War is hell

I don't expect to sleep tonight. I've watched several episodes of War and Peace back to back and I am wide awake.

I started off sure I would hate the whole thing, now showing on the BBC, and right enough, I hate a lot of the characters. Cardboard cut-outs most of them. But that's due to Tolstoy.

Natasha is a right pain. Does everything wrong but expects to get away with it - and she will, mark my words. Andrei is also annoying - stiff and a bit thick. As for Pierre - not thick but o dear, lacking in moral fibre. As for Marya - get a grip, girl. What the hell have you got to greet about?

Most irritating of all: why am I watching this at all? I've read most  of the book. Not all - I want to shake the hand of anyone who has read it all. I've been to Moscow. I've seen Borodino - or at least seen the diorama.

Here's why. The BBC adaptation is wonderful. The acting is superb. I was sure the accents and the pronunciation would be awful but no, the French people have real French accents and the actors playing Russians mostly pronounce the names correctly. The countryside and the country houses are just as I know them to be. The battle scenes are convincing.

There are so many things the BBC does well.

If their managers would just stick to this kind of thing - education and entertainment, as they appear in the BBC charter - and avoid the politics, I'd be happy.