# Versailles (TV series)

Versailles is historical drama television series, set during the construction of the Palace of Versailles during the reign of Louis XIV. A co production between France, Canada, the United Kingdom and United States, the series premiered on 16 November 2015 on Canal+ in France and on Super Channel in Canada in May 2016 on BBC Two in Britain, and on 1 October 2016 on Ovation in the United States.
A second season was ordered prior to the season one premiere. Filming for the second season began in February 2016; its story took place four years after that of the first season. The second season premiered on 27 March 2017 in France and aired from 21 April 2017 in Britain. On 14 September 2016, producer Claude Chelli confirmed that Versailles had been renewed for a third season, which began filming in April 2017. On 17 April 2018, Variety reported that the third season of Versailles would be its last.

## Plot introduction

In the wake of the Fronde in 1667, the French nobility had begun to defy and disobey the monarchy. Young King Louis XIV (George Blagden) decides to move the court from the Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye near Paris to his father's former hunting lodge near the hamlet of Versailles as a means to force their submission. As Louis renovates and expands his new Palace of Versailles, the nobles—displaced from their usual surroundings, but compelled to accompany the king—become embroiled in increasingly dangerous intrigues.

## Cast
### Main

* George Blagden as Louis XIV, King of France
* Alexander Vlahos as Monsieur Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, brother of the king
* Tygh Runyan as Fabien Marchal, the king's chief of police
* Stuart Bowman as Alexandre Bontemps, valet of the king
* Amira Casar as Béatrice, Madame de Clermont (season 1)
* Evan Williams as Chevalier de Lorraine, lover of the Duke of Orléans
* Noémie Schmidt as Henrietta of England, first wife of Phillipe (main: season 1; guest: season 2)
* Anna Brewster as Françoise-Athénaïs, Marquise de Montespan, the king's favourite mistress
* Sarah Winter as Louise de La Vallière (season 1)
* Suzanne Clément as Madame Agathe (season 2), a sorceress based on La Voisin
* Catherine Walker as Madame Scarron / Madame de Maintenon (seasons 2–3)
* Elisa Lasowski as Marie-Thérèse, queen consort of France
* Maddison Jaizani as Béatrice's daughter Sophie de Clermont, later the Duchesse de Cassel
* Jessica Clark as Elizabeth Charlotte, Princess of the Palatinate, Philippe's second wife (season 2–3)
* Pip Torrens as the Duke de Cassel (seasons 1–2)
* Harry Hadden-Paton as Gaston de Foix (season 2)
* Greta Scacchi as Madeleine de Foix (season 2)

### Recurring

* Lizzie Brocheré as Claudine Masson, midwife who becomes the king's physician
* Steve Cumyn as Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Minister of Finance
* Gilly Gilchrist as Jacques
* Dominique Blanc as Anne of Austria
* Joe Sheridan as François-Michel le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois
* Geoffrey Bateman as Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
* Ken Bones as Cardinal Leto
* Thierry Harcourt as André Le Nôtre
* Anatole Taubman as Montcourt
* Alexis Michalik as Louis, Duke of Rohan
* George Webster as William of Orange
* Mark Rendall as Thomas Beaumont
* Ned Dennehy as Father Étienne
* James Joint as Father Pascal
* Matthew McNulty as Guillaume, a cobbler who serves in the army under Philippe
* Jenny Platt as Jeanne, Guillaume's sister

### Minor characters

* Phareelle Onoyan as Isabelle, a courtesan
* the Duke of Luxembourg
* Aniaba, season 1; an African prince
* Louise Marie-Thérèse (The Black Nun of Moret), an illegitimate infant of the Queen Marie-Thérèse begotten with prince Aniaba (or a court jester, they get both accused).

## Production

Versailles was created by British writers Simon Mirren and David Wolstencroft, both of whom were previously based in Hollywood. It is the most expensive French television series of all time, with a budget of €30 million (approximately $33 million) for its first season.
A second season was ordered prior to the season one premiere. Filming for the second season began in February 2016; its story took place four years after that of the first season.
On 14 September 2016, producer Claude Chelli confirmed that Versailles had been renewed for a third season, which would begin filming in April 2017. On 11 May 2017, the official Instagram account of Château de Vaux-le-Vicomte published pictures of the ongoing shoot of the third season. On 17 April 2018, Variety reported that the third season of Versailles would be its last.

