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Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsFix Now →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Bille August’s eight-part The Count of Monte Cristo is an ambitious adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’s revenge novel, but “the best revenge thriller of all time” and “near-perfect” are not settled verdicts: professional reviews disagree sharply. Sam Claflin plays Edmond Dantès, the sailor falsely imprisoned at the Château d’If who escapes, becomes the Count, and seeks revenge on the men who condemned him. The series has space to follow more of Dumas’s sprawling story than a feature film can, while still making consequential changes to its characters and ending.
Which Count of Monte Cristo is this?
This review covers the English-language television adaptation directed by Bille August and starring Sam Claflin—not the 2024 French theatrical film starring Pierre Niney. France Télévisions lists the series as eight episodes of 52 minutes each and identifies Alexandre Dumas’s novel as its source. Ana Girardot plays Mercédès, and Jeremy Irons plays Abbé Faria. Palomar and DEMD Productions, both part of Mediawan, produced it in association with France Télévisions and Rai Fiction. Sandro Petraglia and Greg Latter adapted the novel. France Télévisions’ series information identifies the production and format.
What is the story?
Edmond Dantès is a young sailor falsely accused of treason and imprisoned without trial at the Château d’If. After years in captivity, he escapes, assumes the identity of the wealthy Count of Monte Cristo, and sets out to punish the people responsible for his fate. The central pleasure—and difficulty—of the story is watching a victim turn his suffering into a carefully constructed campaign of revenge.
Is the eight-part series worth watching?
It is a plausible choice for viewers who want a large-scale costume drama built around betrayal, escape and revenge, especially if they are curious about how Dantès changes from an injured young man into a calculating avenger. The format gives the story more room than a single feature, but the series is not a guaranteed match for viewers seeking consistently natural dialogue or a close reproduction of the novel’s moral design.
#1 Best Overall
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Critical response is divided. Lucy Mangan’s Guardian review objected to the dialogue, acting and implausibility, while finding parts of the series entertaining in their excess. Michael Dirda, writing for The New York Review of Books, praised the way the adaptation makes the count’s targets feel human, even as he noted important departures from Dumas. These are contrasting critical judgments, not evidence of a consensus that the series is flawless—or a failure.
How close is it to Dumas’s novel?
Eight episodes allow a television adaptation more space than a feature to follow a long narrative, but they do not make a screen version exhaustive. Dirda describes Dumas’s novel as sprawling and digressive, extending across a quarter-century, three cities and dozens of characters. Any adaptation must select, condense or alter material; episode count alone cannot establish fidelity.
Rank #2
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France Télévisions presents the series as following the novel’s turns, false leads and revelations. That is the broadcaster’s description of its adaptation, not independent proof that it preserves the full plot or character network. Dirda points to specific changes: the series reveals Dantès’s identity to characters and gives the story a different ending. For readers who care about fidelity, those choices matter because they alter how the suspense and the novel’s moral resolution work.
What works—and what may not?
The appeal of a wider canvas
The episodic structure suits a story of false accusations, reversals and a long-planned reckoning. Its most distinctive critical strength, in Dirda’s view, is humanizing the people caught in the count’s revenge rather than presenting them as simple villains. That approach can complicate the satisfaction of watching Dantès settle scores: the targets remain culpable, but they are not reduced to caricatures.
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The risk of tonal and performance misfires
Mangan’s response stresses a different experience: wooden acting, poor dialogue and implausibility can undermine the drama, even if the same excesses sometimes become part of its entertainment value. Viewers’ tolerance for heightened performances and melodrama will affect how much those weaknesses matter. The available reviews do not support calling the series a near-perfect critical success.
How does it compare with other adaptations?
The clearest comparison is with the novel, not a claim that this is the definitive screen version. The television format offers room for an extended story, but Dirda’s account identifies changes to who knows Dantès’s identity and to the ending. The 2024 French feature starring Pierre Niney is a separate adaptation, not the production reviewed here. The available evidence does not establish a reliable ranking of this series against named alternatives, so “best” is best understood as an opinion rather than a demonstrated all-time distinction.
Rank #4
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How many people watched it?
France Télévisions reported that, after the series went online on 11 December 2025, it reached an average of 3.2 million viewers per episode, including preview and catch-up viewing, according to Médiamétrie Video Census Data. The broadcaster also reported more than 8 million cumulative video views on france.tv and 5.1 million views on its social networks. These are figures from the broadcaster’s 2025 announcement; they indicate reach, not viewer satisfaction or critical quality. France Télévisions’ results announcement provides the reported figures.
Where can you watch it?
In the United States, PBS lists the series for streaming on pbs.org and the PBS app, with the page indicating “WATCH WITH PBS PASSPORT.” That listing does not establish availability or access rules in other countries, which can vary and change. Check the PBS series page and local listings for current access details.
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Best Value
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