Borgia is a historical drama television series created by Tom Fontana for Canal+, ZDF, ORF, and Sky Italia. The show recounts the Borgia family's rise to power and subsequent domination of the Papal States during the Renaissance. Borgia debuted in Italy on Sky Cinema 1 on 10 July 2011. It was since renewed for a second season, which premiered in France on Canal+ on 18 March 2013. A third and final season premiered in France on Canal+ on 15 September 2014. The series finale aired in France on Canal+ on 27 October 2014 as the 38th episode overall. Production The series is produced by Atlantique Productions, a subsidiary of Lagardère Entertainment, for French premium-pay TV Canal+ in association with EOS Entertainment, and was filmed in the Czech Republic and Italy. Czech production was held by company Etic films. International distribution is handled by Beta Film GmbH. Season 3 was filmed between 27 May 2013 and 27 January 2014. International production Despite being a French-German-Czech-Italian production, the whole setup is very international. The series creator, producer, and lead writer Tom Fontana, as well as other writers including Sean Whitesell, Gina Gionfriddo, and Larry Cohen are all American. Season 2 sees French writer Audrey Fouché join the writing team. The directors come from several different parts of Europe: Oliver Hirschbiegel and Christoph Schrewe are German, Dearbhla Walsh is Irish, Metin Hüseyin is British and Thomas Vincent is French. Each director is in charge of directing at least two consecutive episodes before handing the series over to a new director. The main character, Rodrigo Borgia, is portrayed by American actor John Doman. The rest of the cast hails from the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic, but the Republic of Ireland, Denmark, and Spain and several other countries are also represented. Cast and characters Main John Doman as Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia / Pope Alexander VI Mark Ryder as Cesare Borgia Stanley Weber as Juan Borgia and Francesco Borgia (Season 1, guest seasons 2-3) Isolda Dychauk as Lucrezia Borgia Marta Gastini as Giulia Farnese Diarmuid Noyes as Cardinal Alessandro Farnese Art Malik as Francesc Gacet, Rodrigo Borgia's secretary Assumpta Serna as Vannozza Cattanei Christian McKay as Cardinal Ascanio Sforza (seasons 1–2) Scott Winters as Cardinal Raffaele Riario-Sansoni Dejan Čukić as Cardinal Giuliano della Rovere Recurring Victor Schefé as Johann Burchard Paul Brennen as Agapito Geraldini, Cesare's secretary Andrea Sawatzki as Adriana