyes at you two. Because I am.
Not quite, they will be following the book but also making their own adventures. The basic premise, of D'Artagnan and the Three Musketeers fighting against M'Lady and the Cardinal is the same.
ITV Mr Selfridge
Sky 1 Hawaii 50
All new, thank goodness for +1 channels
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25680450
Personally, my thoughts on the matter.
Many keen readers of Dumas and scholars alike will be put off by what the producers of this series are doing. One must remember that this is an adaptation and certain liberties have to be taken to differentiate it from its predecessors and to entertain modern TV audiences.
Dumas himself had this to say: "I start by devising a story. I try to make it romantic, moving, dramatic and search through the annals of the past to find a frame in which to set it: and it has never happened that history has failed to provide this frame, so exactly adjusted to the subject that it seemed it was not a case of the frame being made for the picture, but that the picture has been made to fit the frame"
Such methods led Dumas into byways of history, emphasising the life of individuals as opposed to public ones, a sort of second string sub-history more attuned to the tastes of the casual reader. Essentially, he was not really writing historical novels but historical romances, unlike the man who he was following in the footsteps of; Sir Walter Scott, regarded as the father of the historical novel. He produced what is known as the Waverly novels, which were hugely popular in France and elsewhere in Europe.
His central characters are invented heroes in real situations, almost always at turning points in history. In the course of the narrative, these invented heroes, usually naive individuals come into contract with conflicting historical forces, typically embodied in authentic historical figures.
Dumas certainly carried on this tradition with the d'Artagnan Romances (encompassing three parts, The Three Musketeers, Twenty Years After and The Vicomte of Bragelonne, which tends to be split up into three separate novels due to its length (The Vicomte de Bragelonne, Louise de la Vallière and The Man in the Iron Mask)and his magnum opus, The Count of Monte Cristo.
For Scott history was a primary consideration, constituting the very fabric of the novel, for Dumas it ultimately remained a secondary one. Dumas was fairly cavalier in his approach to historical fact and rather approximate in matters of age and chronology. Richelieu for example was four years younger in the Musketeers novel, the French queen Anne of Austria was three years older and the figure who Gatien de Courtilz de Sandras wrote about in fictionalised form (Charles de Batz-Castelmore d'Artagnan) who in turn formed the basis for Dumas' version, was sixteen years younger.
The novel's time span as chronicled by the events in text appears to be only slightly longer than a year, but the narrative nonetheless begins in April 1625 and extends to include the siege of La Rochelle and the event that occurred with the Duke of Buckingham in August 1928. And, after all, why not? Dumas never intended to pose as a serious professional historian, of whom there were all too many in France during his life.
The crux of the matter being that Dumas, considering his approach and what is known of him, would probably not have taken offense to liberties being taken with his works, certainly not to the extent that J.R.R Tolkien might have (see Letter #210 for example), although even Tolkien wasn't wholly opposed to the idea of continuation and adaptation as is generally believed.
The story has been done to death. Why not try something original?
I think it is a Merlin style take on the adventures
I am not sure where "need" comes into it. The question is do we want a TV Musketeers series? You may not, but I would not mind a decent TV take on the story, so I will not judge it before I see it.
Or that seminal piece from Muskehounds...