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Airdate: Marie Antoinette

Emilia Schüle stars in a new period drama told through a twenty-first century lens.

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New eight-episode period drama series Marie Antoinette will screen at Foxtel on Demand from late November.

Created and written by Deborah Davis (The Favourite), it tells the story of the incredibly modern and avant-garde young queen, played by Emilia Schüle (Ku’damm 56/ 63).

Marie Antoinette was barely fourteen years old when she left Austria to marry the Dauphin of France, where she grew up navigating the rules of the overbearing French court and the pressure to continue the Bourbon line with a male heir. Transforming from the young Dauphine to the Queen of Style and a true fashion icon, Marie Antoinette will eventually understand the rules and secrets of the Court and will attempt to recreate Versailles in her image: free, independent, and feminist. But her successes will provoke jealousy and rivalry.

Through a twenty-first century lens, the series will explore the dark, manipulative, and misogynistic world of Versailles. As defamatory pamphlets and persistent rumours about Mare Antoinette’s private life undermine her status, her opponents within the Royal Family will do everything they can to bring her down…

In addition to Emilia Schüle, the ensemble cast includes Louis Cunningham (Bridgerton) as Louis XVI, James Purefoy (Rome, Hap and Leonard, Altered Carbon) as Louis XV, Jack Archer (The Bay, Call The Midwife) as Count Of Provence, Jasmine Blackborow (Shadow and Bone) as Princess of Lamballe, and Gaia Weiss (Vikings) as Madame Du Barry. The series also stars Crystal Shepherd-Cross, Caroline Piette, Oscar Lesage, Roxane Duran, Liah O’prey, Jonas Bloquet, Marthe Keller, Nathan Willcocks, Laura Benson, Yoli Fuller and Martijn Lakemeier.

Marie Antoinette is directed by Pete Travis (Bloodlands) and Geoffrey Enthoven (Children of Love). A Canal+ Creation Originale Produced By Capa Drama, Banijay Studios France and Les Gens with the support of The Centre National De La Cinématographie and Paris Region with the participation of Ciné+, Canal+Poland, The Bruxelles-Capital Region and Wallimage (Wallonia).

Tuesday, November 22 from 4.00pm at Foxtel on Demand

2 Responses

  1. I guess Bridgerton set the ‘nouveau’ standard for these type of period dramas, especially if ignoring the cultural norms of the historical era the show is set in, is what through a 21st century lens means.

    1. Sounds very, very like the Kirsten Dunst ‘Marie Antoinette’ of the 2000s-getting very sick of folks exploiting a well recognised title and ditching the actual story…

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