Swagger Inn Thread 76. BBC Musketeers. Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough.

[SparklesRedHotChileLeather]

I've got a feeling...that tonight's gonna be a good night

Help yourself to an ADMIT ONE pass if you're a fan of The Musketeers with a clear allegiance to at least one, preferably no more than four.

Sorry, it was the penultimate paragraph

Madame successful parties for us:

Limited to 5-6 friends for us
Cinema most cinemas have kids am on the weekend where everyone goes for £1,75 and the kid get snacks and a drink for a similar price. You have to watch what's on offer though an it is pretty much 10am showing. But you could be done by 12.
Quiz party ds 1 has this every year because he has a small group of friends. It requires load of work though.
I don't actually think something similar will be boring I had parties like that most years and was great fun. Kids don't get bored of it but it is hard work for you.

On that note is DS2 birthday tomorrow so we have my folks coming round in a bit and have made a couple of lasagne. DH niece is coming to stay tonight as he has chosen to take on friend and her an his brother to see Paddington early tomorrow then when we take her back we have mire cake.

Well the reviews are looking promising Adrian

Scarf ripping, naw - you use it to drag him towards you, then rip it off later whilst maintaining constant eye contact

and you do NOT bring it into contact with a sharp rapier.

Does it have it's own twitter account yet?

Helen

Sorry I haven't been on thread.
Episode was fab last night. Kingy was good.
Will read thread as soon as I can - as soon as I have finished my report.

Wicked

I actually thought that's what you meant! How perverted am I?

I'm from a very secularized country, how the hell should I know that the C stood for Christ?

Well party was defeaning, but suprisingly nice. They laid on tea, coffee and cake for the adults which is a nice touch and once I'd caffeined up I decided to be sociable. I did go to a kids party once where we all got handed a glass of wine as we walked in the door, that was even better.

Madame how about a 2 hour hire of village hall, with a bouncy castle. Cheaper than an entertainer and they will bounce for hours. Throw in a pass the parcel, musical bumps etc and your almost done. The party today also had a colouring table for kids who didn't want to bounce, a million photocopies of Disney characters and some crayons. Add in loud bouncing music to deafen adults and drown out screaming.

Best food option I've seen is to buy the boxes like you get at attractions (cheap off eBay) and stick a juice box, cling wrapped sarnies, some grapes and a cake bar in it each. Bowls of crisps on the table. Write each kids name on their box (helps with any dietary issues) and then at the end shove a bag of haribo, slice of cake and a small plastic gift in their box so they take away anything uneaten and half the rubbish. Or if it's close enough send DP to local McDonalds to collect a preordered happy meal each - food and a take home toy sorted. Need to let parents know about this one in advance but if McDs is close enough works well.

It's snowing again

Have read thread and comments about Ep 2 and I think I may benefit from a rewatch. To be fair I wasn't in the best of moods last night when watching and that may have hindered my enjoyment.

I am sure that after a rewatch I will be as enthusiastic about Ep 2 as everyone else seems to be.

Apparently, overnight viewing figures were on par with last week - 3.64m - whereas Benidorm dropped from over 6m last week to 4.4m this week.

First thoughts from last night.....

Loving the new filmic photography of this series - a couple of examples of what I mean - the framing of the queen in her bed as she presents the new-born dauphin to the king ( before he enters shot) ep.1, the scene from above of the courtiers parting at the door as the king comes through also ep 1, and last night's christening long shot.

Also some great locations - splendid stuff last night in the ravine leading up to the traders' camp and the surrounding landscape - some quite mystical land features, very weird and strange.

And great stuff from the king - and despite the rather shocking ending, he was really quite astute in his character judgement - the guy turned on his brother to save his own skin...

I had hoped Louis might have slightly grown in wisdom after his adventures, but bearing in mind it all happened over one or two nights, I suppose that's too much to expect. Maybe the Cardinal would have counselled him more wisely in the final scene had he been there, as it is clear that Louis deeply misses the guiding hand ( and love!) of a father (figure)

Thought last night's episode was better than last weeks - looking forward to ep 3.

