BBC's War and Peace

[daffodiliaz]

Just stumbled across this online from here in the USA. It airs in USA starting 01/18/16 on A&E, Lifetime, and History Channel. Some of the filming was at Catherine's Palace, Hermitage, and Russian Museum.

 

Thought it might interest those that have been to those places or are planning.

 

British friends who may have seen it, how was it? Were there many scenes at those locations? It was cool to see pictures and short scenes online of places I visited just a few months ago.

Edited January 6, 2016 by AWENINAZ

[dogs4fun]

Just stumbled across this online from here in the USA. It airs in USA starting 01/18/16 on A&E, Lifetime, and History Channel. Some of the filming was at Catherine's Palace, Hermitage, and Russian Museum.

 

Thought it might interest those that have been to those places or are planning.

 

British friends who may have seen it, how was it? Were there many scenes at those locations? It was cool to see pictures and short scenes online of places I visited just a few months ago.

Interesting that you should mention this series. I’m not British, but I have watched the 1st episode of BBC’s War & Peace – it is very interesting! If you subscribe to Firestick’s Kodi (have my stick plugged into my TV’s HDMI port), you can stream it on Genesis as episodes are released in the UK (before it is available in the US).

The acting is excellent. Lily James, whom I recognize from Downton Abby, plays Natasha Rostov and Paul Dano is great as Pierre Bezukov. Lots of good acting but can’t remember all the names.

If you have visited St. Petersburg, you will immediately recognize the city landmarks shown in some scenes. There were several venues in the 1st episode that I noted:

The opening St. Petersburg scene is shot over Peter & Paul fortress looking across the Neva toward the Palace Embankment.

The Baroque palace in which the first palace scenes occur is not even in St. Petersburg – I believe it is Rundale Palace in Bauska, Latvia (daytrip from Riga & interestingly, it was designed by Bartolomeo Rastrelli, the same architect that designed the Catherine Palace & Peterhof Grand Palace).

Also recognized other palaces/museums where scenes were shot: Yusupov Palace (interior), Catherine Palace/Park (actually, the Grotto Pavillion’s great pond where the skating scene takes place), Winter Palace (Hermitage) & Russian Museum. I am pretty sure that a few of the interior scenes were shot in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow but can't be positive. I also think some scenes were shot in Lithuania – the tower in the battle scene is, I am pretty sure, Gediminas Castle in Vilnius.

Some palaces/places I do not recognize at all but I am sure that I will recognize more St. Petersburg landmarks in upcoming episodes.

Most of episode #1 contains only fleeting shots of the above palaces/museums - the bulk of the story is, of course, dedicated to the dialogue among the main characters. I am definitely looking forward to episode #2 which, I believe, airs on January 10th (UK & Kodi).

[Omega1]

We saw the first episode and thought it was wonderful - can't wait for episode 2 on Sunday!

[LondonTowner]

I started to watch it and then lost interest. I did Google as to where it was filmed as I have also been to SPB.