''Doctor Zhivago'' is a 2002 British television drama serial directed by
Giacomo Campiotti
Giacomo Campiotti (Varese, 8 July 1957) is an Italian director and screenwriter.
Biography
Giacomo Campiotti was born in Varese in 1957 and graduated in Pedagogy at the University of Bologna. He worked for several years in the theater, makin ...
and starring
Hans Matheson
Hans Matheson (born 7 August 1975) is a Scottish actor and musician. In a wide-ranging film and television career he has taken lead roles in diverse films such as '' Doctor Zhivago'', '' Sherlock Holmes'', '' The Tudors'', '' Tess of the d'Urb ...
,
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...
and
Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
. The teleplay by
Andrew Davies is based on the 1957
novel of the same title by
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (; rus, Бори́с Леони́дович Пастерна́к, p=bɐˈrʲis lʲɪɐˈnʲidəvʲɪtɕ pəstɛrˈnak; 30 May 1960) was a Russian poet, novelist, composer and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pa ...
. It is set primarily against the backdrop of the
Russian Revolution of 1917
The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...
and the subsequent
Russian Civil War
, date = October Revolution, 7 November 1917 – Yakut revolt, 16 June 1923{{Efn, The main phase ended on 25 October 1922. Revolt against the Bolsheviks continued Basmachi movement, in Central Asia and Tungus Republic, the Far East th ...
of 1918–1921. At its core is Lara Guishar Antipova, a young woman from
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 million ...
who has a profound effect on three men who become enamoured with her.
The serial is the second English-language screen adaptation of the book, following the
1965 feature film. It was produced by
Granada Television
ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire but only on weekdays as ABC Weekend Television was it ...
, with co-funding from the American
PBS
The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...
station
WGBH Boston and the German company Evision. It was first broadcast on
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
in the United Kingdom, beginning on 24 November 2002. In the United States, it aired as part of ''
Masterpiece Theatre
''Masterpiece'' (formerly known as ''Masterpiece Theatre'') is a drama anthology television series produced by WGBH-TV, WGBH Boston. It premiered on Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) on January 10, 1971. The series has presented numerous acclaim ...
'' on 2 and 9 November 2003.
Plot
Part I
In
Tsarist Russia Tsarist Russia may refer to:
* Grand Duchy of Moscow (1480–1547)
*Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721)
*Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of ...
in the early 1900s, Victor Komarovsky, an unctuous, wealthy businessman with political connections, is involved in a casual affair with Lara's
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
dressmaker mother Amalia, who encourages her teenage daughter to accept his invitation to dinner in an attempt to retain his financial support of her household. Initially Lara is repelled by the thought, but she finally accepts because of the pressure that he exerts on her, which ends up by forcing her to have a relationship with him.
Meanwhile, Lara is also involved in a relationship with the idealistic reformer Pasha Antipov who drifts into
left-wing extremism
Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars consider ...
after being wounded by sabre-wielding
Cossacks
The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...
during a peaceful demonstration. Pasha goes to Lara, whom he wants to marry, to treat his wound. He asks her to hide a gun he picked up at the demonstration.
The title character is poet and doctor Yuri Zhivago, who first sees Lara from the window of a café. The two meet when Zhivago and his mentor are called to treat Amalia after she attempts suicide in response to her daughter's relationship with Victor Komarovsky. When Komarovsky learns of Lara's intention to marry Pasha, he tries to dissuade Lara, and then rapes her. In revenge, Lara takes the pistol she has been hiding for Pasha and shoots Komarovsky at a Christmas Eve party, but wounds another man by accident. It is here where Zhivago and Lara encounter each other again when he is called to tend to the wounded victim. Komarovsky insists no action be taken against Lara, who is escorted out. Upon meeting face to face, Zhivago and Komarovsky take an instant dislike to each other as Zhivago realises that Komarovsky knew his now dead father. Komarovsky warns Zhivago to stay away from Lara.
Although enraged and devastated by Lara's affair with Komarovsky, Pasha marries Lara, and they have a daughter named Katya. Zhivago eventually marries his cousin, Tonya Gromeko, with whom he was raised after his father, who was involved in business dealings with Komarovsky, killed himself in 1897. Together they have a son named Sasha.
