Three families face uncertainty, shifting alliances and personal tragedy in the shadow of Napoleon's (David Swift) invasion of Russia. At the center of the events, intellectual Pierre (Anthony Hopkins), the illegitimate son of a baron, struggles over his inheritance, and a prince (Alan Dobie) leaves his stifling marriage to go to war. Morag Hood and Joanna David co-star in this epic BBC miniseries faithfully based on Leo Tolstoy's classic novel.