David Conroy Movies

Of the many stage, screen, and television adaptations of Leo Tolstoy's mammoth novel War and Peace, this multi-episode British TV version is widely regarded as one of the most thorough and entertaining. The grim days of Napoleonic wars and the "Little Corporal's" ill-fated invasion of Russia were shown through the eyes of a large, interwoven group of protagonists, including the sensitive intellectual Pierre (played by a young Anthony Hopkins, who won the BAFTA Best Actor award) and the ethereally lovely Natasha (Morag Hood). Of the supporting cast, Alan Dobie as Prince Bolkonsky and David Swift as Napoleon were standouts. The 20 45-minute episodes of War and Peace first aired in the U.K. from September 28, 1972 through February 8, 1973. The series was syndicated in the U.S. courtesy of PBS beginning November 20, 1973. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

This ambitious four-part adaptation of Dostoevsky's 19th century novel The Possessed was originally telecast in Britain in 1970. A savage attack on the Russian radical movement of the 1870s, the story was set in a peaceful bourgeois village terrorized by a roving gang of revolutionists. The head of the gang, the grotesquely caricatured Peter Verkhovensky (David Collings), was based on real-life rebel Sergei Nechayev, who thought nothing of selling out friends and family alike for the good of "the cause." The actual protagonist of the piece was not, however, the insanely nihilistic Verkhovensky, but the mild-mannered, aristocratic Stavrogin (Keith Bell), whose phlegmatic personality may well have been a smokescreen for a revolutionary spirit of uncommon fervence. Though intended as a burlesque of those who would topple the Czarist regime, the novel curiously reemerged as a paragon of "rebellious idealism" (in the words of critic Irving Howe) to the radical youths of the 1960s and 1970s. Reedited as a six-parter, The Possessed was seen in America as a component of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre beginning May 2, 1971. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Adapted from a novel by Brian Marshall, the four-part British miniseries The White Rabbit was the story of WWII hero Wing Commander Yeo-Thomas. Played by Kenneth More, the protagonist was seen joining the French resistance during the early stages of the Nazi occupation. Though at first successful in eluding the enemy, Yeo-Thomas was ultimately captured and placed in a concentration camp -- but the story was far from over. The White Rabbit was originally telecast in Great Britain from September 16 to October 7, 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Debuting on October 4, 1965, the twice-weekly British serial United! combined the standard soap opera format with the average Britisher's fascination with football (though not the American version, of course). The main characters were all members of Brentwich United, a Midlands football team that had been dwelling in the cellar of the Second Division so long that it hadn't seen daylight in years. The stories were divided between Brentwich's matches and the home lives of the managers, goalies, and the like. Created by Brian Hayles, and with the input of real-life footballer Jimmy Hill as technical advisor, United! toted up 147 episodes before its final BBC1 appearance in 1967. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi