War and Peace (1972 TV series)

War and Peace
War and Peace TV mini series DVD cover DVD cover
Created by	David Conroy
Starring	Anthony Hopkins Alan Dobie Morag Hood Angela Down
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	20
Production
Running time	15 hours
Release
Original network	BBC2
Original release	30 September 1972 – 8 February 1973
External links
[{{#property:P856}} Website]

War and Peace is a television dramatization of the Leo Tolstoy novel of War and Peace. This 20 episode series began on 28 September 1972.

The BBC dramatisation of Tolstoy's epic story of love and loss set against the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars. Anthony Hopkins heads the cast as the soul-searching Pierre Bezukhov, Morag Hood is the impulsive and beautiful Natasha Rostova, Alan Dobie is the dour, heroic Andrei Bolkonsky and David Swift is Napoleon, whose decision to invade Russia in 1812 has far-reaching consequences for Pierre and the Rostov and Bolkonsky families.

The twenty-part serial was produced by David Conroy. His aim was to transfer the characters and plot from Tolstoy's magnum opus to television drama to run for 15 hours (actually closer to 17). Scripted by Jack Pulman and directed by John Davies, Conroy's War and Peace had battle sequences which were filmed in Yugoslavia. The production designer Don Homfray won a BAFTA for his work on the series.

This dramatization differs from previous ones in that it preserves many of Tolstoy's "minor" characters — notably Platon Karataev, played by Harry Locke.

Cast

• Anthony Hopkins as Pierre Bezukhov
• Alan Dobie as Andrey Nikolayevich Bolkonsky
• Morag Hood as Natasha Rostova
• Angela Down as Maria Bolkonskaya
• Rupert Davies as Count Rostov
• Faith Brook as Countess Rostova
• David Swift as Napoleon Bonaparte
• Frank Middlemass as Mikhail Kutuzov
• Sylvester Morand as Nikolai Rostov
• Joanna David as Sonya Rostova
• Harry Locke as Platon Karataev
• Donald Douglas as Tsar Alexander I of Russia
• John Cazabon as Barclay de Tolly
• Fiona Gaunt as Helene Kuragin, married to Pierre Bezukhov
• Anthony Jacobs as Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky, father of Andrey Bolkonsky
• Athene Fielding as Mademoiselle Bourienne
• Barnaby Shaw and Rufus Frampton as Petya Rostov
• Peter Bathurst as Pfuhl
• Morris Perry as Joseph Fouché
• Geoffrey Morris as Napoleon's secretary
• Michael Gover as General Balashev
• Toby Bridge as young Nikolenka Bolkonsky
• Neil Stacy as Boris Drubetskoy
• Anne Blake as Princess Drubetskoya
• Gary Watson as Denisov
• Donald Burton as Dolokhov
• Tony Steedman as Marshal Davout
• Joseph Wise as Russian officer
• Colin Baker as Anatole Kuragin
• Basil Henson as Prince Vasili Kuragin
• Josie Kidd as Katishe
• James Appleby as German adjutant
• Gerard Hely as Prince Murat
• Michael Billington as Lt. Berg
• Will Leighton as Tikhon
• Patricia Shakesby as Vera Rostova, married to Berg
• Alison Frazer as Princess Lisa Bolkonskya
• Richard Hurndall as Count Rostopchin
• John Breslin as Marshal Berthier
• Pat Gorman as French Sergeant
• Philip Lowrie as French Captain
• Edmund Bailey as Prokofy
• Hugh Cross as Mitenka
• Richard Poore as French messenger
• Barbara Young as Anna Scherer
• Karin MacCarthy as Julie Karagin
• Maurice Quick as Pavel
• Roy Spencer as Timohin
• Hubert Cross as General Rapp
• Geoffrey Denton as Host
• Tenniel Evans as Prince Bagration
• Gordon Faith—Galitsyn
• John Lawrence as Anna's guest
• Judith Pollard as Olga
• Edith Sharpe as Madame Scherer
• Tony Caunter as French Corporal
• Erik Chitty as Gerasim

DVD release

The series was released in a Region 2 4-DVD boxset by DD Home Entertainment in 2005. The set is accompanied by an illustrated booklet, written by Andy Priestner, which provides a detailed account of how the series was made.

See also

• War and Peace (1956 film), version directed by King Vidor
• War and Peace (1966-67 film), Soviet-produced version, directed by Sergei Bondarchuk
• War and Peace (2015 TV series)

External links

• War and Peace at IMDb
• List of War and Peace episodes at BBC Programmes