The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas and Milady by Lucy Catherine - BBC Radio Dramas - Alexandre Dumas, Lucy Catherine Audiobook

Written by Alexandre Dumas, Lucy Catherine
Read by Full Cast
Format: M4B
Bitrate: 160 Kbps
Dramatization

THE THREE MUSKETEERS

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Alexandre Dumas’s swashbuckling epic, starring Jamie Glover, Robert Glenister and Timothy Spall.

“All for one and one for all”

17th Century France. Dashing young swordsman D’Artagnan heads for Paris, dreaming of serving the King as a member of his elite guard. On arrival, he meets the three musketeers - Athos, Porthos and Aramis - and the four men soon become fast friends.

Together, they strive to outwit the murderous schemes of power-hungry Cardinal Richelieu, and save the Queen from a plot to dishonour her.

Their adventures take them on a perilous journey through the French countryside and across the Channel to England….

A six-part dramatisation by James Saunders.

Narrator – John Rowe
D’Artagnan – Jamie Glover
Athos – Robert Glenister
Porthos – Timothy Spall
Aramis – Anton Lesser
King – Nicholas Boulton
Queen – Teresa Gallagher
Cardinal Richelieu – Julian Glover
Milady de Winter – Imelda Staunton
Lord de Winter – Gareth Armstrong
D’Artagnan’s father – James Taylor
Jussac/Des Essarts – David Jarvis
De Treville – Malcolm Ward
Planchet – Dominic Letts
Bonacieux – Norman Bird
Musketeer/Rochefort – Michael Onslow
Madame Bonacieux – Helena Breck
Duke of Buckingham – Michael Cochrane
Magistrate – John Evitts
Warder/Grimaud – Tom Bevan
Bazin – David Rowan
De Wardes – Kim Wall
Felton – Lyndam Gregory

With Rachel Atkins, Nicholas Murchie, Peter Kenny, Frances Jeater and Stuart Organ

Produced and directed by Martin Jenkins

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in April 1994.

MILADY

An original drama spotlighting The Three Musketeers’ iconic antagonist, Milady de Winter.

Young, beautiful and courageous, Milady de Winter is a cunning spy, talented thief, and ruthless killer. She glides with ease through the streets and gilded halls of 17th-century France and England, turning heads or, with a click of her fingers, disappearing anonymously into a crowd. Driven by intellect and fierce desire, she is willing to go to any lengths to achieve her ambitions - and outwit the powerful men who try to crush her.

We first meet her as a young novice, forced by her father to enter a convent against her will. Exploiting her natural charms, she escapes back into the world, where she gains wealth and privilege. But a terrible ordeal at the hands of Athos leaves her penniless and alone. Fleeing to Paris, she is recruited into the service of the French crown, and schooled in the dark arts of espionage. There, her path crosses that of the Musketeers once more - and, deceived and betrayed by D’Artagnan, she begins a relentless and obsessive quest to destroy them.

Scarred by violence and forged in the fire, Milady undergoes a metamorphosis from wayward teenager to cold-hearted avenger - but as she ventures down the darkest of roads, she risks losing everything for the chance to satiate her lust for revenge…

A fascinating retelling of a classic tale, this tense, thrilling drama puts one of literature’s greatest villains centre stage, reimagining Cardinal Richelieu’s seductive, deadly fixer as a sharp-witted survivor with a compelling story to tell.

Production credits
Written by Lucy Catherine
Produced by Sasha Yevtushenko

Cast
Milady - Anjana Vasan
Father Laurent - Luke Nunn
De La Fere/Athos - Sam Troughton
Richelieu - Carl Prekopp
Comtesse/Madame Canard - Elizabeth Counsell
Marie Therese - Rhiannon Neads
Rochefort/Executioner - Don Gilet
Father/Jailer - Shaun Mason
Sheffield/Executioner/Innkeeper - Gerard McDermott
De Winter - Joe Kloska
Felton - Gavin Singh Chera
D’Artagnan - Ian Dunnett Jnr
Buckingham - Ryan Whittle

First broadcast BBC Radio 4, 4-11 September 2023

My recordings from BBC Sounds.