Thanks anne and mrsb! Im up for keep it simple, eg small cinema / bowling trip. Think that may be all my headaches can cope with. Dp thinks ds would enjoy more a party in a hall, he's probably right tbh.

Agree kate, the filming and locations and costumes (apart from connies bottom ruff) are stunning. That ravine looked incredible. I found the number of different bad guys in that last ep wildly confusing, for me that was the main problem with last nights ep.

Good news the viewing figures are holding steady though.

chaise hope the report is going ok. Keep at it!

Oooh that is good news re the viewing figs. I wonder what will happen after the 2 week gap after next week's ep though

And Benidorm can FTFO. #TheRage

Thanks to all for the links to reviews, great to see that people are enjoying it & that last one acknowledges that this is entertainment not a documentary. Thanks for the viewing figures too carolina, it's restored some of my faith in UK viewers

Agree that penultimate para is a bit unless they know something we don't? There have been quite a few loyalty conflicts & tests of honour already in both series & Aramis would be expected to protect the Dauphin & sacrifice all for his safety no matter who the father was surely?

Further Queenie musings today, as I thought she seemed less kick-assedly awesome last night, I got to thinking that in series one she did express how vulnerable she felt as she had not provided an heir & knew Kingy was getting frustrated with this. She was pleasantly surprised at how pleased he was when she was saved in ep 9, she knew how much he liked her then. Her arse-whipping of the Cardinal was when she knew she was pregnant & had a hold over him & so suspected her position was a lot safer. She's a bright enough woman to know that if Kingy were dead with the Dauphin being so young, she's very vulnerable. France would not have wanted the King of Spain's sister to have such a long Regency, she wouldn't have lasted 5 minutes. Exile if she's lucky, separated from Arababy who would be at the mercy of power hungry French noblemen. No wonder she got a bit shrill. Queenie you are forgiven.

I've been overthinking this haven't I?

Phwoar

Normal service has been resumed, my apologies for the above

Wowsers. £1.75 per child at the cinema Anne?! Cheapest going here, even on the Sunday morning graveyard slot, is £4.50. And it's an old cinema, the kind where after 2 hours your bum goes numb on the saggy seats. I never want to see the carpets with the lights on .

I think the problem last night was not enough Athos Carolina. I'd seen the spoiler stuff

Well you have but as you've posted ^that again it's clear where your priorities lie so all's good.

Oh and "no wonder she got bit shrill' made me LOL.

Madame - I do agree about the confusing bad guys, at points I was a bit lost, a bit like watching a western !!

Yes, costumes and sets are great - those fabulous ceilings!

re Constance- has the Queen sent her to elocution lessons - a la Professor Higgins? She seems to have lost her accent...

(Rather ambiguous about the Constance character actually . Last series I was never sure whether she was supposed to be a comedy character. Maybe that's why they've ditched the accent.)

When we did hall ones Madame I made DH do front of house, while I hid did the kitchen and kept a supply of prizes and coffee etc coming. The last one was a Princess Party and I even made DH dress up with a crown and cloak. He was stupid enough to agree .

Shit, I thought I'd deleted that gif from the first post.

Why the fuck am I apologising for posting a semi-naked-Aramis-looking-FAF gif twice? What is wrong with me?

You're probably right Mrs Bee.

I did like the scarf part.

I'm glad Connie has lost her accent kate, it really annoyed me last series, which I know is unreasonable & shows my southern bias (or something), but it jarred. I find it the same with Porthos. I suppose it's a problem with portraying class through voice.

Well I was worried about her sparks She's a fave of mine & I don't want to not like her this series.

Still think Milady is great & I really liked the way they re-introduced her, I thought it was cleverly done as getting in with Kingy is surely the only way for her to return to Paris and be safe from Athos.