Marie Antoinette series to stream on BBC

The BBC has pre-bought Deborah Davis' eight-part series on Marie Antoinette. The queen has been the subject of a number of films over the years, including Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. But the BBC series is said to be one of the first large-scale series focusing on the historical figure.

Marie Antoinette was hardly fourteen years old when she left Austria to marry the Dauphin of France, where she grew up discovering the rules of the insolent French court and the pressure to continue the Bourbon line with a male successor. She is still hailed as a fashion icon and remembered over two hundred years later for her charisma, independence, and the rumours that undermined her reputation in the courts of Versailles.

The history of her life is filled with opportunities for engaging content and reportedly Davis intends to make this a more feminist retelling of Marie Antoinette's experiences as the Queen of France.

German actress Emilia Schüle and British actor Louis Cunningham have been cast as Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI, with Jack Archer and James Purefoy cast in additional roles. 

Louise Ironside, Avril E. Russell, and Chloë Moss have penned the series, with Pete Travis and Geoffrey Enthoven directing the episodes. Marie Antoinette is produced by Claude Chelli and Margaux Balsan for Capa Drama, Alban Étienne and Stéphanie Chartreux for Banijay Studios France, and Christophe Toulemonde for Les Gens.

Reportedly, the series will film in the halls that Marie Antoinette once walked, including the Châteaux of Versailles, Vaux-le-Vicomte, Lésigny and Champs.