Airdate: War & Peace

Sprawling UK miniseries War and Peace begins on SBS on Thursday.

The 8 part drama by the BBC is adapted by Andrew Davies and includes a top flight cast including James Norton, Paul Dano, Lily James plus Jim Broadbent, Gillian Anderson, Greta Scacchi, Stephen Rea, Ken Stott and Adrian Edmondson.

It begins with a double episode. This won rave review and aired in early 2017 on Pay TV.

It’s 1805, and Pierre (Paul Dano), Natasha (Lily James), and Andrei (James Norton) are all part of St Petersburg’s glittering elite, but are fired-up with youthful ambition to find meaning in their lives. At the same time, Napoleon’s army edges ever closer to Russia’s borders. As everything they thought they knew is questioned, Pierre, Andrei and Natasha find themselves in a time when Russian society is about to change forever.

Series One, Episode One:
As Russia declares war on Napoleon Bonaparte’s French army, the lives of three young people are about to change forever. Pierre Bezukhov is a lost soul, out of place in St. Petersburg society as the illegitimate son of a wealthy count who is now close to death.

Episode Two:
Andrei and Nikolai have survived their first encounter with the French, but a terrible new battle looms as the Russian commanders risk stepping into Napoleon’s trap. At home in St Petersburg, Pierre wants to put his vast inheritance to good use, but Vassily and Helene are laying a trap of their own for him.

Thursday, 27 September at 8.30pm on SBS.