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As Sky's adaptation of 'Amadeus' hits our screens, stars Will Sharpe and Gabrielle Creevy and writer Joe Barton explain to Patrick Smith how Mozart paid a price for his sublime talent

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No music biopic comes close to Miloš Forman's 1984 masterpiece, Amadeus. Adapted by Peter Shaffer from his own 1979 stage play – itself inspired by Alexander Pushkin's poetic 1830 drama, Mozart and Salieri – the film is gaudy and provocative, a glittering two fingers up to historical accuracy. It's based on a wild rumour: that Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was driven to an early grave, aged 35, by the obsessively jealous court composer Antonio Salieri. But it’s also concerned with a deeper metaphysical question: why would a just God bestow genius on a giggling, foulmouthed vulgarian like Mozart while condemning the devout Salieri to recognise his own mediocrity? Not for nothing did the film sweep the Oscars with eight wins, including Best Picture and Best Director.

Now from Sky comes a new five-part adaptation of Shaffer’s play. Reuniting some of the key players from the excellent Anglo-Japanese crime series Giri/Haji- writer Joe Barton, director Julian Farino and Bafta-winning actor Will Sharpe - it’s lavish and lively. Brilliantly acted, too.

Salieri is played by Paul Bettany, while Sharpe was the natural choice for Mozart, according to Barton. “Will has a very unique essence,” says the 43-year-old. “He has this sort of puckish quality and he can do these very high energy comic performances, but he also has a darker side to his work that we mined for his role in Giri/Haji. I was also thinking about the show he did,