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The Count of Monte Cristo

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The Count of Monte Cristo

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• Drama

Summary

Dramatisation of the tale by Alexandre Dumas, starring Sam Claflin.

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Review

Gabriel Tate

After dozens of screen versions of Alexandre Dumas’s classic epic of revenge and redemption, it may be too much to expect this eight-part adaptation to add anything new. But while it takes few risks, this series directed by Bille August (Pelle the Conqueror) also demonstrates that some stories simply don’t need tampering with to compel.

Sam Claflin plays Edmond Dantès, the upstanding sailor falling prey to the machinations of Blake Ritson’s Danglars (who covets his job) and Harry Taurasi’s Fernand (who craves his fiancée) when a letter he has been asked to transport to Paris by his late, respected former captain is revealed to the authorities. With the Bourbon Restoration still fragile, anything with the whiff of Bonapartism is instantly treasonous, and Dantès pays the price when he is sentenced to life imprisonment in the brutal island prison of Château d’If.

The stately pacing gives full rein to the magnificent setting, while the prospect of Jeremy Irons (the undisputed elder statesman of the Europudding since the death of Donald Sutherland) as the stoic, inspirational fellow inmate Abbé Faria offers ample incentive to return.

How to watch

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Streaming

• Channel 4
• U

Seasons

Latest season

Season 1

News & features about The Count of Monte Cristo

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  The Count of Monte Cristo cast: Who stars alongside Sam Claflin and Jeremy Irons?
  
  And where you've seen them before.

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