In 1915, with
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
in progress, Yuri Zhivago is
conscripted
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
and becomes an army doctor. He and Lara are reunited over a year later in a makeshift field hospital, where she is serving as a nurse while searching for her missing husband. The two fall in love but do not consummate their relationship. Together they run a hospital for several months, during which time radical changes take place throughout Russia due to the fall of the Tsar and subsequent Bolshevik takeover of the country. Lara leaves the hospital to return to her village, while Zhivago returns to Moscow.
Part II
After Russia's involvement with the War
ends in 1917, Zhivago returns to Moscow and to his wife Tonya, son Sasha, and his uncle Alexander, whose house in Moscow has been divided into tenements by the new
Soviet government
The Government of the Soviet Union ( rus, Прави́тельство СССР, p=prɐˈvʲitʲɪlʲstvə ɛs ɛs ɛs ˈɛr, r=Pravítelstvo SSSR, lang=no), formally the All-Union Government of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, commonly ab ...
. Zhivago briefly returns to work at a hospital where his old friend, Misha Gordon, is now director. Despite supporting the revolution, Zhivago is suspected of having
bourgeois
The bourgeoisie ( , ) is a social class, equivalent to the middle or upper middle class. They are distinguished from, and traditionally contrasted with, the proletariat by their affluence, and their great cultural and financial capital. They ...
tendencies as he refuses to comply with the official line on the prevalence of epidemics. Gordon arranges for travel passes and documents in order for Zhivago and his family to escape from the continuing unrest in Moscow to the far away Gromeko estate at Varykino in the
Ural Mountains
The Ural Mountains ( ; rus, Ура́льские го́ры, r=Uralskiye gory, p=ʊˈralʲskʲɪjə ˈɡorɨ; ba, Урал тауҙары) or simply the Urals, are a mountain range that runs approximately from north to south through western ...
. Zhivago, Tonya, Sasha and Alexander board a heavily guarded cattle truck train. They are informed that they will be travelling through contested territory, which is being secured by the infamous Bolshevik commander named Strelnikov.
While the train is stopped at a siding, Zhivago wanders away. He stumbles across the armoured train of Strelnikov. Yuri recognizes Strelnikov as the former Pasha Antipov. After a tense interview, Strelnikov informs Yuri that Lara is now living in the town of Yuriatin, then occupied by the
anti-communist
Anti-communism is Political movement, political and Ideology, ideological opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in the Russian Empire, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, w ...
White Army
The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв ...
. He allows Zhivago to return to his family.
The family lives a peaceful life in Varykino for the next year and a half until Zhivago finds Lara in nearby Yuriatin, at which point they surrender to their long-repressed feelings and begin an affair. When Tonya becomes pregnant, Yuri breaks off with Lara, only to be abducted and conscripted into service by Communist
partisans.
Lara is called to serve as the midwife when Tonya is ready to deliver her second child, and Tonya realises who she is. As the civil war draws to a close, Zhivago deserts the red partisans and treks across the mountains to Lara's house in Yuriatin, where she nurses him back to health. Meanwhile, Tonya, her two children, and her father have returned to Moscow.
Pursued by Komarovsky, now a leader in the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
, Zhivago, Lara and her daughter flee to Varykino. Months later, Komarovsky, still obsessed with Lara, arrives and offers them safe passage out of Russia. They initially refuse, but Komarovsky persuades Zhivago that it is in Lara's best interests to leave because of her connection to Strelnikov, who has fallen from favour and lost his position in the
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (Russian: Рабо́че-крестья́нская Кра́сная армия),) often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic and, after ...
. Zhivago convinces Lara, who is expecting their child, to leave with Komarovsky, telling her he will follow her shortly.
Strelnikov, now a hunted man, arrives at Varykino in search of his family soon after they leave with Komarovsky. Zhivago assures him that Lara and his daughter are safe, and Strelnikov kills himself.
Zhivago returns to Moscow and learns his wife, son, and father-in-law were deported and their location is unknown. Several years later, while sitting in a café, he sees a young boy who reminds him of himself as a child passing on the street with his mother, whom he realises is Lara. Before he can reach the pair, he suffers a fatal heart attack. Lara brings young Yuri to view his father's body, and as the two near their home, she realises that the
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union.
