We have some casting news for Merlin fans anxious to see the stars in new roles: both Santiago Cabrera and Janet Montgomery will soon star in new TV series.

The Musketeers, a new period drama series coming to BBC One in 2014, will center on the famous and popular story of the Three Musketeers, first written as a novel (Les Trois Mousquetaires) in 1844 by Alexandre Dumas and most recently explored in the steampunk-y The Three Musketeers movie (2011).

In this incarnation, Santiago Cabrera (Lancelot on Merlin, Isaac on Heroes) will play Aramis, one of the lead characters. The other members of the trio will be played by Tom Burke (Athos) and Howard Charles (Porthos).

Actor Peter Capaldi has also recently signed on to the project to star as the villainous Cardinal Richelieu, and Skins star Luke Pasqualino will be playing D’Artagnan (the fourth Musketeer).

Speaking about The Musketeers, BBC Drama Controller Ben Stephenson says, “The ambition of this drama is clearly illustrated with such a world class mix of talent – the perfect team to take the audience on thrilling action adventures every week.”

Meanwhile, Janet Montgomery, known to Merlin fans as Princess Mithian (though in America she’s probably best known as Martina from Made in Jersey), has landed a lead role in the new ABC series Gothica. Described as a “dark soap opera,” this series will bring together classic horror characters like Dracula, Jekyll and Hyde, Frankenstein (Tom Ellis) and Dorian Gray (Chris Egan) and put them into soap opera-esque scenarios.

Montgomery will play Grace Van Helsing, presumably putting a gender-bend twist on the classic character. Note that this is the second time Van Helsing has been cast this pilot season; actor Thomas Kretschmann will play the role on NBC’s Dracula.

Another planned drama series also aims to bring together classic horror story figures, although this will be in the setting of Victorian London. This project is titled Penny Dreadful, and has been optioned by Showtime.

Are you excited to see these two actors in new roles? And do you think the projects sound interesting?