Episodes
| Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Long Live The Soviet Republic Of Bavaria | 20230112 | By the end of 1918, the German people are starving and revolution is in the air. A 29-year-old army corporal is sent to report on fringe political parties in Munich. His name is Adolf Hitler and so begins the political ascent of the National Socialist Party. Nazis: The Road to Power recreates this story and the forgotten players from these early years - the army captain who orders Hitler to join the German Workers Party, the millionairess who plays the role of surrogate mother, the Harvard-educated American who becomes Hitler's court jester. Nobody imagines the Nazi Party will ever take power - it requires a chain of hugely unpredictable events. This new 8-part series dramatizes these moments, re-creating the intrigues, the knife-edge decisions which would ultimately lead to 40 million dead in the world's greatest catastrophe. Even before the Armistice is signed, Germany is collapsing. The army is in retreat and the Kaiser has smuggled himself into exile. In Munich, there is revolution - a bloodless uprising led by poets and playwrights. And keeping his head down during all this is a lonely soldier recently discharged from hospital - Corporal Hitler is appalled to see Munich overrun by freethinkers, by liberalism, by women! Once the revolution is crushed, Army Intelligence looks around for soldiers who might be able to influence their comrades, steer them away from all this Bolshevik nonsense. And that's how Corporal Adolf Hitler starts making speeches - it turns out he has quite a talent for it. Starring Toby Stephens as Captain Mayr, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Forbes Masson as Thomas Mann and Jack Laskey as Anton Drexler, founding Chairman of the German Workers Party. Cast: Captain Mayr - TOBY STEPHENS Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Gottfried Feder - EDWARD BENNETT King Ludwig - WILLIAM CHUBB Kaiser Wilhelm II - NICHOLAS FARRELL President Hindenburg - DEREK JACOBI Kurt Eisner - MICHAEL MALONEY General Ludendorff - ANDREW WOODALL Anton Drexler - JACK LASKEY Other parts were played by: JOSEPH ALESSI, OSCAR BATTERHAM, SCOTT KARIM, GEORGE KEMP, SORCHA KENNEDY, FORBES MASSON and LYNNE MILLER The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Written and Directed by JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds Spring 1919: Corporal Hitler is summoned to Army Intelligence; they have a use for him. How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 02 | My Little Wolf | 20230119 | Hitler has a gift for oratory and party membership is growing - every week he draws a larger crowd. The party formally changes its name to the National Socialist German Workers Party - soon everyone will be calling it Na-Zi for short - and publishes its first (and last) party manifesto. Point 4: No Jew Can Be A German. But in his speeches, Hitler still reserves his vilest attacks for the November Traitors, namely any politician who signed the Versailles Treaty and plunged Germany into third-class status. But all this campaigning costs - they need someone to introduce them to wealthy sponsors. Will Helene Bechstein, whose husband inherited the piano company, be able to help? But when Mussolini takes power in Italy, everyone is asking when Hitler will launch his own coup. Starring Nancy Carroll as Helene Bechstein, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Edward Bennett as Gottfried Feder, the Nazi Party's first economist, and Joseph Alessi as Ernst R怀hm. Cast: Helene Bechstein - NANCY CARROLL Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Ernst R怀hm - JOSEPH ALESSI Karl Harrer - OSCAR BATTERHAM Gottfried Feder - EDWARD BENNETT Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP Anton Drexler - JACK LASKEY Other parts were played by: WILLIAM CHUBB, NICHOLAS FARRELL, SCOTT KARIM, SORCHA KENNEDY, MICHAEL MALONEY, FORBES MASSON, LYNNE MILLER and ANDREW WOODALL The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds Ordered to join the German Workers Party, Corporal Hitler discovers a gift for oratory. How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 03 | The Enemy Is On The Left, The Danger Is On The Right | 20230126 | Footloose in Munich, Harvard-educated Putzi Hanfstaengl finds himself drawn in by Hitler's charisma, quickly becoming one of his entourage, partly thanks to his enthusiastic piano-playing. But with the whole country in the grip of hyperinflation - pushing wheelbarrows of money to pay for a single loaf of bread - there is a call for a more drastic step, a coup against the federal government. Are the Nazis ready? Can they really wait any longer? The Nazis seize power in Munich, now intending to march on Berlin and announce a national dictatorship led by Hitler. But first they must take control of all the police forces and the infantry barracks, and it's essential they shut down the telephone exchange and radio transmitters. It is a night of chaos. And is the Army really on their side or do they have their own coup planned? Starring Corey Johnson