Stone cold sober

VERSAILLES | BBC2 9PM

You might think that the king’s absence would be a chance for misbehaviour, but not on this show: with Louis away at war, Versailles is now under the watchful eye of Queen Mariethérèse – a figure not generally known for her sense of fun.

She reckons this is an excellent opportunity for the royal court to become “a haven of temperance and piety” by the time her husband returns, so she closes the salons and locks away the wine. “This place is turning into a prison, not a palace,” gripes Gaston, and he’s far from the only person who’s unimpressed with the Queen’s no-fun regime.

Elsewhere, Claudine makes a breakthrough in her investigation into the palace poisonings – but it comes at a cost…