Fall of eagles
(DVD)

Designers, Chris Pemsel, Moira Tait, Fanny Taylor, Allan Anson, Peter Kindred, Peter Brachacki ; film cameraman, Peter Sargent, Bert Walker, A.A. Englander ; film editor, Chris Wimble, Peter Evans, Sheila S. Tomlinson ; graphics sequences, Jeniffer Wade, Sarah Griggs, Eddie Newstead, Richard Markell, Adrian Dobinson ; research, Jennifer Osborn ; costume designers, Robin Fraser Paye, Daphne Dare ; uniforms, Penny Lowe ; incidental music, Kenneth Platts.

Narrator, Michael Hordern.

Disc 1: Death Waltz: Pamela Brown (Archduchess Sophia), Miles Anderson (Franz Josef), Diane Keen (Elizabeth), Sandor Eles (Count Andrassy), Ann Penfold (Helene), Donald Gee (Count Majlath), Kathleen Michael (Hildegarde), Noel Fredricks (Aide to Franz Josef) ; English princess: Curt Jurgens (Bismarck), Gemma Jones (Vicky), Maurice Denham (Kaiser Wilhelm 1), Denis Lill (Fritz), Basil Henson (Von Molkte), Geoffrey Chater (Charles), Roger Hammond (Albrecht), Perlita Neilson (Queen Victoria), Frank Thornton (Prince Albert), Anthony Roye (Dr. Martin), Antony Carrick, (Dr. Wegner), Sandra Clark (Wally), Mike Elles (Bertie), Adam Cunliffe (Willy) ; Honest broker: Curt Jurgens (Bismarck), Barry Foster (Willy), Maurice Denham (Kaiser Wilhelm 1), Gemma Jones (Vicky), Denis Lill (Fritz), Frederick Jaeger (Holstein), Tony Jay (Alexander III), John Barcroft (Eulenberg), David McKail (Mackenzie), Sandra Clark (Wally), Valerie Phillips (Dona) ; Requiem for a crown prince: Rachel Gurney (Empress Elisabeth), Laurence Naismith (Franz Josef), Emrys James (Count Taaffe), Anthony Newland (Philip of Coberg), James Cossins (Count Josi Hoyos), Frank Wylie (Police Commissioner Gorup), Susan Tracy (Crown Princess Stephanie), Irene Hamilton(Baroness Vetsera), Rosamund Greenwood (Fraulein Von Ferenczy), Kenneth Benda (Professor Widerhofer), Carleton Hobbs (Abbot Grünböck), Michael Sheard (Loschek), Patrick Durkin (Bratfisch), Vernon Dobtcheff (Count Stookau), David Neal (Baltazzi), Olaf Pooley (Baron Krauss), Leon LIssek (Bayer), John Herrington (Stationmaster)

Disc 2: Last Tsar: Gayle Hunnicutt (Alexandra), Charles Kay (Nicholas), Barry Foster (Wilhelm), Patrick Stewart (Ulyanov (Lenin)), Lynn Farleigh (Nadezhda Krupskaya), Freddie Jones (Witte), Ian Francis (Kschessinska), Ursula Howells (Marie), Tony Jay (Alexander III), David Collings (Milyukov), Ilsa Blair (Ella), Robert Brown (Uncle Serge), John Nightingale (Cousin Serge), Howard Rawlinson (Constantin), Mavis Edwards (Queen Victoria), Kevin Stoney (Father John), Denzil Ellis (Wahl), John Sanderson (young Nicholas), Leila Hart (singer) ; Absolute beginners: Charles Kay (Nicholas II), Bruce Purchase (Von Plehve), Patrick Stewart (Lenin), Lynn Farleigh (Krupskaya), Edward Wilson (Martov), Michael Kitchen (Trotsky), Mary Wimbush (Zasulich), Paul Eddington (Plekhanov), Peter Weston (Bauman), David Freedman (Lieber), Julian Fox (Tuperidze), Raymond Witch (Martynov), Svandis Jons (Alexandrova), Robert O'Mahoney (Krasikov) ; Dearest Nicky: Gayle Hunnicutt (Alexandra), Charles Kay (Nicholas), Barry Foster (Wilhelm), Bruce Purchase (Von Plehve), Kenneth Colley (Gapon), Peter Dyneley (Von Bülow), John Turner (Prince Mirsky), Robert Brown (Uncle Serge), John Welsh (Archbishop), Robert Keegan (Fullon), Michael Golden (Putilov), Roy Sampson (Danilov), David Dodimead (Kokovtsev), James Mellor (Kourapatkin), John Quarmby (Lamsdorf) ; Appointment: Michael Bryant (Ratchkovsky), Gayle Hunnicutt (Alexandra), Charles Kay (Nicholas), Freddie Jones (Witte), David Swift (Trepov), John Stratton (Hesse), David Dodimead (Kokovstov), Victor Winding (Azeff)