...
is waiting to arrest her. Pretending that they are playing a game, she urges her son to run away as quickly as he can, with the book of poems Zhivago wrote over the years, before she surrenders to the authorities.
Cast
*
Hans Matheson
Hans Matheson (born 7 August 1975) is a Scottish actor and musician. In a wide-ranging film and television career he has taken lead roles in diverse films such as '' Doctor Zhivago'', '' Sherlock Holmes'', '' The Tudors'', '' Tess of the d'Urb ...
..... Yuri Zhivago
*
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...
..... Lara Guishar Antipova
*
Sam Neill
Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...
..... Victor Komarovsky
*
Kris Marshall
Kristopher Marshall (born 11 April 1973) is an English actor, starring in films, television and on stage for more than 20 years. He has played Nick Harper in ''My Family'', Colin Frissell in the 2003 film ''Love Actually'', Gratiano in ''The Me ...
..... Pasha Antipov/Strelnikov
*
Alexandra Maria Lara
Alexandra Maria Lara (''née'' Plătăreanu; 12 November 1978) is a Romanian-German actress who has appeared in ''Downfall (2004 film), Downfall'' (2004), ''Control (2007 film), Control'' (2007), ''Youth Without Youth (film), Youth Without You ...
..... Tonya Gromeko Zhivago
*
Bill Paterson ..... Alexander Gromeko
*
Celia Imrie
Celia Diana Savile Imrie (born 15 July 1952) is an English actress and author. She was described in 2003 as one of the most successful British actresses of recent decades. She is best known for her film roles, including the '' Bridget Jones'' f ...
..... Anna Gromeko
*
Anna Rust
Anna Rust (born 3 May 1995) is an English actress and filmmaker. She began her career as a child actress in the ITV drama ''Doctor Zhivago'' (2002) and the film ''The Brothers Grimm'' (2005). She has since appeared in the Amazon Prime series ''C ...
..... Katya Antipova
*
Anne-Marie Duff
Anne-Marie Duff (born 8 October 1970) is an Irish actress and narrator. She is an accomplished theatre actress and has been nominated for a Laurence Olivier Award. She has also received acclaim and awards for her television and film work.
After ...
..... Olya Demina
*
Maryam d'Abo
Maryam d'Abo is a British actress, best known as Bond girl Kara Milovy in the 1987 James Bond film ''The Living Daylights''.
Early life and education
Born in London to Georgian mother Nino Kvinitadze, daughter of General Giorgi Kvinitadze, and ...
..... Amalia Guishar
*
Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams (born 10 November 1963) is an English actor. He is best known for portraying Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham, in the ITV historical drama series ''Downton Abbey''. His performance on the show earned him a nom ...
..... Andrey Zhivago
*
Gregg Sulkin
Gregg Sulkin (born 29 May 1992) is a British actor. He made his film debut in the 2002 ''Doctor Zhivago (miniseries), Doctor Zhivago'' mini-series. He later starred in the 2006 British release ''Sixty Six (film), Sixty Six'', and subsequently ap ...
..... Seryozha
* Jan Travnicek ..... Sasha Zhivago
Production
In discussing adapting the Boris Pasternak novel for television, screenwriter Andrew Davies revealed the task was "daunting because the book is reckoned to be a masterpiece and the film is a great movie and one that I admire very much.
Robert Bolt
Robert Oxton Bolt (15 August 1924 – 20 February 1995) was an English playwright and a two-time Oscar-winning screenwriter, known for writing the screenplays for ''Lawrence of Arabia'', ''Doctor Zhivago'', and '' A Man for All Seasons'', ...
is the king of epic screenplay writers in my book. But as I got further into the book I kept thinking that I didn't agree with Robert Bolt about how to tell the story... and I began to feel much more excited." He added, "It was also a relief to find so much in the book that hadn't found its way into the first movie and could make great drama.... I thought the film does the spectacle really well. Rather surprisingly, it also explains the politics very well, but I thought it could do a better job on the relationships. It's probably a bit controversial, but I thought we could say more about Lara and Yuri and how they get together; about Lara's extraordinary situation at the beginning of the story and Yuri having a dreadful start to his life with his parents dying. None of these things really came out in the movie, but they are there in the book. I think that if they look at both versions now, people will probably think that this version in a lot of ways works better for our time. It's more contemporary. I think they'll find the performances are more subtle yet speak to us in our time. Maybe my script will seem out of date in 20 years time because a lot of them do, but watching the original film, I think the central performances look stilted and dated now."
