**Pictured:** L-R Bjorn Hlynur Haraldsson as Emile, John Heffernan as The Bishop, Leah Harvey as Mariana, Anastasia Hille as Olga, Daniel Cerqueira as Vasily, Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Anna Urbanova, Ewan McGregor as Count Rostov, Alexa Goodall as Nina, Lyes Salem as Andrey, Johnny Harris as Osip, Fehinti Balogun as Mishka in a Gentleman in Moscow, streaming on Paramount+ 2024. Photo Credit: Jason Bell/Paramount+ With Showtime

In episode 52, we welcome back Ben Vanstone (ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL), showrunner and executive producer for the much-anticipated drama series A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW. The 8-part series is based on author Amor Towles’s internationally bestselling novel of the same name.

The story centers on the life of Count Alexandre Rostov, played by Ewan McGregor, who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past has placed him on the wrong side of history. Spared immediate execution, Count Rostov is banished by a Soviet tribunal to an attic room in the opulent Hotel Metropol and threatened with death — that is he will be shot – if he ever sets foot outside again. As the years pass and some of the tumultuous decades in Russian history fold outside the hotel’s doors, Rostov’s reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery. As he builds a new life within the walls of the hotel, he discovers the true value of friendship, family, and love.

We talk with Ben about the series, and also:

Adapting a best selling novel for TV, creative choices and maintaining the novel's spirit
Diverse casting, recreating Hotel Metropol without going to Russia, creative collaborations with the production crews
Relationship and humanity in the face of adversity and change

….and more

GUEST

Ben Vanstone
Ben Vanstone is executive producer, showrunner, and writer for the series *A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW* (Paramount+, SHOWTIME). We talked with Ben in episode 27 about the PBS MASTERPIECE series *ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL*, where Ben has been showrunner for several seasons. Ben's other TV credits include the adaptation of Laurie Lee's novel *CIDER FOR ROSIE* for the BBC, *THE BORROWERS* for NBC and the BBC, *THE LAST KINGDOM* for BBC Two and Netflix. BBC's *MERLIN* which was also broadcast in the United States on NBC. Ben was a co executive producer on *THE ENGLISH GAME* for Netflix.

Listen to Episode 37, “From Page to Screen” where we highlight Amor Towles’s A Gentleman In Moscow as one of the podcast’s 2023 Summer Reads; and Episode 27, A Conversation with Ben Vanstone about ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

Featured

#historicaldrama, #filmadaptation, #perioddrama, #1920s, #benvanstone, #amortowles, #russia, #metropol, #paramount+, #ewanmcgregor, #adaptations, #AGentlemanInMoscow

Ep. 52 - A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW: A Room of One’s Own, A Heart Full of Others

#historicaldrama, #filmadaptation, #perioddrama, #1920s, #benvanstone, #amortowles, #russia, #metropol, #paramount+, #ewanmcgregor, #adaptations, #AGentlemanInMoscow

We welcome back Ben Vanstone (ALL CREATURES GREAT & SMALL), showrunner and executive producer for the much-anticipate drama series, A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW an adaptation of author Amor Towles’s internationally best-selling novel of the same name. The series features Ewan McGregor as Count Alexandre Rostov, an aristocrat who, in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past has placed him on the wrong side of history.

#historicaldrama, #filmadaptation, #perioddrama, #1920s, #benvanstone, #amortowles, #russia, #metropol, #paramount+, #ewanmcgregor, #adaptations, #AGentlemanInMoscow

costumedrama, historicaldrama, perioddrama, adaptation, filmadaptation, alicewalker, minjinlee, amortowles, davidgrann, taylorjenkinsreid, martinscorsese, oprahwinfrey, blitzbazawule, quincyjones, marcusgardley, stevenspielberg, fantasia, ewanmcgregor, benvanstone, rileykeough, samclaflin, sukiwaterhouse, coreyhawkins, tarajiphenson, hallebailey, Leonardodicaprio, lilygladstone, robertdeniro, MollieBurkhart, #AGentlemanInMoscow, #KillersoftheFlowerMoon, #Pachinko, #DaisyJones&TheSix, #TheColorPurple

Ep. 37 - From Page to Screen

costumedrama, historicaldrama, perioddrama, adaptation, filmadaptation, alicewalker, minjinlee, amortowles, davidgrann, taylorjenkinsreid, martinscorsese, oprahwinfrey, blitzbazawule, quincyjones, marcusgardley, stevenspielberg, fantasia, ewanmcgregor, benvanstone, rileykeough, samclaflin, sukiwaterhouse, coreyhawkins, tarajiphenson, hallebailey, Leonardodicaprio, lilygladstone, robertdeniro, MollieBurkhart, #AGentlemanInMoscow, #KillersoftheFlowerMoon, #Pachinko, #DaisyJones&TheSix, #TheColorPurple

