War and Peace (1972 TV series)

{{Short description|British television dramatisation of the 1869 novel War and Peace}}

{{Infobox television

| image = WarAndPeace dvd.jpg

| alt = War and Peace DVD cover (Simply Home Entertainment)

| caption = DVD cover

| genre = Historical drama

| director = John Davies

| writer = Jack Pulman

| producer = David Conroy

| cinematography =

| camera = Multi-camera

| runtime = 44–45 minutes per episode
14 hours 50 minutes total

| based_on = {{based on|War and Peace|Leo Tolstoy}}

| theme_music_composer = Alexei Lvov

| creator = David Conroy

| starring = Anthony Hopkins
Alan Dobie
Morag Hood
Angela Down

| country = United Kingdom, Yugoslavia

| network = BBC2

| company = BBC
Time Life Television
Yugoslav Films Belgrade

| first_aired = {{start date|1972|9|30|df=y}}

| last_aired = {{end date|1973|2|8|df=y}}

| location = UK:

Yugoslavia:

| language = English

| num_seasons = 1

| num_episodes = 20

}}

War and Peace is a British television dramatisation of the 1869 Leo Tolstoy novel 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 Pierre Bezukhov, Morag Hood is Natasha Rostova, Alan Dobie is Andrei Bolkonsky and David Swift is Napoleon, whose decision to invade Russia in 1812 has far-reaching consequences for each of them and their families.

The twenty-part serial was produced by David Conroy and directed by John Davies. Conroy's aim was to transfer the characters and plot from Tolstoy's novel to television drama to run for a duration of 15 hours. Scripted by Jack Pulman, this version of War and Peace contained battle sequences, which were filmed in Yugoslavia. The theme tune is the Russian imperial anthem, played by the band of the Welsh Guards.{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01k1vnv|title=War and Peace 28 September 1972, History of the BBC|website=BBC}}

Hopkins received the British Academy Television Award for Best Actor for his performance, and the production designer Don Homfray won a BAFTA for his work on the series.Gill Ducker [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2012/mar/23/don-homfray-obituary Other Lives: Don Homfray], The Guardian, 23 March 2012

Production

War and Peace followed the success of such literary adaptations as The Forsyte Saga (BBC2, 1967).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qmHiBQAAQBAJ&q=%22war+and+peace%22+1972+bbc&pg=PR17|title=Upstairs and Downstairs: British Costume Drama Television from The Forsyte Saga to Downton Abbey|first1=James|last1=Leggott|first2=Julie|last2=Taddeo|date=11 December 2014|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442244832}}

Charlie Knode designed the costumes.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DX0xBwAAQBAJ&q=%22war+and+peace%22+1972+bbc&pg=PA9|title=A Book about the Film Monty Python and the Holy Grail: All the References from African Swallows to Zoot|first=Darl|last=Larsen|date=6 March 2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442245549}}

The production took three years (1969–1972) and involved location filming in SR Serbia of Yugoslavia and at English stately homes. Several scenes were shot at Petrovaradin Fortress in Novi Sad.{{cite book|url=https://www.021.rs/story/Novi-Sad/Vesti/116261/VIDEO-Ovi-svetski-filmovi-su-snimani-u-Novom-Sadu.html|title=Ovi svetski filmovi su snimani u Novom Sadu|publisher=021.rs|date=27 August 2015|access-date=25 April 2024|language=Serbian}} Soldiers of the Yugoslav Territorial Defense appeared as extras in battle scenes.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WX6GDAAAQBAJ&q=%22war+and+peace%22+1972+bbc&pg=PA35|title=The Classic Serial on Television and Radio|first1=Robert|last1=Giddings|first2=Keith|last2=Selby|date=14 February 2001|publisher=Springer|isbn=9780230596290}}