### Filming locations

In addition to the Palace of Versailles, many other palaces and chateaux were filmed for the depiction of the unfinished Versailles, including:
* The Château de Champs-sur-Marne gardens (the chateau pictured below)
* The Château de Janvry
* The Château of Lésigny
* The Château de Maisons-Laffitte (pictured below)
* The Château de Pierrefonds (pictured below) used as the castle preuses room
* The Château de Sceaux
* The Château de Vigny (pictured below)
* The commune of Rambouillet
* Vaux-le-Vicomte (pictured below)
* Château de Maisons-Laffitte
* Château de Pierrefonds
* Vaux-le-Vicomte
* Modern Palace of Versailles, 2007
* Château de Champs-sur-Marne
* Château de Vigny

## Episodes
### Series overview

| Season | Season | Episodes | Originally aired | Originally aired |
| Season | Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
| | 1 | 10 | 16 November 2015 (2015-11-16) | 14 December 2015 (2015-12-14) |
| | 2 | 10 | 27 March 2017 (2017-03-27) | 24 April 2017 (2017-04-24) |
| | 3 | 10 | 23 April 2018 (2018-04-23) | 21 May 2018 (2018-05-21) |

### Season 1 (2015)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 1 | 1 | "Un roi sans château n'a rien d'un vrai roi" "Welcome to Versailles" | Jalil Lespert | Story by : Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft and Andre Jacquemetton & Maria Jacquemetton Teleplay by : Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft | 16 November 2015 (2015-11-16) |
| Louis XIV has been the official king of France since he was a 4-year-old toddler. However, his mother Anne of Austria and a council of ministers were really in charge. In 1666, his mother passes away when he is 27 years old. He begins construction of the Palace of Versailles in earnest. Many aristocratic ladies such as Louise de La Vallière in the royal court are lovers of Louis XIV. ||||||
| 2 | 2 | "L'État c'est moi" "I Am the State" | Jalil Lespert | Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft | 16 November 2015 (2015-11-16) |
| Louis XIV is upset that his Queen Maria Theresa of Spain has given birth to a Moorish child. ||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Il est temps que la noblesse réplique" "Mirror for Princes" | Christoph Schrewe | Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft | 23 November 2015 (2015-11-23) |
| Most of the nobles dislike Versailles. Nonetheless, Louis XIV has completed his move to Versailles. Colbert is serving as his first minister. ||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Demain j'aurai bien plus de choses en commun avec mon ennemi qu'avec mon propre frère" "The Road" | Christoph Schrewe | Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft | 23 November 2015 (2015-11-23) |
| Louis XIV regularly sleeps with his sister-in-law Henrietta of England. ||||||
| 5 | 5 | "La guerre fait toujours rage en toi, dis-lui "Halte"" "Bow to Your King" | Christoph Schrewe | Sasha Hails | 30 November 2015 (2015-11-30) |
| On his brother Louis's order, in 1668, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans has returned from the War of Devolution against the Spanish Netherlands. France and Spanish Netherlands before the War of Devolution Duke de Cassel refuses to prove that he is of noble lineage; in turn, Louis XIV burns down Cassel's chateau with a ploy. ||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Ce n'est pas un enfant que tu lui donnes, c'est un bâton avec lequel il nous frappera" "Invalides" | Thomas Vincent | Story by : Sasha Hails Teleplay by : Andrew Bampfield | 30 November 2015 (2015-11-30) |
| The construction of the Versailles Palace seems like a never-ending project. Louis XIV is using army soldiers—some of whom have become invalids in wars and construction accidents—to complete the construction. Later, to assuage the frustration of the soldier builders of Versailles, Louis meets with them and proposes the construction of Les Invalides which will include a hospital, retirement home for soldier builders, refectories, and other facilities. He promises to provide free housing there for all wounded soldiers for the rest of their lives. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans urges his wife Henrietta of England to leave Versailles for Château de Saint-Cloud. ||||||
| 7 | 7 | "La maladie du Roi empire, c'est maintenant qu'il faut agir" "Revelations" | Thomas Vincent | Story by : Sasha Hails Teleplay by : Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft | 7 December 2015 (2015-12-07) |
| Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine is imprisoned for treason against Louis XIV. ||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Ton palais de rêve est en train de devenir un paradis du complot" "Diplomacy" | Daniel Roby | Andrew Bampfield | 7 December 2015 (2015-12-07) |
| The House of Orange is in the ascendency in Holland. So, Louis XIV dispatches his cousin and sister-in-law Henrietta of England on a diplomatic mission to forge an alliance with her brother Charles II of England. ||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Des forces beaucoup plus puissantes et déterminées continuent de chercher à nous détruire" "Etiquette" | Daniel Roby | Andrew Bampfield | 14 December 2015 (2015-12-14) |
| In Dover in 1670, Henrietta meets with her brother Charles II where she successfully negotiates the Secret Treaty of Dover. Louis wants his brother Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, to take charge of overseeing court etiquette at Versailles. Later, when William of Orange (who at the time was only the Dutch monarch and not yet the British monarch as well) confronts Charles II about the latter's alliance with France against Holland, Charles II proposes a marriage between his niece Mary II and William of Orange to allay Holland's fears. Louis XIV begins to train his eldest son Louis, Grand Dauphin with the help of the Rohan. ||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Laissez-moi sentir le soleil sur ma peau" "Bring the Garden Here" | Daniel Roby | Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft | 14 December 2015 (2015-12-14) |
| After inferring that Montcourt has poisoned Henrietta, Louis XIV and Fabian Marchal confront Montcourt. ||||||

### Season 2 (2017)

| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 11 | 1 | "Labyri" "The Labyrinth" | Thomas Vincent | Story by : Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft Teleplay by : David Wolstencroft | 27 March 2017 (2017-03-27) |
| Madame de Montespan has secured her position as the favorite of king Louis XIV. Meanwhile, Chevalier de Lorraine, who is the lover of the king's brother Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, remains in exile. Louis XIV suspects William of Orange to be the mastermind behind the Affair of the Poisons. Louis XIV appoints Duke de Cassel as his new minister of justice. ||||||
| 12 | 2 | "Un murmure doux et léger" "A Still Small Voice" | Thomas Vincent | Story by : Simon Mirren & David Wolstencroft Teleplay by : David Wolstencroft | 27 March 2017 (2017-03-27) |
| Louis XIV embarks on a war against the Protestant Dutch Republic of Holland in the Franco-Dutch War. Louis XIV wants his brother Philippe I, Duke of Orléans to marry the princess of Palatinate to fortify his alliance against the Dutch since Philippe's first wife English princess Henrietta has passed away. It is publicly known that Montespan is pregnant with Louis XIV's child which vexes his wife Queen Maria Theresa and the Catholic clergy such as Bishop Bossuet. ||||||
| 13 | 3 | "Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes?" "Who Will Guard the Guards Themselves?" | Thomas Vincent | Andrew Bampfield | 3 April 2017 (2017-04-03) |
| Sophie de Clermont acquiesces to Louis XIV's wish that she marries his justice minister Duke de Cassel. With Louis XIV's assent, Madame Scarron becomes the governess of Montespan's children. ||||||
| 14 | 4 | "Miasme" "Miasma" | Thomas Vincent | Andrew Bampfield | 3 April 2017 (2017-04-03) |
| Johan de Witt is the leader of governing the Dutch Republic under the stadtholder William of Orange. ||||||
| 15 | 5 | "Guerre et paix" "War and Peace" | Mike Barker | Andrew Bampfield & David Wolstencroft | 10 April 2017 (2017-04-10) |
| Father Pascal is assassinated with a poisonous flower. Marie-Thérèse is appointed as regent when Louis XIV goes to war in Holland. ||||||
| 16 | 6 | "Les Sables du temps" "The Sands of Time" | Mike Barker | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & David Wolstencroft Teleplay by : Tim Loane | 10 April 2017 (2017-04-10) |
| The sultan of the Sultanate of Bijapur refuses to engage in political negotiations with the Queen acting as regent because she is a woman. ||||||
| 17 | 7 | "Une nuit" "A Night" | Mike Barker | Andrew Bampfield | 17 April 2017 (2017-04-17) |
| Louis parleys with William of Orange. Isabelle, a palace courtesan, is killed. ||||||
| 18 | 8 | "Le nouveau régime" "The New Regime" | Louis Choquette | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & David Wolstencroft and Tim Loane Teleplay by : Andrew Bampfield | 17 April 2017 (2017-04-17) |
| Upon his return from war, Louis begins to brush aside Montespan. ||||||
| 19 | 9 | "Sept Ombres" "Seven Shadows" | Louis Choquette | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & David Wolstencroft and Tim Loane Teleplay by : Tim Loane | 24 April 2017 (2017-04-24) |
| In 1674, Turenne ravages Palatinate. The state of Palatinate of the Holy Roman Empire joins the William of Orange in the war against France. To Louis's chagrin, the marriage of his brother to the Princess of Palatinate−who is living in France with Philippe−hasn't stopped the hostility between France and Palatinate. Fabien Marchal arrests occultist priest Étienne Guibourg. ||||||
| 20 | 10 | "De pierres et de sang" "Of Blood and Stone" | Louis Choquette | Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane | 24 April 2017 (2017-04-24) |
| Louis XIV orders the arrest of the Duke of Luxembourg after questioning him in Versailles. ||||||

