Fall Of Eagles

Devised by John Elliot (creator of A for Andromeda, Mogul-The Troubleshooters), Fall of Eagles is a stunning dramatisation of the declining years and final collapse of three of the most powerful European dynasties - the Hapsburgs, Romanovs and Hohenzollerns - between the mid-19th century and the end of the First World War. The series focuses on the tempestuous reigns of Emperor Franz Josef of Austria-Hungary, Tsar Nicholas II of Russia and Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany.

An incredible cast, which reads like a Who's Who of Britain's finest actors, brings the historical figures richly to life. Charles Kay (Edge of Darkness, I Claudius) plays the tragic last Tsar of Russia, while Gayle Hunnicutt (Dallas, The Martian Chronicles) is his wife, the tenacious Tsarina Alexandra. Patrick Stewart(Star Trek: The Next Generation, X-Men) plays Lenin, on the road to revolution and power. Troubled rulers Kaiser Wilhelm and Emperor Franz Josef are played by Barry Foster (Van der Valk, Orde Wingate) and Laurence Naismith (The Persuaders!, Oh Father!), respectively, with both Diane Keen (The Cuckoo Waltz, Doctors) and Rachel Gurney (Upstairs, Downstairs, The Portrait of a Lady) featuring as the latter's wife, the Empress Elisabeth. Gemma Jones (The Duchess of Duke Street, Bridget Jone's Diary) is Queen Victoria's eldest daughter Vicky and Denis Lil (Survivors, The Royal) her Prussian husband, Fritz. Maurice Denham (The Lotus Eaters, Miss Marple) is his father Wilhelm I and Curt Jurgens (The Spy Who Loved Me, Smiley's People), in a rare television role, is the Iron Chancellor Bismarck.

The series boasts episodes written by Jack Pulman (I Claudius, War and Peace, Private Schultz), Troy Kennedy Martin (Z Cars, The Italian Job, Edge of Darkness) and Trevor Griffiths (Reds, Fatherland), and directed by Rudolph Cartier (1984, The Quatermass Experiment), David Cunliffe (Victoria and Albert, The Onedin Line) and Bill Hays (The Tale of Beatrix Potter, Rock Follies).

This digitally remastered DVD release makes Fall of Eagles available for the very first time since it was first broadcast thirty years ago.