Natasha and her family have packed up their things (along with a couple of wounded soldiers, because Natasha is just the sweetest little honeydew that ever there was) when she spies a bedraggled Pierre wandering the street. He can’t come with them, he tells her, because he’s going to kill Napoleon. That’s nice, dear. Pierre … >

I shouldn’t like to have lived in the Russia of War and Peace, as pretty as it may have been. The consequences of Natasha’s momentary lapse of sanity have come to light: James Norton plays Andrei here with a stoicism so fragile you can see his brokenness leaking out through the fractures in it – … >

So, sweet Natasha and nice Andrei get themselves engaged after all – but there’s a catch! At his grumpy dad’s insistence, he has to spend a year abroad first, backpacking through Europe, presumably. This will definitely end well for our lovebirds, won’t it? Meanwhile, Nicolai’s mum and dad politely request that he marry a nice … >

I wished for more nice Russian songs in War and Peace, and last night’s third episode delivered! Pierre, thank goodness, decides to take steps toward being a better person, after shooting (but not killing) the very naughty Dolokhov in a duel, and later meeting a freemason and being invited to learn the secret handshake. Helene … >

If you were expecting BBC One’s gorgeous new adaptation of War and Peace to be a joyful comedic romp where people get to be happy, you probably should have Wikipedia’d a synopsis of the book before getting to the second episode, my friend. This week’s instalment sees Pierre (played with maximum awkwardness by the adorable … >