TV Gold

With archive footage showing scenes from the Russia revolution and the First World War, narrator Michael Horden?s ever informative narration leads us into ?End Game?, the thirteen and final episode of this fascinating historical drama series from the BBC. Barry Foster?s Kaiser Wilhelm II takes centre stage with him, for the most part, steadfastly refusing calls for his abdication as ruler of Germany. For the first time we see his wife, Empress Dona (played by Eve Pearce) which shows a social side to the character hither to untouched in the series. Counter pointing the scenes with the Kaiser and his military advisers in Belgium we also witness governing developments back in Berlin to further indicate a ?buzzards circling? aspect to the old leadership of their proud commander in chief. As history shows, and ?End Game? portrays, the aging Kaiser does indeed finally concede to these calls to begin his exile in Amerongen in Holland and draw the series to a conclusion. This episode is relatively free of guest cast to briefly (albeit pleasantly) detract from the drama being told however the opening scene does fleetingly feature Erik Chitty (although a guest star in Doctor Who (The Deadly Assassin) probably better known for his regular appearance in the comedy series ?Please Sir!) as Chancellor Hertling. Also appearing in a couple of scenes, a full ten years before his commencement as the Sixth incarnation of the Doctor we find a very youthful Colin Baker playing Crown Prince Willie, a character with very little to say.

Enjoyable as the series is it is certainly welcome to be provided with addition features and in this regard this release is certainly not lacking. We are provided with three new interviews with a more sympathetic relaxed lighting scheme than can be found on DD Home Entertainment?s Season Three Secret Army extras. Having appeared in about half of the episodes the new interviews with Charles Kay (Tsar Nicholas II) and Gayle Hunnicutt (Tsarina Alexandra) were the natural choice from the acting side. Charles is eased into the interview with his acting background and then we shifted towards the series in question, covering things like historical understanding of the character it?s historical setting before moving onto fellow cast and crew who worked on Fall of Eagles. With such an extensive acting career it is no doubt understandable that Kay?s recollections of making this series aren?t that lucid (rather reflected in the 10 ½ minutes running time) however I?m grateful for his contribution to this release. A similar gently eased into the interview approach was pursued with Gayle Hunnicutt however here was a woman much more at ease with the interview process and we certainly covered a lot of interesting, wide ranging and enjoyable ground during the half hour (closer to 32 mins). Having established a basic background to her career we then moved onto ?Fall of Eagles? and how she views the series opportunity to ?explore leading protagonists In what turned out to be one of the most hideous events of the 20th century?. Gayle has very clear thoughts about the period that the series covers backed up by her factual knowledge of the characters and events involved. Although again having an extensive acting career her memories of making the series are indeed more lucid (whether it be casting, location or costumes) featuring amongst her recollections are the costume she wore during the opening scene of ?Dress Rehearsal?. We then move on to talking about subsequent work and then more recent career history. Although having retired from full time acting in 1996 it was intriguing to hear of her participation, as chairman, of a charity called the London Shakespeare Workout who take the great works into Prison utilising actors and inmates to stage performances to audiences. Whilst obviously being something that she is passionate about I certainly agree it is an admirable and worthy endeavour to be involved in. Offering an excellent counter point a third interview (about 23 mins) features three episode Director David Cunliffe which gave a more technical perspective to the production and his career in general (occasionally referring to a collection of notes he?d brought with him). Being involved in casting I was delighted, amongst other recollections, to hear his anecdote about working with Curt Jurgens, a very private man whom always, apparently, finished his recording day with a small bottle of whisky. To complete the extras package we have sixtyone images (a mixture of colour and black and white) covering all thirteen episodes of varying size and shape which certainly refresh my sequential viewing memory.

So there we have it, my seven week journey through this intriguing historical series has come to a close. Although having never heard of it before I eventually took the decision to give it a go and have thoroughly enjoyed the various twists and turns the epic story has provided and certainly stands up well to repeated viewing. Admittedly there is an awful lot of history compressed in each episode, necessitating occasional narration however the basic events are easy to follow. The period costumes and impressive locations and settings are of the quality to be expected from the BBC and there are some marvellous dramatic performances on offer throughout the run to further enrich proceedings. It is true that I was initially drawn to the series by hearing about the extremely impressive cast assembled however there is indeed much more to ?Fall of Eagles? than merely familiar faces and I would wholehearted recommend this series to any person who appreciates good storytelling, engaging drama and quality performances. This is one forgotten classic that more people should experience!