ROLE REPLAY: King Louis XIV

Versailles (9pm, BBC2) – the drama charting the life of the French monarch – continues, with George Blagden in the role. Here are some others who have portrayed the king on screen…

Leonardo DiCaprio in The Man In The Iron

Mask (1998) The true identity of the masked prisoner, held for 34 years until his death in 1703, remains unknown. Alexandre Dumas speculated that he was the twin of Louis XIV and in this film adaptation, inspired by the Dumas novel The Vicomte Of Bragelonne, DiCaprio plays dual roles – Louis and his twin, the prisoner Philippe (centre). Richard Chamberlain took both roles in a 1977 TV film.

Julian Sands in Vatel (2000) The outrageous decadence of Louis XIV’s era is filmed in style in this drama. Francois Vatel (Gerard Depardieu), the Master of Festivities for Louis de Bourbon,

Prince of Conde, stages a spectacular celebration for a visit by the King (Sands) – whose latest mistress (Uma Thurman) Vatel also loves. Robert Sheehan in Young Blades (2005)

A sequel to The Three Musketeers, this short-lived US TV series followed D’Artagnan’s son and his swashbuckling teenage friends. The Misfits star Sheehan played the young Louis. Alan Rickman in A Little Chaos (2014) Directed by Rickman, who also stars as Louis XIV (right), this drama follows an unconventional garden designer (Kate Winslet) as she works on the fabulous gardens at Versailles – and falls for the King’s principal landscape architect (Matthias Schoenaerts).