Please refresh the page and retry. T orture, espionage, wet-look camisoles, slavering wolves, adultery, self-flagellation, incest and an epic gardening project β Versailles BBC Two has got the lot. The recipe is familiar from previous international dramas in wigs and doublets see also The Tudors. Take a historical era with box-office brand value, remove the tedious bits about canon law and excise duties, and focus on the sex, violence and intrigue, sometimes simultaneously.
Its vaguely French signifiers include lustrous hair that makes everyone look identical and no one batting an eyelid at all the frotting in corridors. Viewers in France were at least given the option of a dubbed version to subdue the hokum.
It just feels as if it could afford to be a little less portentous. We urge you to turn off your ad blocker for The Telegraph website so that you can continue to access our quality content in the future. Visit our adblocking instructions page. Telegraph Culture TV. We've noticed you're adblocking. We rely on advertising to help fund our award-winning journalism.
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