The BBC has released the first images from forthcoming drama War and Peace, adapted by Andrew Davies and starring Lily James, Paul Dano and James Norton.
Leo Tolstoy’s epic novel was last tackled by the corporation as a 20-episode series in 1972, with Anthony Hopkins in the title role. This version, a co-production between the Weinstein Company and BBC Cymru Wales Drama, and somewhat shorter at six episodes, was adapted by screenwriter and novelist Davies, best known for his work on the BBC’s 1995 version of Pride and Prejudice. Tom Harper, whose credits include the 2014 film Woman in Black: Angel of Death, and episodes of the BBC2 series Peaky Blinders, has directed the series.
James, who recently starred in Kenneth Branagh’s adaptation of Cinderella, plays Natasha Rostova, with 12 Years a Slave star Dano cast as Pierre Bezukhov and Happy Valley’s James Norton as Prince Andrei Bolkonsky. The trio are backed up by a formidable supporting cast that includes Gillian Anderson, Jim Broadbent, Stephen Rea and Rebecca Front.
War and Peace will air on BBC1 this winter in the UK, and on A+E Networks’ Lifetime, A&E Network and History later this year in the US.