### Season 3 (2018)

The third season was released on demand in its entirety on 23 April 2018.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original release date |
| 21 | 1 | "Miroirs et fumée" "Smoke and Mirrors" | Richard Clark | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Tim Loane | 23 April 2018 (2018-04-23) |
| Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor meets with Louis XIV to concede defeat in the Nine Years' War at the Palace of Versailles . Philippe I, Duke of Orléans has just returned from war to meet Philippe, Chevalier de Lorraine who just begot a baby with his wife. Bontemps reminds the French King that following The Fronde, the French Protestants, nevertheless, maintained their allegiance to Louis XIV by fighting against William of Orange. Louis XIV accepts the counsel of his brother, Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, that convicted criminals should be used for military recruitment instead of sending veterans of the Nine Years' War back to war in North America. ||||||
| 22 | 2 | "Question de confiance" "Question of Trust" | Richard Clark | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Andrew Bampfield | 23 April 2018 (2018-04-23) |
| Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, believes to have suffered a concussion at the hands of the Man in the Iron Mask. In negotiations with Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, Louis XIV pushes to claim all of Spain once Charles II of Spain (also the half-brother of Louis XIV's wife Maria Theresa of Spain) passes away. Louis XIV defends Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon against rumors that she was a professional prostitute in a brothels; he admonishes and dismisses a few courtesans. ||||||
| 23 | 3 | "La vérité éclatera" "The Truth Will Burst" | Richard Clark | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Martha Hillier | 30 April 2018 (2018-04-30) |
| Louis XIV gives leave to his Hapsburg wife Maria Theresa of Spain to go to Madrid, Spain, to visit her ailing brother, the king of Spain. Louis XIV learns that Françoise d'Aubigné, Marquise de Maintenon was an erotic entertainer at Domaine of Villarceaux. ||||||
| 24 | 4 | "Crime et châtiment" "Crime and Punishment" | Richard Clark | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Steve Bailie | 30 April 2018 (2018-04-30) |
| Maria Theresa of Spain, wife of Louis XIV, denied to her husband that she and Louis XIV's cousin, Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor, were headed to Spain to arrange the marriage of Eleonore of Austria, Queen of Poland to Charles II of Spain. ||||||
| 25 | 5 | "L'au-delà" "The Afterlife" | Edward Bazalgette | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Tim Loane | 7 May 2018 (2018-05-07) |
| An emissary of Mehmed IV meets with Louis XIV to seek the support of France against Leopold I, Holy Roman Emperor in the upcoming Battle of Vienna (1683). Philippe I, Duke of Orléans becomes preoccupied with an inscription on a dagger based on the Vulgate Wisdom of Solomon. Maria Theresa of Spain, who did not go to Spain, dies in Versailles in 1683. ||||||
| 26 | 6 | "La roue de la fortune" "The Wheel of Fortune" | Edward Bazalgette | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Andrew Bampfield | 7 May 2018 (2018-05-07) |
