Fall of Eagles 

The collapse of three great European dynasties: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns.

Creator:

John Elliot

Stars:

Michael Hordern, Charles Kay, Barry Foster

Cast

Series cast summary:
Michael Hordern	...	Narrator 10 episodes, 1974
Charles Kay	...	Tsar Nicholas II 7 episodes, 1974
Barry Foster	...	Willy 7 episodes, 1974
Gayle Hunnicutt	...	Tsarina Alexandra 6 episodes, 1974

Storyline

The collapse of three great European dynasties: the Romanovs, the Habsburgs, and the Hohenzollerns.

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Plot Keywords:

russia | bird in title | animal in title | tv mini series | 

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Genres:

Drama | History

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Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 March 1974 (UK)

Also Known As:

Fall of Eagles

Filming Locations:

Brinkburn Priory, Northumberland, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min (13 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Four of the cast members appeared in the BBC mini-series, I, Claudius (1976): Sir Patrick Stewart (Lenin) as Sejanus, Charles Kay (Nicholas II) as Gallus, John Rhys-Davis (Zinoviev) as Macro, and Irene Hamilton (Countess Vezzera) as Plancina.

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Quotes

Emperor Franz Josef I of Austria-Hungary: [after the murder or his wife and the suicide of his son] Nothing has been spared me... in this world...

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Soundtracks

Trauermarsch
(uncredited)
Gustav Mahler
[opening theme]

User Reviews

Astonishing - the most painless history lesson you'll ever get

Many of the BBC's mini-series dealt with Britain's loss of Empire - "Jewel in the Crown" was just one. Here the subject is the end of monarchy and the collapse of major royal houses of Europe: Germany, Austria-Hungary and Russia.

The history is grand and sweeping, but the focus of these television dramas is not on spectacle, but on the personalities of the participants. On that basis it succeeds wildly. The cast is huge and the acting is splendid.

Patrick Stewart gives the performance of his career as Lenin, and the same goes for Barry Foster's Kaiser Wilhem. An astonishing array of acting talent strides through, often with only a few telling moments on screen: Michael Aldridge, Pamela Brown, Rosalie Crutchley, Marius Goring, Michael Gough, Charles Gray, Freddie Jones, Curt Jurgens and the list goes on.

Plus it's always fun to see major talents near the beginning of their career, such as Tom Conti and John Rhys-Davies. It's also surprising how little overlap there is with the cast of "I, Claudius" which followed only two years later. What a deep bench the BBC had in those days!

The scripts are uniformly intelligent, though the budget often requires major events to be described rather than shown. However the art department does a valiant job of differentiating among the splendid apartments of different countries, so you almost always know where you are before anyone starts speaking.

If you want to see thousands of extras tumbling across the giant screen, watch "Nicholas and Alexandra" or "Dr. Zhivago" instead. But if you want to meet fascinating people in an absorbing story of the decline and fall of the Hapsburgs, the Hohenzollerns, and the Romanov's, this is grand television.