The Boston Sisters talk about five books they’re reading that have been adapted from page to screen, including dramatic film, musicals, and series. The book list includes fiction and nonfiction film and series premieres scheduled this fall, during the holidays, and anticipated dates in 2024, along with titles available for streaming now.

costumedrama, historicaldrama, perioddrama, adaptation, filmadaptation, alicewalker, minjinlee, amortowles, davidgrann, taylorjenkinsreid, martinscorsese, oprahwinfrey, blitzbazawule, quincyjones, marcusgardley, stevenspielberg, fantasia, ewanmcgregor, benvanstone, rileykeough, samclaflin, sukiwaterhouse, coreyhawkins, tarajiphenson, hallebailey, Leonardodicaprio, lilygladstone, robertdeniro, MollieBurkhart, #AGentlemanInMoscow, #KillersoftheFlowerMoon, #Pachinko, #DaisyJones&TheSix, #TheColorPurple

costumedrama, historicaldrama, perioddrama, taquienaboston, michonboston, masterpiecepbs, worldwar2, yorkshiredales, NicholasRalph, RachelShenton, CallumWoodhouse, SamuelWest, AnnaMadeley, animalstories, animaldoctor, trickiwoo, CleoSylvestre, davidhill, SophieKhanLevy, KrissDosanjh, HelenSheals, LaraSteward, JaniceCrosslandJones, Englishcountryside, dianarigg, patriciahodge, #benvanstone, #jamesherriot, #allcreaturesgreatandsmall

Ep. 27 - Ben Vanstone: ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL

costumedrama, historicaldrama, perioddrama, taquienaboston, michonboston, masterpiecepbs, worldwar2, yorkshiredales, NicholasRalph, RachelShenton, CallumWoodhouse, SamuelWest, AnnaMadeley, animalstories, animaldoctor, trickiwoo, CleoSylvestre, davidhill, SophieKhanLevy, KrissDosanjh, HelenSheals, LaraSteward, JaniceCrosslandJones, Englishcountryside, dianarigg, patriciahodge, #benvanstone, #jamesherriot, #allcreaturesgreatandsmall

Episode 27 features a conversation with BEN VANSTONE, showrunner and writer for ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL about the making of the series currently in its 3rd season on the PBS drama series MASTERPIECE. ALL CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL is the recent adaptation of the books written by veterinarian James Alfred Wight (who wrote under the pen name James Herriot) about a trio of veterinarian surgeons in the Yorkshire Dales in the late 1930s.

costumedrama, historicaldrama, perioddrama, taquienaboston, michonboston, masterpiecepbs, worldwar2, yorkshiredales, NicholasRalph, RachelShenton, CallumWoodhouse, SamuelWest, AnnaMadeley, animalstories, animaldoctor, trickiwoo, CleoSylvestre, davidhill, SophieKhanLevy, KrissDosanjh, HelenSheals, LaraSteward, JaniceCrosslandJones, Englishcountryside, dianarigg, patriciahodge, #benvanstone, #jamesherriot, #allcreaturesgreatandsmall

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A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW

A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is based on the 2016 international bestseller by Amor Towles. In 1922, Count Alexandre Rostov (Ewan McGregor) is deemed an unrepentant aristocrat by a Bolshevik tribunal, and is sentenced to house arrest in the Metropol, a grand hotel across the street from the Kremlin. Rostov, an indomitable man of erudition and wit, has never worked a day in his life, and must now live in an attic room while some of the most tumultuous decades in Russian history are unfolding outside the hotel's doors. Unexpectedly, his reduced circumstances provide him entry into a much larger world of emotional discovery.

Alongside Ewan McGregor, the series stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as glamorous, self-made film actress Anna Urbanova; Alexa Goodall as the Count’s unlikely young friend Nina; Johnny Harris as conflicted secret police officer Osip; and Fehinti Balogun as Mishka, the Count’s best friend from university. Additional cast includes Leah Harvey , Paul Ready, John Heffernan, Lyès Salem, Björn Hlynur Haraldsson, Dee Ahluwalia, Anastasia Hille, Daniel Cerqueira, Leah Balmforth, Billie Gadsdon, and Beau Gadsdon.

Series directors include Sam Hill, Sarah O’Gorman with script by Ben Vanstone.

The 8-episode A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW is available on demand and streaming for Paramount+ subscribers, and with the Paramount+ with SHOWTIME plan in the US. The series finale is May 17, 2024.

Official series website (Watch the first episode. Terms of availability for streaming are determined by Paramount+)

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