The Count of Monte Cristo review – you’ll have to pause every 45 seconds to shake your head at its daftness

Jeremy Irons and Sam Claflin star in this extraordinary adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ ludicrous 1844 novel. It’s full of howlers, wooden acting and terrible dialogue, but at points it’s so bad it’s fun

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re you ready for some bad, fun TV made from a bad, fun book? Of course you are! It’s high summer and the air is heavy with promise, so come inside, get comfy on the sofa and prepare to binge an eight-episode adaptation of Alexandre Dumas’ ludicrous potboiler The Count of Monte Cristo.

This series from Greg Latter and Sandro Petraglia stars Sam Claflin (last seen on the small screen being very good as the main man of the sextet in Daisy Jones and the Six) as one of the most wronged men in history, Edmond Dantès. Gosh, he goes through the mill.

As do we. The two episodes available for review (there was a third, but the site kept crashing – possibly for my own protection) are extraordinary. The plot is simple enough. Wild, of course – that is what keeps you turning the 1,300 or so pages of the book – but straightforward once you realise that la credibilité is not an overarching concern.