It turns out that when the first series was written its creator Adrian Hodges was told it would air at 8pm on BBC One. That meant that the fights and steamy sex content had to be toned down for a younger, family audience, Hodges has explained. However, the show ended up going out an hour later at 9pm.
Now filming is under way for series two and Hodges has revealed that the scripts and story-lines are much more geared to a later, post-watershed audience.
He explained:“We wouldn’t have done the first series in that way, had we been doing the whole thing as a 9pm show. We would have pushed the tone much further in terms of sexuality and violence. So for this second series, I knew we were going out at 9pm and so we have pushed it harder for this audience.”
Hodges also said he had to make drastic changes to his plans for the second series because Peter Capaldi, 56, who played the evil Cardinal Richelieu, quit to become the new Doctor Who. Aware the show was without a baddie, they have brought in Hustle’s Marc Warren, 47, who will play the Comte De Rochefort.
Hodges added: “Marc will be the villain and he will run through the whole series, coming in and out of the boys’ stories like The Cardinal did.”
Joining the cast is James Bond actor Colin Salmon, who appeared in three 007 films playing Charles Robinson. He will guest star as a character called Tariq - described by show bosses as "a mysterious interloper on the run from Spain" and Misfits actress Antonia Thomas will play his daughter, Samara.
The first episode of the Sunday night show attracted 9.3million viewers, making it the most successful drama launch on BBC1 since Call The Midwife.
The Musketeers, which stars TV hunks Luke Pasqualino, 23, as D’Artagnan, Howard Charles, 38, as Porthos, Santiago Cabrera, 35, as Aramis, and Tom Burke, 32, as Athos, is back early next year.
The show, based on the stories by Alexandre Dumas, pulled in an average of six million viewers for each episode in the first series and has been sold to 78 countries around the world - including France.
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Any sex scene requests, ONTD?