Nicholas and Alexandra

"I didn't want to come on this tercentenary tour, Pyotr Arkadyevich. But, God help me, I do love it when they stand and wave."

"He's a good man. They always kill the good men, the ones who help the most. They killed my grandfather. He freed the serfs, you know. He helped them, so they threw a bomb. Stolypin is a good man. I can't find a match. ... Damn them all. You help them, and they kill you for it. Give them dumas, and they give you bombs. I want them paid in kind. You understand me? I want something done."

"Our diplomats will send some angry notes, a few generals will go on exercise, and everyone will be sensible again. All over Europe, the kings and queens are sleeping safely in their beds. And that's what we are going to do."

"All my life, my whole life, I've done what you want. I gave Mother up. You hated her, so we don't see her anymore. I gave my friends up. Do you know I haven't a single friend? I've got my family. Four girls, one sick boy, and you. I ask before I eat, sleep, or change my clothes, "Is this what Sunny wants?" And it never is. There's always more. Sweet Jesus, how much do you want of me?"

"I've often thought I should like to be a country gentleman. I've always liked to watch things grow."

"Mama's off to England in a month or so. She says the spring was late this year but very beautiful. Lord, but it's good to be alive! The world is like a field in summer, bursting with good things. One day, when all the wars are over, someone young will lead us to the harvest. As long as there are children, anything is possible."

"I've had a son. For years, I've daydreamed how I'd feel. And all that time, I never dreamed ... I'm filled with ... I don't know. It isn't joy or anything like that. It's more. It's terribly important. And I don't know why you're smiling."

"You never see unpleasant things, you drift away. I even wonder if you hear me half the time."

"To marry Nicky, I had to change my faith. That was a great sin, don't you think? God thinks so. He won't hear me when I pray. I've sinned and He won't listen."

"This is the beginning of the glory of your reign. Our friend told me so. It will be the greatest page in Russian history, the story of these weeks and days. And when you go, don't worry over what you've left behind. I'm here. Lean on me, use me. I'm not wise or strong, but God will show me what to do."

"At times, I actually like it. Mending clothes and teaching classes and quiet afternoons. I doze and daydream, and I think about my life. I don't know what I did wrong. I'd feel better if I did."

"There's this fantastic holy fellow just arrived. You must meet him. He's a live, authentic starets straight from the fields. Cures diseases by the laying on of hands. I've seen him do it. Saw this fellow wheeled in, legs like pretzels. Then the starets – Grigori Rasputin is his name – gave him a deep look, touched him, prayed a bit. And up the pretzel popped and skipped about the room. A bit grotesquely, I admit, but you could tell he was skipping."

"I could have won this war in time if I were only fighting on one front. But I had two enemies at my back, your Sunny and her monk. Not long ago, he wrote to me. Could he come and bless the troops? I told him if he came, I'd hang him. Should have let him come. Hung the bastard when he got here."

"I knew a woman in Pokrovskoe. That's my home, a little village in Siberia. And this woman, she was so afraid of strangers that she bought herself a pinewood box and lived in it. Then, one day, her husband nailed the lid on, dug a hole, and dropped her into it. "Ivan, don't!" she cried. "But I only want to make you happy," he said. "I know, but Heaven's full of strangers. Let me out.""

"I started late to be a starets. I was twenty when this vision came. We peasants get them all the time. The Virgin comes and tells them when to sell their sheep if they want to make a profit. She told me to become a pilgrim, so I started to walk. I waited for Her to tell me when to stop, but she didn't. I walked two thousand miles, and when I got to Greece, I couldn't walk any further, so I stopped. I spent two years in a monastery, and then I walked home again. Sometimes, people say to me, "What do I need to become a starets?" And I say, "Good feet.""

