As Vanity Fair contintues Rawdon, George and Dobbin bravely march into battle, an anxious Amelia frets that she may never see her husband again
As Vanity Fair continues Rawdon, George (Charlie Rowe) and Dobbin (Johnny Flynn, above right, with Rowe) bravely march into battle, an anxious Amelia frets that she may never see her husband again.
Becky, on the other hand, isn’t shedding any tears, as war provides a chance for her to make money.
With everyone desperate for horses (and Rawdon’s stable full), she can name her price, and her plotting recommences in earnest, starting with old flame Jos…
Meanwhile, on the battlefield, nothing could have prepared our leading men for the horrors of war.
As the Battle of Waterloo rages, who will make it home alive?
Another beautifully crafted episode, with epic battle scenes, and we can’t wait to see where our heroine’s ambition takes her next.
While the battle was glossed over in William Makepeace Thackeray’s original novel, it’s the centrepiece of ITV’s adaptation, and life will never be the same once the final shot has been fired…
Here, TV Times discovers the painstaking detail that went into bringing this huge set piece to life…
The battle scenes were shot on a farm at Mapledurham near Reading, which has the same geographical layout as Waterloo and is where the 1976 World War Two thriller The Eagle Has Landed starring Michael Caine and Donald Sutherland was filmed.
‘We trudged round muddy fields for quite a few weeks until we found the perfect one!’ says Anna Pritchard, the drama’s production designer.
To capture the scale, 400 SAs (including 100 re-enactors), 50 horses and riders, and a special-effects team worked on the shoot.
The team brought in a sculptor to create the battle casualties.
‘We made dead horses, dead men, limbs and various nasties for the end of Waterloo,’ says Anna. ‘They’re made out of polystyrene, painted, then covered in fake blood so they look like the real thing.’
TV Times rating: ****