Cast

Anthony Hopkins as Pierre Bezukhov
Alan Dobie as Andrei Nikolayevich Bolkonsky
Morag Hood as Natasha Rostova
Angela Down as Maria Bolkonskaya
Rupert Davies as Count Ilya Rostov
Faith Brook as Countess Natalie Rostova
David Swift as Napoleon Bonaparte
Frank Middlemass as Mikhail Kutuzov
Sylvester Morand as Nikolai Rostov
Joanna David as Sonya
Harry Locke as Platon Karataev
Donald Douglas as Tsar Alexander I of Russia
John Cazabon as Barclay de Tolly
Fiona Gaunt as Hélène Kuragina, wife of Pierre Bezukhov
Anthony Jacobs as Prince Nikolay Bolkonsky, father of Andrei and Marya
Athene Fielding as Mademoiselle Bourienne, companion to Marya
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
Colin Fisher as Telyanin
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 as 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

Episodes

{{Episode table |overall=

|background=#B11030

|title=

|airdate=

|country=UK

|episodes=

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =1

|Title = Name Day

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|9|30|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = 1805. The Rostovs celebrate the name day of Natasha and Countess Rostova. The family of the dying Count Bezukhov fret over who will inherit.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =2

|Title = Sounds of War

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|10|7|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Pierre Bezukhov comes to terms with his large inheritance and life in high society. Andrei Bolkonsky leaves his pregnant wife and goes away to war

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =3

|Title = Skirmish at Schöngraben

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|10|14|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Napoleon's armies make rapid progress across Europe, winning a victory at Schöngrabern.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =4

|Title = A Letter and Two Proposals

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|10|21|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = The Rostov family receive news of war from Nikolai. Vasili Kuragin tries to marry his daughter to Pierre and his son to Maria Bolkonskaya.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =5

|Title = Austerlitz

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|10|28|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Preparations are take place for the Battle of Austerlitz.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =6

|Title = Reunions

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|11|4|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Nikolai Rostov returns home from war; Pierre struggles in his marriage.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =7

|Title = New Beginnings

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|11|11|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = 1807. Pierre suspects his wife of infidelity. France and Russia make peace at Tilsit.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =8

|Title = A Beautiful Tale

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|11|18|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Andrei visits the Rostovs. Tsar Alexander I attends a ball, and romance blossoms between Andrei and Natasha.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =9

|Title = Leave of Absence

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|11|25|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Andrei proposes to Natasha. Nikolai Rostov returns for extended leave.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =10

|Title = Madness

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|12|2|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Natasha Rostova pays a visit to the Bolkonskys.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =11

|Title = Men of Destiny

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|12|9|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = 1812: Napoleon invades Russia. Pierre cannot decide whether to join the army or not.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =12

|Title = Fortunes of War

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|12|16|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = The French advance and the Russians retreat; Nikolai rescues Maria from a peasant uprising.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =13

|Title = Borodino

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|12|23|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = The citizens of Moscow are forced to decide whether to abandon the city or not. At Borodino both sides take heavy losses.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =14

|Title = Escape

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1972|12|30|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = The aftermath of Borodino. The Rostovs evacuate wounded soldiers from Moscow – Andrei among them.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =15

|Title = Moscow!

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1973|1|6|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Napoleon takes Moscow, but the war is not won yet. Pierre imagines that he is destined to kill the Emperor.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =16

|Title = Two Meetings

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1973|1|13|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Nikolai must decide between Maria and Sonya. Natasha nurses the dying Andrei.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =17

|Title = Of Life and Death

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1973|1|20|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Pierre is arrested; Sonya writes a letter releasing Nikolai.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =18

|Title = The Retreat

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1973|1|27|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Napoleon retreats from Moscow. Pierre is caught up in the trek with French soldiers and comes close to death.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =19

|Title = The Road to Life

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1973|2|1|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = Maria tries to rouse Natasha out from her mourning. Pierre returns home.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber =20

|Title = An Epilogue

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|1973|2|8|df=y}}

|ShortSummary = 1820. Pierre and Natasha are married with children, while the Nikolai-Maria-Sonya triangle is resolved.