Disc 3: Dress rehearsal: Gayle Hunnicutt (Alexandra), Charles Kay (Nicholas), Laurence Naismith (Franz Josef), Barry Foster (Wilhelm), Peter Vaughan (Isvolsky), Derek Francis (Edward VII), John Bennett (Clemenceau), John Moffatt (Aehrenthal), Frank Middlemass (Stolypin), Andrew Keir (Wickham Steed), Peter Dyneley (Prince Von Bülow), Shirley Dixon (Mme Isvolsky), Tom Criddle (Sir Edward Grey), Ed Devereaux (Purtales) ; Indian summer of an emperor: Laurence Naismith (Emperor Franz Josef), Barry Foster (Kaiser Wilhelm II), Nora Swinburne (Katharina Schratt), Peter Woodthorpe (Archduke Franz-Ferdinand), T.P. McKenna (Count Conrad Von Hotzendorf), Michael McStay (Count Montenuovo), Neville Barber (Count Paar), Peter Copley (Bethmann-Hollweg), George Merritt (Ketterl), Brian Hawksley (Sir Arthur Nicolson), Clyde Pollitt (Kottwitz), Jay Neill (Heller) ; Tell the kind the sky is falling: Charles Kay (Nicholas), Gayle Hunnicutt (Alexandra), Charles Gray (Rodzianko), John Phillips (Grand Duke Nicholas), Nigel Stock (General Alexeiev), Hugh Burden (Protopopov), Michael Aldridge (Rasputin), Frank Mills (A.F. Trepov), Rosalie Crutchley (Michen), Miriam Margolyes (Anna Vyrubova) ; Secret war: Patrick Stewart (Lenin), Lynn Farleigh (Krupskaya), Gayle Hunnicutt (Alexandra), Charles Kay (Nicholas), Barry Foster (Kaiser Wilhelm II), Marius Goring (Hindenburg), Michael Bates (Ludendorff), Peter Copley (Bethmann-Hollweg), Michael Gough (Helphand), Tom Conti (Glazkov), Jim Norton (Kerensky), Malcolm Terris (Bronsky), Hugh Burden (Protopopov), David Collings (Miliukov)

Disc 4: End game: Barry Foster (Kaiser Wilhelm II), Marius Goring (Hindenburg), Michael Bates (Ludendorff), Griffith Jones (Hintze), Eva Pearce (Empress Dona), Laurence Hardy (Prince Max), Colin Baker (Crown Prince), John Robinson (Müller), Geoffrey Toone (Groener), Erik Chitty (Hertling), Peter Schofield (Ebert), Kevin Brennan (Bentinck), Jon Croft (Sergeant)

Originally broadcast by BBC One as a British television mini-series from March 15, 1974 to June 19, 1974.

In the 19th century, the major European powers had gone to great lengths to maintain a balance of power throughout Europe, resulting by 1900 in a complex network of political and military alliances throughout the continent. Beginning in 1815, the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria formalized what had been a strictly familial support network. The House of Habsburg, the House of Hohenzollern, and the House of Romanov had long intermarried, resulting in an incredibly tangled web of relationships, a number of which led back to Queen Victoria of England. These three families influenced the political landscape of Europe, and their personal struggles, tragedies and decisions within these relationships affected Europe to a greater degree than they ever imagined. This miniseries focuses on the leading personalities of these three privileged families, and how they influenced the events that led to WWI.

DVD; Dolby digital sound; standard presentation, 4x3 aspect ratio.

In English.