Written by on Apr 11, 2014. Posted in On Location

BBC starts filming second series of The Musketeers on location in Prague

Filming has started on location in Prague for the second season of the BBC’s adventure series The Musketeers. As with the first series, the drama is doubling the Czech Republic for 17th Century Paris in a story inspired by Alexandre Dumas’ classic novel.

The Czech Republic grabbed the producers’ attention from the start as it offered an historic look and period architecture that was not available in Paris.

“The beauty of the Czech Republic is that they have many beautiful privately-owned stately homes with owners who are only too pleased to rent them out for filming,” producer Colin Wratten told The Location Guide when the first series was launched.

“They also have areas that are less developed. In the UK we would have been framing out the National Trust gift shop at many of the period locations. In Prague we could shoot 360 degrees at the majority of the locations we filmed in.”

Filming on the first series focussed on the town of Doksany near Prague, where the production team built various sets to recreate the Paris locations they needed, with servicing from Czech Anglo Productions.

In the UK we would have been framing out the National Trust gift shop at many of the period locations.

Colin Wratten, Producer

Weather proved one of the central challenges. The shoot extended through both the Czech winter and summer, with cold-weather temperatures diving to below freezing and summer conditions reaching 30 Degrees Celsius, which became troublesome for the cast in their leather period costumes.

The first series of The Musketeers was one of the top drama launches for the BBC in a decade and has also been a big international hit, screening in nearly 80 different countries.

To read the full interview with Colin Wratten about filming The Musketeers in Czech Republic click here.

(Images: BBC)