Malcolm Tucker actor Peter Capaldi to feature in new TV series 'The Musketeers'

Peter Capaldi as Malcolm Tucker in 'The Thick of It' (BBC)

Peter Capaldi is exchanging tongue lashing for physical back stabbing next year when he stars in the TV series The Musketeers.

Capaldi, who is known for playing foul-mouthed Malcolm Tucker in The Thick of It, will play French cleric Cardinal Richelieu in a new 10-part BBC One adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ novel. Skins actor Luke Pasqualino who will also star as D’Artagnan.

The three Musketeers will be played by Great Expectations actor Tom Burke as Athos, Santiago Cabrera from Merlin as Aramis, and Howard Charles, who has acted with the Royal Shakespeare Company, as Porthos.

The drama is due to be broadcast in 2014 and has been written by Adrian Hodges, whose previous credits include the 2011 film My Week with Marilyn, starring Michelle Williams and Eddie Redmayne, and ITV sci-fi drama Primeval.

Speaking about The Musketeers, he said: “This series is all about passion, romance, heroism and action, and I can’t think of a better group of actors to embody those diverse qualities.”

The Musketeers is among new BBC drama commissions including Atlantis, from the makers of Merlin; an adaptation of PD James’ Death Comes to Pemberley; and Burton and Taylor, a single film about the turbulent relationship between Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor.

It was announced two weeks ago that a third series of The Hour, in which Capaldi plays head of news Randall Brown, has been axed.