as Putzi Hanfstaengl, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Andrew Woodall as General von Ludendorff. Cast: Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Ernst R怀hm - JOSEPH ALESSI Emil Maurice - OSCAR BATTERHAM Leni Hanfstaengl - MELODY GROVE Herman G怀ring - SCOTT KARIM Gustav Ritter von Kahr - MICHAEL MALONEY Ulrich Graf - FORBES MASSON General Ludendorff - ANDREW WOODALL Other parts were played by: EDWARD BENNETT, WILLIAM CHUBB, NICHOLAS FARRELL, GEORGE KEMP, SORCHA KENNEDY, JACK LASKEY and LYNNE MILLER The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds 8 November 1923: the Nazis launch their coup. But overnight, it all quickly unravels. How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 04 | The Big Lie | 20230202 | Far away in the Rhineland, 26-year-old Joseph Goebbels has a PhD, an unpublished novel and a half-Jewish girlfriend, Else Janke. But he finds himself drawn to the Nazi Party and Hitler's rhetoric. Every day in his diary (concealed until this century) he records his excitement as he reads about Hitler defending himself - the latter is now on trial in Munich for his totally unsuccessful coup. Released from prison just six months later, Hitler must now renounce violence and vow that the Nazi Party will seek power through the ballot box. Goebbels is drawn deeper into the party faction who advocate the Socialism in National Socialism' but how will he react when Hitler writes to him personally, seeking to bring him closer to his own standpoint? And will it mean the end of his relationship with Else? Starring Alexander Vlahos as Joseph Goebbels, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Sorcha Kennedy as Else Janke and Joseph Alessi as Gregor Strasser. Cast: Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI Emil Maurice & Rudolf Diels - OSCAR BATTERHAM Helene Bechstein - NANCY CARROLL Otto von Lossow - NICHOLAS FARRELL Leni Hanfstaengl - MELODY GROVE Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON Herman G怀ring - SCOTT KARIM Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP Else Janke - SORCHA KENNEDY Hermine Hoffman - LYNNE MILLER General Ludendorff - ANDREW WOODALL Other parts were played by: EDWARD BENNETT, WILLIAM CHUBB, JACK LASKEY, FORBES MASSON and MICHAEL MALONEY The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds Hitler recognises Goebbels' propaganda skills and draws him deeper into the movement. How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 05 | The Little Man | 20230209 | By 1929, Berlin may be cross-dressing and dancing to jazz but governments still rise and fall with banana-republican regularity. As Chief Foreign Correspondent for the New York Post, it's Dorothy Thompson's job to report on this maelstrom. Meanwhile, Joseph Goebbels, now Party District Chief for Berlin is generating daily street disturbances, Jewish-owned department stores are one of his favourite targets. He is now forced to choose between Hitler's Nationalism and Strasser's Socialism. On the first day of the new Reichstag, the 107 Nazi Members of Parliament deliberately create chaos. But with the Nazis now the second largest voting bloc, journalists have to start taking Hitler seriously - even if he can be hard to pin down. Rarely rising before 11am, and not often in his office, he's more usually to be found in a nearby caf退, cramming his face with cream cakes. One way or another, Dorothy must land an interview with him. Starring Laura Donnelly as Dorothy Thompson, Alexander Vlahos as Joseph Goebbels, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Corey Johnson as Putzi Hanfstaengl. Cast: Dorothy Thompson - LAURA DONNELLY Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI Heinrich Himmler - OSCAR BATTERHAM Sefton Delmer - ADITOMIWA EDUN Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON Herman G怀ring - SCOTT KARIM Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP Sinclair Lewis - FORBES MASSON Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS Other parts were played by: EDWARD BENNETT, WILLIAM CHUBB, MELODY GROVE, SORCHA KENNEDY, JACK LASKEY, MICHAEL MALONEY, LYNNE MILLER and ANDREW WOODALL The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds September 1930: the Nazi vote jumps from 2% to 18%. How did that happen? How? How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 06 | Germany Is My Wife | 20230216 | Hitler's strange dealings with the opposite sex come into sharp focus when his niece, aged 23, living in Hitler's apartment, shoots herself. Geli first moved in when she was 18 but from that moment on, Hitler refuses to let her go out on her own, even chaperoned. He nurtures hopes that she will become an opera singer and, enraged by the very idea, refuses her permission to marry. Was it suicide? Was it murder? Was it an accident? But, only weeks later, Hitler encounters an elegant, divorced woman at his Berlin hotel - he finds that he is unexpectedly drawn to her. Unfortunately, he doesn't know that Magda Quandt is already involved with his Head of Propaganda, Joseph Goebbels. But that isn't Goebbels' only headache - the first great