"The Death of Adolf Hitler" is a 1973 British television play, an episode of ''

ITV Sunday Night Theatre ''ITV Sunday Night Theatre'', originally titled ''ITV Saturday Night Theatre'' and often shortened to simply ''Sunday Night Theatre'' or ''Saturday Night Theatre'', is a British television anthology series screened on ITV, and produced by London ...

''. It stars

Frank Finlay Francis Finlay, (6 August 1926 – 30 January 2016) was an English stage, film and television actor, Oscar-nominated for a supporting role as Iago in Laurence Olivier's 1965 film adaptation of ''Othello''. In 1983, Finlay was directed by Ital ...

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...

and

Caroline Mortimer Caroline Mortimer (born Caroline Dimont; 12 March 1942 – 20 September 2020) was a British actress. Caroline Mortimer was the daughter of the novelist Penelope Mortimer from her first marriage to the journalist Charles Dimont and the step-daught ...

Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...

. First aired on 7 January 1973, the drama details the last 10 days of Hitler's life as

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

comes to an end and

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

troops close in on the ''

Führerbunker The ''Führerbunker'' () was an air raid shelter located near the Reich Chancellery in Berlin, Germany. It was part of a subterranean bunker complex constructed in two phases in 1936 and 1944. It was the last of the Führer Headquarters ( ...

''. Michael Sheard (who played

Himmler Heinrich Luitpold Himmler (; 7 October 1900 – 23 May 1945) was of the (Protection Squadron; SS), and a leading member of the Nazi Party of Germany. Himmler was one of the most powerful men in Nazi Germany and a main architect of th ...

) and Tony Steedman (who played Gen. Jodl) would play the same roles in the American television film '' The Bunker'' in 1981. The play depicts Hitler as a tragic

antihero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

tormented by both the past and present, unable to reconcile his hopes and dreams with the reality of the nightmare of his own making. Finlay won a

British Academy Television Award The BAFTA TV Awards, or British Academy Television Awards are presented in an annual award show hosted by the BAFTA. They have been awarded annually since 1955. Background The first-ever Awards, given in 1955, consisted of six categories. Until ...

as Best Actor for his performance.

References

1973 British television episodes 1973 television plays British television plays Death of Adolf Hitler ITV Sunday Night Theatre Works about Adolf Hitler London Weekend Television shows {{tv-episode-stub