On June 24, 1812, Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of the French, and his army embarked on a campaign against Russia that would prove utterly disastrous to his hold on Europe and pivotal to world history. You will soon be able to see how events unfolded from the civilian Russian side – well, to an extent – by watching the acclaimed TV drama series War & Peace.
Cut-length… but hopefully not cut-quality
The drama has been adapted from legendary Russian scribe Leo Tolstoy’s 1869 novel of the same name; however, while the novel typically spans well over a thousand pages, the drama will be told in just four two-hour episodes when it is soon simulcast on A&E, Lifetime and HISTORY in the United States.
People who have completely read the novel could wonder how writer Andrew Davies could possibly have adapted the story to such a length without trimming so much of what makes the Tolstoy work such a riveting read. Indeed, upon watching the series for yourself, you could decide that he actually hasn’t… but the first episode attracted much acclaim upon its recent screening in the United Kingdom.
Positive early reactions… but what will you think?
That episode, in which American stars Paul Dano as Pierre Bezukhov and Gillian Anderson as Anna Pavlovna Scherer featured heavily among the largely British cast, attracted an impressive 25% share of national TV viewers during its Sunday evening slot.
Of the UK news outlets, The Guardian called it “costume drama at its most lavish”, while the Daily Mail claimed: “The sheer scale of this drama would impress Napoleon himself.” But do these plaudits mean that you would like it? You probably already have an inkling – but, ultimately, the proof is in the pudding. So, how can you watch the series in order to form a definite opinion?
Travel back to the time of Napoleon… or App-oleon
Broadcaster A+E Networks has revealed that its channels A&E, Lifetime and HISTORY will simultaneously show the first two-hour episode of War & Peace on Monday, January 18 at 9pm ET/PT. The remaining three episodes will then screen in the same Monday slot across the following weeks.
Whether you have an iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch or Apple TV, you can install an app from any of these three channels, allowing you to watch all four episodes on your device and lose yourself in early nineteenth century Russia. Okay, so we’ll leave others to judge how historically accurate the series actually is. For now, just look forward to a slice of what looks like top quality drama.