| Following the death of his wife Maria Theresa of Spain, Louis XIV is concerned that his claim of dominion over the Catholic kingdom of Spain has grown tenuous. Contrary to the advice of his First Minister Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Louis XIV discusses abandoning the 1598 Edict of Nantes (Edict of Fontainebleau, 1685) to win over the moral support of Pope Innocent XI; this way, Louis XIV can emerge as the champion of the Catholic faith in France as well as Spain. In order to re-establish his blood connection to the Kingdom of Spain, Louis XIV is keen on matching his niece to Marie Louise d'Orléans to Charles II of Spain; her step-mother Princess Palatine is very supportive of this union. Philippe I, Duke of Orléans along with Fabien Marchal, the king's chief of police, infer that the Man in the Iron Mask is the illegitimate son of Louis XIII and Louise de La Fayette. ||||||
| 27 | 7 | "Le livre des révélations" "The Book of Revelations" | Edward Bazalgette | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Martha Hillier | 14 May 2018 (2018-05-14) |
| Upon meeting Louis XIV and Philippe I, Duke of Orléans, the unmasked "Man in the Iron Mask" claims to be their father. ||||||
| 28 | 8 | "Des hommes et des dieux" "Men and Gods" | Peter Van Hees | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Steve Bailie | 14 May 2018 (2018-05-14) |
| Cardinal Leto proposes that Louis XIV marry Isabel Luísa, Princess of Beira to "unite the entire Iberian Peninsula under his aegis." ||||||
| 29 | 9 | "La poudrière" "The Powder Keg" | Peter Van Hees | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Tim Loane | 21 May 2018 (2018-05-21) |
| On orders from Louis XIV, Marquis de Louvois confiscates the property of French subjects who refuse to recant their Protestant faith. ||||||
| 30 | 10 | "L'héritage" "The Legacy" | Peter Van Hees | Story by : Andrew Bampfield & Tim Loane Teleplay by : Andrew Bampfield | 21 May 2018 (2018-05-21) |
| Louis XIV decides to meet the people by the tradition of the thaumaturgy. Louvois takes over for the retired Colbert. ||||||

## Broadcast

Versailles premiered on 16 November 2015 on Canal+ in France and on Super Channel in Canada, in May 2016 on BBC Two in Britain, and on 1 October 2016 on Ovation in the U.S. The Movie Network gave early access to all of season 2 in October 2016, prior to its 2017 broadcast dates. The series stayed on the English-language Super Channel until May 2016 but was gone by December 2016, after TMN had made season 2 available early. The French version of Super Channel is keeping the show available until 8 November 2020. City aired the first six episodes of season 1 from 4 January to 25 February.
The second season premiered on 27 March 2017 in France, and on 21 April 2017 in Britain. At some point after the first season concluded, Super Channel lost the Canadian broadcast rights to the series. Subsequently, The Movie Network picked up those rights and began airing reruns of the first season.
In April 2016, Netflix acquired the rights to stream Versailles. Netflix released the third and final season of Versailles on 2 April 2019.

## Reception

The first season of Versailles received mixed to positive reviews from critics. It holds a 55 out of 100 rating on Metacritic, based on six reviews, and an 80% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with an average score of 6.56 out of 10, based on 10 reviews. Marjolaine Boutet of Le Monde gave the first season a mixed review, stating that its ambition was both its main flaw and what made it a quality television series, and added that the series' most fascinating character, Louis XIV's gardener Jacques (Gilly Gilchrist), did not have enough screen time.
The third season has an approval rating of 44% on Rotten Tomatoes based on nine reviews, with an average rating of 5.2 out of 10.