[Behind the scenes of ''Doctor Zhivago'' at PBS.org]
/ref>
Initially Davies and director Giacomo Campiotti clashed about how to present the material. Davies recalled, "The first couple of weeks after Giacomo joined this project were horrendous for me because ''Zhivago'' has always been one of his very favorite books. He has always dreamed about filming it and has his own interpretation in his head. I can actually remember thinking after one long, long day, where we just didn't agree about a single thing, that it wasn't going to work—it's either got to be him or me. Somehow, we arrived at a compromise and I have almost forgotten what we were arguing about now, as now we are both very pleased with the script. I always knew that he would make it look beautiful because he has got a poet's vision and now, having seen the rushes and some cut footage, I feel like he is my favourite director of all time. Everything is delightful now... Giacomo Campiotti's direction makes it extraordinary."
Because so much of the story is set in the winter, it was crucial to film the series where it was likely snow would be available. Due to budget constraints, Russia, Norway, and Finland were deemed too expensive. Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...
, Canada, was considered until the producers learned the previous year's snowfall had been minimal. Other Canadian provinces were rejected because the production crew was told it would be too cold to operate the needed equipment. Slovakia
Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...
, where a 95% chance of snow was predicted, was selected for the March filming, and there was a blizzard two days before shooting began. But it quickly melted, and eventually the scenic designers had to utilize 1000 bags of artificial snow. Producer Hugh Warren recalled, "We had all the expense of going to Slovakia as well as the trouble of crossing the border, and then there was no snow. It was more than a little ironic."
Costume design
Costume design is the creation of clothing for the overall appearance of a character or performer. Costume may refer to the style of dress particular to a nation, a class, or a period. In many cases, it may contribute to the fullness of the arti ...
er Annie Symons and her staff of thirty had to create more than 3000 costumes and 35,000 individual items of clothing for the cast. The characters of Zhivago and Lara each had at least 90 costume combinations, and six other principal characters had an average of fifteen changes each. By the time principal photography ended, a total of 984 yards of fabric, 300,000 yards of thread, 1 million buttons, and 7,000 safety pins were used.
Critical reception
Alessandra Stanley of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' said, "By trying so hard for authenticity, this ''Doctor Zhivago'' drains the story of much of its lyricism.... Mr. Lean's grander, glossier version was a closer match to the romantic spirit of the novel's hero.... The Davies version is engrossing but more for the harrowing scenes set in the civil war after the revolution than for the novel's legendary love triangle. Black-and-white archival photographs - Moscow slums, newspaper shots of soldiers marching off to World War I - are interspersed throughout the film and slowly bleed into a scene of the television show. The visual trick gives the series a quasi-documentary feel and is quite effective. Yet Mr. Davies takes the same liberties with Pasternak's text as the original film did, focusing on the love story and discarding a lot of the politics, secondary plots and literary sidetracks.... This ''Doctor Zhivago'' can be watched as a useful history lesson and as a cautionary show business tale: it is a lot easier to adapt a Jane Austen
Jane Austen (; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for her six major novels, which interpret, critique, and comment upon the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots of ...
novel than it is to remake a film by David Lean."
Brian Lowry of ''Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' observed, "Some will rightfully pine for Maurice Jarre
Maurice-Alexis Jarre (; 13 September 1924 – 28 March 2009)allmusic Biography/ref> was a French composer and conductor. Although he composed several concert works, Jarre is best known for his film scores, particularly for his collaborations with ...
's Oscar
Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to:
People
* Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms.
* Oscar (Irish mythology), ...
-winning score, Julie Christie
Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. S ...
and Omar Sharif
Omar Sharif ( ar, عمر الشريف ; born Michel Yusef Dimitri Chalhoub , 10 April 193210 July 2015) was an Egyptian actor, generally regarded as one of his country's greatest male film stars. He began his career in his native country in the ...
