‘The Musketeers’ Episode 5: ‘The Homecoming’ review
From the preview clips you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a Porthos-heavy episode, which is a good thing. Porthos is the best one, after all.
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From the preview clips you’d be forgiven for thinking this is a Porthos-heavy episode, which is a good thing. Porthos is the best one, after all.
To celebrate the release of Sky1’s family comedy Yonderland on DVD on Monday 17 February, CultBox caught up with Ben Willbond (The Thick of It), Simon Farnaby (The Mighty Boosh) and Dan Skinner to chat about their show.
A stodgy, filler episode this week, that lays bare some poor characterisation. The unspoken is vastly more interesting than the dialogue, though Peter Capaldi and Ryan Gage do inject some humour into proceedings.
Veering between bluntly wraught melodrama and a satisfyingly personal conflict with a slave trader, ‘Commodities’ is an episode of varying quality.
The Musketeers continues its solid, unsurprising start with ‘Sleight of Hand’.
It too is another enjoyable yet predictable romp through the murkier side of swashbuckling. Meanwhile, characters are further defined, approximately fifty people are shot, and guest stars swagger as only Jason Flemyng can swagger (copiously shifting weight from buttock to buttock with each stride).
Adrian Hodges’ adaptation of Alexander Dumas’ novel occupies the post-Sherlock Sunday evening slot on BBC One and it looks the part. Prague doubles for a lived-in Seventeenth Century Paris, and the fight scenes are stylish and kinetic. A strong and charismatic cast delivers, though ultimately the end product is solid rather than exceptional.
Negatus’ kinks are further developed in this finale, as his boss Imperatrix is due to arrive to sort things out herself, due to Negatus’ incompetence. In disguise as a tramp (the titular Ernie), Negatus plans to destroy Debbie once and for all. Along the way he learns that being pure motiveless evil isn’t necessarily great for your self-esteem.
There is something about effeminate German-accented men that will remain eternally funny, and there’s not a lot anyone can do about that.
Lawrence Rickard + sarcasm. That’s basically all you need to know about this week’s Yonderland. It’s time for Rickard and Jim Howick to get more screen time as the Chamberlain and King Bernard respectively.
A slight dip in laughs tonight is counteracted by a slightly darker tone (relatively speaking), with sinister undercurrents afoot in Elf’s behaviour and in the mysterious goings-on in Ennythingos. While there’s still a lot of imagination on display, there’s perhaps more reliance on bawdy humour here than previously.