"I see blood when I shut my eyes. A lot of blood. I saw blood once before, when I was in Jerusalem. And then my father died. In Kazan, there is an ivory Christ whose wounds bleed. Someone told me there's a Madonna in Kharkov that sheds real tears. Matushka, I see things. I have power. I cure the sick. Holy men kneel to me and kiss my hands. I am a vessel of the Lord. I have spoken with God. It must be so. How else can I do these things? I save souls and bring peace. God leads me. He brought me here. He speaks through me. I am the voice of God. It is His will. I have been sent to do great things."

"[admiring a big-busted woman] So, you would like to be an opera singer? Yes, you have the chest for it."

"You tried to kill me. You all have. You silly fools. I thought I could trust you. Silly fools. You can't even kill properly. You're too small to destroy me. Look! ... Now get up, prince. Get up! Try. Let's see you try to kill me. ... I begged Batushka not to start this war. I know who dies. You don't die. The people die. The wise old men, the generals, the ministers, the ones who say, "Do this. Go there." No mud on their boots. No bullets in their bellies. Where's your rifle, Prince? Why aren't you at the front where the blood is? I'm not a German. I come from the Russian soil, and you fools will never destroy me. Thank God Russia has sons like me and isn't at the mercy of scum like you."

"Of course, I agree you're free to say what you like, and you must agree I'm free to shoot you for saying it. Murder, arson, terror. I'll agree to anything that gives us power. Power! And we can't have power if we compromise. Even though it takes years, terror and power."

"In the last ten years, I've spent three months in Russia. I'm out of fashion. No one's wearing me this year. I talk, and no one listens. I write, and no one reads."

"The czar is here in Petersburg to bless the troops. He's staying at the Winter Palace. Thousands of us will march there on Sunday morning. I'll go to him on the balcony and read this. [holds up a paper] "Sire, we working men and inhabitants of St. Petersburg come to you, sire, to seek for truth, justice and protection. Only you can hear our prayers. And if you do not, we shall die here on this square, before your palace.""

"He didn't come. He never came. Nicholas, the murderer. The bloody, bloody murderer."

"Not even London on a Sunday is as boring as a room full of Romanovs."

"We're an 18th-century country in a 20th-century world. We need all our strength and money to look after Russia. Don't waste it on those little yellow Buddhists or pagans or whatever they are. It's a great mistake to get involved in all these strikes and wars. You only encourage them by taking them seriously."

"I wish your father were alive ... He knew how to be a czar. He'd have burned Vienna down, stomped on the Germans, and shot the strikers. Anything to give Russia peace. And he'd certainly have known how to deal with Rasputin."

"I'm old, sir. I've seen so many wars. They all seemed so important at the time. Now, I don't even remember what they were called. Millions of dead men. I don't know why. Nobody knows."

"None of you will be here when this war ends. Everything we've fought for will be lost. Everything they've loved will be broken. The victors will be as cursed as the defeated. The world will grow old, and men will wander about lost in the ruins and go mad. Tradition, virtue, restraint, they'll all go. I'm not mourning for myself but for the people who will come after me. They will live without hope. And all they will have will be guilt, revenge, and terror. And the world will be full of fanatics and trivial fools."

"Michael Jayston - Nicholas"

"Janet Suzman - Alexandra"

"Roderic Noble - Alexis"

"Ania Marson - Olga"

"Lynne Frederick - Tatiana"

"Candace Glendenning - Marie"

"Fiona Fullerton - Anastasia"

"Harry Andrews - Grand Duke Nicholas (Nikolasha)"

"Irene Worth - The Queen Mother Marie Fedorovna"

"Tom Baker - Rasputin"

"Jack Hawkins - Count Fredericks"

"Timothy West - Dr. Botkin"

"Katharine Schofield - Tegleva"

"Jean-Claude Drouot - Gilliard"

"John Hallam - Nagorny"

"Guy Rolfe - Dr. Fedorov"

"John Wood - Col. Kobylinsky"

"Laurence Olivier - Count Witte"

"Eric Porter - Stolypin"

"Michael Redgrave - Sazonov"

"Maurice Denham - Kokovtsov"

"Ralph Truman - Rodzianko"

"Gordon Gostelow - Guchkov"