, yet this somewhat less epic take on Boris Pasternak's book is a creditable version, featuring outstanding performances and considerable romance. And hey, kids, it sure beats reading the Cliffs Notes
CliffsNotes are a series of student study guides. The guides present and create literary and other works in pamphlet form or online. Detractors of the study guides claim they let students bypass reading the assigned literature. The company cl ...
."
In the ''Sunday Telegraph
''The Sunday Telegraph'' is a British broadsheet newspaper, founded in February 1961 and published by the Telegraph Media Group, a division of Press Holdings.
It is the sister paper of ''The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', kn ...
'' John Preston commented "This version treated its audience as intelligent and assumed they had the ability to follow a story that unfolded visually rather than verbally", adding that its "first and most self-evident virtue was that it looked more like a movie than a traditional telly drama. There was a real richness of texture here" and noted "...a wealth of other cleverly wrought, yet essentially simple touches". He was less impressed with Andrew Davies's script and Keira Knightley's Lara, but commended Hans Matheson "terrific as the grown-up Yuri Zhivago - intense, playful, assured" and Giacomo Campiotti's "bravura direction".
Tom Jicha of the ''South Florida Sun-Sentinel
The ''Sun Sentinel'' (also known as the ''South Florida Sun Sentinel'', known until 2008 as the ''Sun-Sentinel'', and stylized on its masthead as ''SunSentinel'') is the main daily newspaper of Fort Lauderdale, Florida, as well as surrounding Br ...
'' called it "a stunning success" and continued, "Davies' screenplay is involving, the cinematography is captivating, the costuming and set designs evoke a sense of time and place, and the top-of-the-marquee performances are world-class." He concluded, "''Doctor Zhivago'' is a hefty production, which demands a four-hour, commercial-free commitment from its audience. But the reward is a richly layered character study and love story, worthy of the franchise under which it airs."
Melanie McFarland of the ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer
The ''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' (popularly known as the ''Seattle P-I'', the ''Post-Intelligencer'', or simply the ''P-I'') is an online newspaper and former print newspaper based in Seattle, Washington, United States.
The newspaper was foun ...
'' graded the series B+ and commented it "manages to maintain true to the main story line, streamlining incidental characters to keep the film from becoming too unwieldy, which takes some effort considering the book's rich language and numerous characters.... Even so, this version, though a little better paced than the original, is still fairly sluggish. Given the book, perhaps that's unavoidable."''Seattle Post-Intelligencer'' review
/ref>
Awards and nominations
In the UK, the serial was nominated for the BAFTA Award for Best Drama Serial but lost to ''Shackleton
Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton (15 February 1874 – 5 January 1922) was an Anglo-Irish Antarctic explorer who led three British expeditions to the Antarctic. He was one of the principal figures of the period known as the Heroic Age of An ...
''. Giacomo Campiotti was nominated Best New Director and Annie Symons was nominated for Best Costume Design.
In the US, the serial was nominated for the Satellite Award for Best Miniseries but lost to ''Angels in America
''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award for O ...
''.
DVD release
Acorn Media released a Region 1 DVD on 4 November 2003. It is in anamorphic widescreen
Anamorphic widescreen (also called Full height anamorphic or FHA) is a process by which a comparatively wide widescreen image is horizontally compressed to fit into a storage medium (photographic film or MPEG-2 standard-definition frame, for exam ...
format with an English audio track and subtitles. Bonus features include extensive interviews with the cast and crew, a photo gallery, a biography of Boris Pasternak, and cast filmographies.
References
External links
*
*
''Masterpiece Theatre'' minisite
(archived)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Doctor Zhivago (Tv Serial)
Period television series
2000s British television miniseries
ITV television dramas
Films shot in Slovakia
Television shows written by Andrew Davies
2002 British television series debuts
2002 British television series endings
2000s British drama television series
Television shows set in Russia
Television shows based on Russian novels
Television remakes of films
Films directed by Giacomo Campiotti
Films scored by Ludovico Einaudi
Television series by ITV Studios
Television shows produced by Granada Television
English-language television shows