Summary:
Peter Capaldi is to play a scheming Catholic cardinal in the BBC's new adaptation of The Three Musketeers.

Full article:
By . Chris Hastings . Peter Capaldi is to commit the ultimate cardinal sin before finally taking over as the new Doctor Who. The star, best known for playing the foul mouthed spin doctor in the hit comedy In The Thick Of It, is has been cast as the villainous Cardinal Richelieu in the BBC's new adaptation of The Musketeers. Our exclusive photograph shows Capaldi as the notoriously Machiavellian and very unchristian churchman who wielded power in 17th century France, with Emily Beecham as his mistress. Cardinal Richelieu (Peter Capaldi) and Adele Bessette (Emily Beecham) in The Musketeers . Alexandra Dowling, who plays Queen Anne in the new ten part Sunday night series, says Capaldi is brilliant in the role, oozing a sinsister kind of quality as the character. The BBC believes its new series, based on the stories by Alexandre Dumas, will be a ratings smash when it begins next week. Hoping to draw teenage viewers to the show, producers have cast Luke Pasqualino, star of Channel 4's Skins, as D'Artagnan with  Howard Charles as Porthos, Tom Burke as Athos and Santiago Cabrera from Merlin as Aramis. The BBC is so pleased with the show it has put it up against ITV's hit Mr Selfridge. Doctor Who fans have already had two brief glimpses of Capaldi as the Time Lord.