War and Peace comes to the BBC in 'epic' Andrew Davies drama Speaking of the potentially daunting length of Tolstoy's work, he told the Telegraph: "It's nothing to be frightened of. These people are just like us; their emotions are so recognisable. The characters are so natural and human and easy to identify with and Natasha Rostova just beats Lizzy Bennet as the most lovable heroine in literature. In a way, I think it will be quite manageable, because quite a lot of the book is taken up with Tolstoy's theories on history and his account of why Napoleon was defeated in the Russian campaign. But at the heart of the book, it is a story of four families and the interaction between them, with certain characters we get to care about and love very much. It's a very intimate story, despite the fact it involves armies of thousands. People found the book so enormous. This will be a way of doing it. Describing the interaction between the central families as "so true to life," he suggested that a faithful reproduction of Tolstoy's work would attract popular audiences without the need to "dumb it down." He joked the interaction between characters and families would be "very familiar" to fans of soap EastEnders, but with "not so much yelling and nobody on the dole." The original 1869 story, which stretches to 1,225 pages long, already portrays children rebelling against their parents, fathers struggling with pride and a young heroine who chooses the "wrong bloke." "It's all there," he said. The commission, announced exclusively today, is currently in its early stages, with Davies hoping to cast an unknown budding actress to play Natasha Rostova. The two male protagonists, Pierre and Andrei, will be played by more experienced actors, with the writer coyly refusing to speculate about prospective stars such as Eddie Redmayne. Davies, whose adaptation of Pride and Prejudice is remembered by a generation of women for Colin Firth's lake scene, said he hoped to recreate the success, with the "proud, haughty, cynical" Andrei "very much the Darcy figure." "We want to get the women of England excited about one or two of the male stars," he said/ The Bafta-winning writer said it was "wonderful" to be back at the corporation, with the public fascination with historical novels still enduring. "From time to time there is a move to do a little less in the way of period dramas, but people rebel," he said. Audiences say we want them. There is a big hunger for them. I don't think it's sentimentality or nostalgia, it's often that they are simply the best stories. I'm absolutely delighted if people think of me as a reliable purveyor of quality period stuff. Announcing the commission, BBC One controller Danny Cohen hailed Davies" "exceptional powers of adaptation" in bringing about a War and Peace adaptation that will be "truly epic in scale." Faith Penhale, executive producer, added: "Today's audience will be drawn into the sweeping story of life and love during a time of conflict, with a dazzling production that brings to life the great vision and scale of the novel." War and Peace was last shown on the BBC in 1972, with Anthony Hopkins in the role of Pierre.