Amadeus is the same name as the 1984 movie, which I stll haven’t seen, but in 2025, the lead is played by Will Sharpe (Too Much), starting in Vienna, 1781, “ten years before Mozart’s death”.
Paul Bettany (Avengers: Endgame) takes the role of rival composer Antonio Salieri, putting on an accent of sorts, while Sharpe doesn’t bother, and we see Salieri as a very old man saying what he’d like to do to Mozart, but it looks like far more than a decade has passed between the ‘present day’ Bettany and the older one.
Rory Kinnear (Bank Of Dave 2: The Loan Ranger) plays Rory Kinnear, albeit under the name Emperor Joseph, sounding just like Rory Kinnear, and bossing Salieri about, telling him what sort of music to compose for an upcoming function.
Meanwhile, Mozart getting randy with his squeeze, Constanze Weber (Gabrielle Creevy – The Guest), before being all fancy when playing a musical piece in front of everyone, inclding the Emperor.
However, I did try with this, even though I don’t really go for period dramas, anyway, but even when giving it my best shot, so little is happening, it drags, and it’s just boring me big-time. Maybe it’ll work for others, but it just feels like so little to harp-sicord on about… (ba-dum-tss!)
Still, kudos to those involved for shooting this in 16:9, rather than cropping to a widescreen frame, or even the annoying 2.00:1.
Amadeus beings on Sky Atlantic from tomorrow.
It’s not yet available to pre-order on Blu-ray or DVD, but when it is, it will be listed on the New DVD, Blu-ray, 3D and 4K releases UK page.
Cert: 
Running time: 45-60 minutes per episode (8 episodes)
Release date: November 7th 2025
Studio: Sky Atlantic
Format: 2.39:1
Series Directors: Julian Farino, Alice Seabright
Producer: John Griffin
Writer: Joe Barton, Peter Shaffer
Cast:
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Will Sharpe
Antonio Salieri: Paul Bettany
Constanze Weber: Gabrielle Creevy
Emperor Joseph: Rory Kinnear
Leopold Mozart: Jonathan Aris
Sophie: Olivia-Mai Barrett
Bruno: Simon Gregor
Therese: Emma Lowndes
Contessa / Papagena: Orsolya Heletya
Figaro / Leporello: Krisztián Cser
Rupert: Sidhant Anand
Jürgen: Felix Uff
Von Swieten: Paul Bazely
Cecilia Weber: Lucy Cohu
Rosenberg: Rupert Vansittart
Katerina: Jessica Alexander
Princess Elizabeth: Viola Prettejohn
Von Strack: Hugh Sachs
Aloysia Weber: Anastasia Martin
Franz Süssmayr: Jyuddah Jaymes
Da Ponte: Enyi Okoronkwo
Josepha Weber: Nancy Farino
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.