|LineColor = B11030

}}

Reception

According to Dr. Lez Cooke in British Television Drama: A History (2003), War and Peace consolidated BBC2 as the channel responsible for 'quality' literary drama.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OHv-CgAAQBAJ&q=%22war+and+peace%22&pg=PA122|title=British Television Drama: A History|first=Lez|last=Cooke|date=9 April 2015|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|isbn=9781844578962}}

In The New Yorker in 2016, Louis Menand wrote, "It drags in parts today, but in 1972 no one had seen television that grand or ambitious before. The length—almost fifteen hours—meant the series could include scenes, like the wolf hunt, or Denisov dancing the mazurka, that are dramatically superfluous but thematically vital. The acting is inspired, in part because the casting was inspired, from Anthony Hopkins, as Pierre, to David Swift, as a pint-sized, swaggering Napoleon. Everyone looks just the way he or she's supposed to look."{{cite web|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/cultural-comment/what-do-we-love-about-war-and-peace|title=What Do We Love About "War and Peace"?|first=Louis|last=Menand|date=19 January 2016|via=www.newyorker.com}}

Clive James criticised some performances: "I was cruel to Morag Hood when I said that her performance made me want to throw a tarpauline over her and peg down the corners. I should have blamed the director, who had obviously told her to bounce up and down at all times in order to convey exuberance. [...] In that same production, Alan Dobie as Andrei was grim enough to send you to sleep, but Anthony Hopkins was a perfect Pierre: a real tribute to his acting, because his default mode is to be in command."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/feb/13/clive-james-bbc-war-and-peace-measure-up|title=Clive James: how did the BBC's War And Peace measure up?|first=Clive|last=James|date=13 February 2016|via=www.theguardian.com}}

Paul Mavis (DVD Talk) awarded it 4 stars, saying, "It positively luxuriates in its expansive format, giving the viewer a remarkable chance to fully experience the various nuances of character and the myriad permutations of shifting relationships (as well as Tolstoy's numerous plot coincidences) that mark this mammoth work." He praised Alan Dobie as "uniformed in Byronic splendor [...] spot-on as the dour, heroic, closed-off Andrei Bolkonsky", also praising Angela Down (Maria) and Sylvester Morand (Nikolai). However, he criticised Hood's performance, saying, "the casting of Morag Hood (which, according to the production history included in this DVD set, was a desperate, last-minute decision) is a distressing misfire. [...] poor Hood can't begin to approach the character with even a modicum of believability. Natasha begins the story as a wild, impetuous girl of thirteen - an age and a temperament that Hood evidently felt needed to be delineated by having Natasha laugh insanely at everything while leaping about like a mad thing (Hood is also far too old to be a believable 13-year-old). As for later maturing into this bewitching, erotic little beauty whom all men adore, either an actress has that innate, inexplicable quality or they don't - you can't 'act' that powerful allure onto the screen. It has to come from within, and simply put, Hood doesn't have it."{{cite web|url=https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/31385/war-peace-1972/|title=War & Peace (1972)|website=DVD Talk}}

Andrew D. Kaufman, in his book Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times said that this version had "much to recommend", although he preferred the 1966–67 Soviet film.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGt8BgAAQBAJ&q=%22war+and+peace%22+1972+bbc&pg=PA247|title=Give War and Peace a Chance: Tolstoyan Wisdom for Troubled Times|first=Andrew D.|last=Kaufman|date=10 February 2015|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=9781451644715}} James Monaco called it "easily the best adaptation [...] in any medium" in How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, Multimedia: Language, History, Theory (1977).{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TSSfJb011QgC&q=%22war+and+peace%22+1972+bbc&pg=PA504|title=How to Read a Film: The World of Movies, Media, and Multimedia : Language, History, Theory|first=James|last=Monaco|date=13 November 2017|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195038699}}

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. In 2009 Simply Home Entertainment released a 5-disc edition with 200 production stills.