Capaldi will play the shadowy Cardinal Richelieu in The Musketeers, with Skins actor Luke Pasqualino as D'Artagnan.

BBC: Peter Capaldi to star in Musketeer drama

In 1627, France's Cardinal Richelieu began the siege of the Huguenot fortress at La Rochelle with royal troops.

CNN: Sunday,

Men like Cardinal Richelieu in France, the Earls of Essex and Leicester in England, and the Duke of Lerma in Spain were both private advice-givers and public administrators.

ECONOMIST: Courtiers and counsellors

This is an old habit (the first newspaper in France was supported by Cardinal Richelieu, the country's first prime minister) and may explain why French politicians do not need to tell the truth to voters: it is because no one else will.

ECONOMIST: Vive la diff��rence