Marc Warren buckles up to play a chilling villain in The Musketeers

Marc Warren will play a chilling new villain in the second series of The Musketeers.

The Mad Dogs actor will join the cast of the BBC1 period drama as the chilling Comte De Rochefort, a charming, adventurous but deeply flawed aristocrat with a shady past and a clutch of dark secrets. The manipulative noble has a sinister, life-changing plot in mind and it is only Athos (Tom Burke), Porthos (Howard Charles), Aramis (Santiago Cabrera) and D'Artagnan (Luke Pasqualino) who can bring him to heel.

"I'm delighted to be part of the BBC's stylish and exciting take on the Dumas classic. Once I have overcome my fear of horses I'm sure it will be a walk in the park," says Marc, who is filling the baddie gap left by slimy Cardinal Richelieu, who was played by new Doctor Who star Peter Capaldi.

The new 10-part series, set once more in 17th century Paris, is currently being filmed in Prague.

"We were thrilled to welcome Marc to the cast," said The Musketeers executive producer Jessica Pope. "He is a clever and mercurial actor who will bring danger and charm to the role of Rochefort in equal measure."

Caren has been a journalist specializing in TV for almost two decades and is a Senior Features Writer for TV Times, TV & Satellite Week and What’s On TV magazines and she also writes for What to Watch.

Over the years, she has spent many a day in a muddy field or an on-set catering bus chatting to numerous stars on location including the likes of Olivia Colman, David Tennant, Suranne Jones, Jamie Dornan, Dame Judi Dench and Sir Derek Jacobi as well as Hollywood actors such as Glenn Close and Kiefer Sutherland.

Caren will happily sit down and watch any kind of telly (well, maybe not sci-fi!), but she particularly loves period dramas like Call the Midwife, Downton Abbey and The Crown and she’s also a big fan of juicy crime thrillers from Line of Duty to Poirot.

In her spare time, Caren enjoys going to the cinema and theatre or curling up with a good book.