A drama of intrigue and betrayal in Stalin's Russia. Stepan grows up in an orphanage, learning to love Stalin as 'a father to all children'. He retains disturbing memories of the disappearance of his real father and, when a strange message is delivered to him, he's determined to find out the truth.
Acting
Freddie Jones brings unsettling warmth to cold material.
Production
Glasnost-era BBC budget somehow makes it eerier.
Director
Tristram Powell
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Made during glasnost when Western filmmakers finally got access to Soviet trauma narratives, but before the archives fully opened.
Richard Wilson (One Foot in the Grave's Victor Meldrew) plays against type as a Party functionary — deeply weird casting that somehow works.
GB
