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Lesley Manville

John Hurt

Alun Armstrong

Harriet Walter

Leo Tolstoy

Timberlake Wertenbaker

Celia de Wolff

War and Peace: Episode 7

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Episode 7

War and Peace

BBC Radio 4 - War and Peace, Episode 7

Pierre believes that he alone can save Russia from Napoleon. John Hurt stars.

Prince Bolkonsky reacts badly to the French approaching Smolensk while Pierre is on a mission to save Russia. Stars John Hurt.

Andrei grows ever more bitter about Natasha's behaviour with Anatole Karagin and, after a heated argument with his father, feels he has little choice but to leave Bald Hills in order to rejoin the army and forget the past. Petya, the youngest child of the Rostovs also wants to join the army much to the horror and worry of the Countess.
 
Meanwhile, Pierre is convinced that he is on a mission to single-handedly save Russia from Napoleon, while his own feelings towards Natasha could be something more than just those of a concerned 'guardian'. As the war continues to spread across Russia, Prince Bolkonsky and Marya are warned by Andrei that troops could be drawing closer to their home near Smolensk. The news is too much for the old Prince.
 
A dynamic fresh dramatisation by Timberlake Wertenbaker of Leo Tolstoy's epic - from the translation by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokonsky - follows the fortunes of three Russian aristocratic families during the Napoleonic War. Starring Lesley Manville, John Hurt, Alun Armstrong and Harriet Walter.
 
The story moves between their past and present as Pierre, Natasha, Marya and Nikolai talk to their children about the events that shaped their lives and the lives of every Russian who lived through these troubled times.
 
War and Peace reflects the panorama of life at every level of Russian society in this period. The longest of 19th-century novels, it's an epic story in which historical, social, ethical and religious issues are explored on a scale never before attempted in fiction. From this, Timberlake Wertenbaker has created a riveting radio dramatisation in ten episodes.
 
Leo Tolstoy … Author
Timberlake Wertenbaker … Dramatist

Alex Shiels … Sergei Rostov
Alun Armstrong … Count Rostov
Ben Crowe … Mikhail Mitrich
Charlotte Emmerson … Helen Kuragin
Daniel Flynn … Regimental Commander
David Calder … Prince Vassily Kuragin
David Collings … Shinshin
Ella Dale … Masha Bezukhov
Emerald O'Hanrahan … Julia Karagan
Ferdinand Kingsley … Anatole Kuragin
Harriet Walter … Anna Mikhailovna Drubetskoy
Hazel Ellerby … Julia's mother
Jed Vine … Petya Rostov
Joanna David … Annette Scherer
Joel Maccormack … Boris Drubetskoy
John Hurt … Prince Bolkonsky
Jonathan Slinger … Captain Denisov
Kathleen Keaney … Liza Rostov
Lesley Manville … Countess Rostov
Miss Nelly Harker … Lise Bolkonsky
Natasha Little … Marya Bolkonsky
Paterson Joseph … Pierre Bezuhkov
Phoebe Fox … Natasha Rostov
Pip Donaghy … Colonel of the House
Roger Allam … General Kutuzov
Roger May … Prince Bagration
Sam Blatchford … Andrusha Rostov
Sam Dale … Alpatych
Sam Reid … Nikolai Rostov
Sarah Badel … Maria Demitrievna
Serena Evans … Catiche
Stanley Toyne … Mitya Rostov
Stephen Campbell Moore … Andrei Bolkonsky
Tamzin Merchant … Sonya Rostov
Tom Glenister … Nikolenka Bolkonsky

Director: Celia de Wolff
Executive Producer: Peter Hoare
 
A Pier production for BBC Radio 4 first broadcast in 2015.

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Drama

Drama: Classic & Period

Dramatisation by Timberlake Wertenbaker of Leo Tolstoy's epic.

Dramatisation by Timberlake Wertenbaker of Leo Tolstoy's epic, which follows the fortunes of three Russian aristocratic families during the Napoleonic War.

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