This is not a review of the series--you like it or you don't--it's about the way you'll get to see it. The original UK presentation was a six part series totaling 370 minutes. The first five episodes were roughly the same length; the sixth ran longer. These are the scripts as written by Davies. This is the content of the UK discs. The US and Canadian discs contain eight episodes, totaling 357 minutes--13 minutes less than the UK version. They are all exactly 45 minutes long.
The most obvious cut is the entire 13 minute sequence in which the Kuragins try to marry off Anatole to Marya Bolkonsky. (Most of the reviewers seemed to think that Jessie Buckley's Marya was one of the high points of the series, but apparently the US programmers didn't agree.)
There are other, more subtle cuts; and some of the deleted scenes on the UK disc extras are in their place. They don't seem to have any particular reason other than to fit the 45 minute time limit--which also seems to throws off the continuity that Davies crafted. In one scene Nikolai and Denisov are in their quarters, each with a girl in bed. Nikolai has to go. The US scene ends there; in the UK version, Denisov tells Nikolai's girl to get in his bed to stay warm and they all go back to sleep. In another, Count Rostov's dance on Natasha's name day is cut short, but appears fully in the short bonus feature. (It seems that the US cable presentation, in two hour blocks, actually comprised 90 minutes of actual show and half an hour of ads.)
As well, the UK version comes on three discs and looks like a premium release; the US version comes on two discs and looks like a rental release. The UK release is region 2, view-able on multi-region or hacked viewers, or a computer with a multi-region program, readily available through shareware. Or you can wait for the full UK version to get to the US.
UK version: 10; US version: 8.5
The most obvious cut is the entire 13 minute sequence in which the Kuragins try to marry off Anatole to Marya Bolkonsky. (Most of the reviewers seemed to think that Jessie Buckley's Marya was one of the high points of the series, but apparently the US programmers didn't agree.)
There are other, more subtle cuts; and some of the deleted scenes on the UK disc extras are in their place. They don't seem to have any particular reason other than to fit the 45 minute time limit--which also seems to throws off the continuity that Davies crafted. In one scene Nikolai and Denisov are in their quarters, each with a girl in bed. Nikolai has to go. The US scene ends there; in the UK version, Denisov tells Nikolai's girl to get in his bed to stay warm and they all go back to sleep. In another, Count Rostov's dance on Natasha's name day is cut short, but appears fully in the short bonus feature. (It seems that the US cable presentation, in two hour blocks, actually comprised 90 minutes of actual show and half an hour of ads.)
As well, the UK version comes on three discs and looks like a premium release; the US version comes on two discs and looks like a rental release. The UK release is region 2, view-able on multi-region or hacked viewers, or a computer with a multi-region program, readily available through shareware. Or you can wait for the full UK version to get to the US.
UK version: 10; US version: 8.5
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