2. Alexander I: Into the Woods

Alexander never wanted to be Tsar. Before his accession he told friends that he hoped to retire into private life abroad. Life, however, had other plans.

Starting with his own father's ill-fated reign, and his subsequent murder. How complicit was Alexander in all of this? And then came the greatest threat Russia had ever seen: the new French Emperor.

Mike Walker's epic chronicle of the Russian Tsars continues with the story of Alexander I, the Tsar who took on Napoleon Bonaparte and won.

Alexander I .... Joel MacCormack
Pavel I .... Kenneth Collard
Petya .... Joe Sims
Napoleon .... Charlie Anson
Arakcheyev .... Nathaniel Martello-White
Elizabeth .... Maeve Bluebell Wells
Katya .... Sarah Ridgeway
Pahlen .... David Sturzaker
Sperensky .... Simon Ludders
Talleyrand .... Robert Blythe
Bennigsen .... Finlay Robertson
The French Actor .... Tom Forrister

Director Sasha Yevtushenko

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in May 2017.