''Anna Karenina'' is a four-part British television adaptation of

Leo Tolstoy Count Lev Nikolayevich TolstoyTolstoy pronounced his first name as , which corresponds to the romanization ''Lyov''. () (; russian: link=no, Лев Николаевич Толстой,In Tolstoy's day, his name was written as in pre-refor ...

's 1877 novel of the same name. It was directed by David Blair and aired in the United Kingdom on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

from 9 to 30 May 2000 and in America on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

Masterpiece Theatre ''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaimed Briti ...

'' in 2001.

Plot

Anna is travelling by train from

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 millio ...

to visit her brother, Stiva. Stiva is married to Dolly; however, he has been having an affair with the governess of his children and needs Anna's help to repair his marriage. Anna too is married, to Karenin, an important official, with an 8-year-old son. At the end of the journey she meets Count Vronsky, the son of her travelling companion on the train, and in due course she and Vronsky begin an affair. In the meantime, Stiva's friend Constantine Levin courts Dolly's younger sister Kitty. Levin and Kitty are both unmarried. But Kitty is initially attracted to Vronksy and rejects Levin's first proposal; he leaves Moscow and returns to his farm in the countryside. Nikolai, Constantine Levin's brother, cohabits with a former prostitute named Masha and is constantly in debt.

Cast

Helen McCrory Helen Elizabeth McCrory (17 August 1968 – 16 April 2021) was an English actress. After studying at the Drama Centre London, she made her stage debut in ''The Importance of Being Earnest'' in 1990. Other stage roles include playing Lady Mac ...

as Anna *

Kevin McKidd Kevin McKidd (born 9 August 1973) is a Scottish actor and television director. Before playing the role of Dr. Owen Hunt in '' Grey's Anatomy'', for which he is widely known, McKidd appeared as Tommy Mackenzie in Danny Boyle's '' Trainspotting' ...

as Vronsky *

Stephen Dillane Stephen John Dillane (; born 27 March 1957) is a British actor. He is best known for his roles as Leonard Woolf in the 2002 film '' The Hours'', Stannis Baratheon in ''Game of Thrones'', and Thomas Jefferson in the 2008 HBO miniseries ''John Ad ...

as Karenin *

Mark Strong Mark Strong (born Marco Giuseppe Salussolia; 5 August 1963), is a British actor, best known for his film roles such as Prince Septimus in ''Stardust'' (2007), Archibald in '' RocknRolla'' (2008), Lord Henry Blackwood in ''Sherlock Holmes'' (20 ...

as Stiva *

Amanda Root Amanda Root (born 1963) is an English stage and screen actress and a former voice actress for children's programmes. Root is known for her starring role in the 1995 BBC film adaptation of Jane Austen's '' Persuasion'', her role in the Britis ...

as Dolly *

Douglas Henshall Douglas “Dougie” James Henshall (born 19 November 1965) is a Scottish television, film and stage actor. He is best known for his roles as Professor Nick Cutter in the science fiction series '' Primeval'' (2007–2011) and Detective Inspect ...

as Levin (Constantine "Kostya") *

Paloma Baeza Paloma Baeza (born 1 May 1975) is a British actress and director of English and Mexican heritage. Her 2017 film ''Poles Apart'' won the BAFTA for best animated short film in 2018. Biography Baeza was born in London and spent her childhood in Me ...

as Kitty *

Abigail Cruttenden Abigail Lucy Cruttenden (born 23 March 1968) is an English actress. Cruttenden played opposite Sean Bean as his character Richard Sharpe's wife Jane in several episodes of the TV series '' Sharpe.'' In 2007, Cruttenden joined the cast from the ...

as Betsy *

Paul Rhys Paul Rhys (born 19 December 1963) is a Welsh theatre, television and film actor. Early life Rhys was born in Neath to working class Catholic parents, Kathryn Ivory and her husband Richard Charles Rhys, a labourer. At fourteen, he bred and train ...

as Nikolai *

Gillian Barge Gillian Barge (born Gillian Betty Bargh, 27 May 1940 – 19 November 2003) was an English stage, television and film actress. She was born in Hastings, Sussex. She started acting at the age of 17, training at the Birmingham Theatre School ...

as Princess Shcherbatskya * Malcolm Sinclair as Prince Shcherbatsky *

Victoria Carling Victoria Carling is an English radio, television, film and theatre actress. She has an MA in English from Cambridge, and graduated from Bristol Old Vic in 1987, winning the Carleton Hobbs Award (with Stephen Tompkinson) in the same year. After m ...

as Annushka

Reception

It received a positive review from Mark Law in ''The Guardian''.

External links

*
''Masterpiece'' official page

References

{{Anna Karenina 2000 British television series debuts 2000 British television series endings 2000s British drama television series Channel 4 television dramas Adaptations of works by Leo Tolstoy Television series set in the 19th century Television shows based on Russian novels 2000s British television miniseries Television series by All3Media English-language television shows Television shows set in Russia Television series set in the 1870s