love of Magda's life was Chaim Arlosoroff, fervent Zionist. Nevertheless Hitler's Deputy, Rudolf Hess, sees a perfect compromise - if Joseph and Magda marry, she will thus become the perfect companion for a Führer who is married to Germany'. Can he convince everyone? Starring Shanaya Rafaat as Magda Goebbels, Alexander Vlahos as Joseph Goebbels, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Tanvi Virmani as Geli Raubal and George Kemp as Rudolf Hess. Cast: Geli Raubal - TANVI VIRMANI Magda Goebbels - SHANAYA RAFAAT Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Emil Maurice - OSCAR BATTERHAM Otto Meissner - EDWARD BENNETT Sefton Delmer - ADITOMIWA EDUN Anni Winter - MELODY GROVE Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON Herman G怀ring - SCOTT KARIM Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP Mimi Reiter - SORCHA KENNEDY Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS Other parts were played by: JOSEPH ALESSI, WILLIAM CHUBB, JACK LASKEY, MICHAEL MALONEY, LYNNE MILLER and ANDREW WOODALL The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds Hitler's niece commits suicide in his apartment - was he more than just an uncle to her? How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 07 | Hitler? Whatever Happened To Him? | 20230223 | By 1932, the Nazis are the largest single group in Parliament but no-one will invite them into coalition and President Hindenburg refuses to even contemplate Hitler as Chancellor. Yet Hitler flatly refuses any arrangement where he is not Chancellor - Vice-Chancellor will not suffice. But so many of his party members, his stormtroopers have been waiting for government jobs, government salaries - they're pushing hard for the compromise. Can Hitler hold them off for long enough to secure total power? Meanwhile the current Chancellor, General von Schleicher, and the previous, Franz von Papen, are both determined to unseat each other - once allies, they are now sworn enemies. President Hindenburg would rather see von Papen restored to the post but, like von Schleicher, he cannot form a governing majority. Meanwhile the President's son, Oskar, once a close friend of von Schleicher, starts to see a way through - and it involves the Nazi Party. Starring Derek Jacobi as President Hindenburg, Jack Laskey as Oskar von Hindenburg, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler and featuring Aditomiwa Edun as the Daily Express Berlin Correspondent, Sefton Delmer. Cast: President Hindenburg - DEREK JACOBI Sefton Delmer - ADITOMIWA EDUN Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI Heinrich Himmler - OSCAR BATTERHAM Otto Meissner - EDWARD BENNETT Franz von Papen - WILLIAM CHUBB Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON Herman G怀ring - SCOTT KARIM Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP Oskar von Hindenburg - JACK LASKEY Joachim von Ribbentrop - MICHAEL MALONEY Magda Goebbels - SHANAYA RAFAAT Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS Kurt von Schleicher - ANDREW WOODALL The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound Designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds By 1932, no-one can form a government without Hitler, no-one will form one with him. How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |
| 08 | Make Germany Great Again | 20230302 | With Franz von Papen now willing to act as Vice Chancellor, alongside Hitler as Chancellor, can he convince Alfred Hugenberg to bring his 51 Nationalist MPs into coalition with the Nazi Party? Von Papen believes that together they will box Hitler in, that they will be `hiring him` - in fact, the Nazis demand is for merely two cabinet seats. But suddenly there's talk of a military coup to forestall this - will President Hindenburg finally agree to appoint Hitler as Chancellor? Hitler becomes Chancellor but what matters is that Hermann G怀ring is Minister of the Interior with 50,000 policemen at his disposal. They immediately crack down on all Communists, placing their Members of Parliament into protective custody' - detention for their own safety - in a new camp near a Bavarian village called Dachau. But when the Reichstag, the Parliament Building, catches fire, Hitler decides this Red Uprising must be nipped in the bud. And now begins the Nazi grip on Germany, their determination to impose absolute totalitarian rule and then expand that to the rest of Europe. While talking peace, Hitler will contrive a massive programme of re-armament, while signing unbreakable' peace treaties his troops will re-occupy the Rhineland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, and while introducing ever more laws against the Jewish population, he will be allowed to host the 1936 Olympics. Starring Derek Jacobi as President Hindenburg, Tom Mothersdale as Adolf Hitler, Aditomiwa Edun as Sefton Delmer, Scott Karim as Hermann G怀ring and featuring Oscar Batterham as Rudolf Diels, Head of the Prussian Political Police. The company: Ernst R怀hm & Gregor Strasser - JOSEPH ALESSI Emil Maurice & Rudolf Diels - OSCAR BATTERHAM Gottfried Feder & Otto Meissner - EDWARD BENNETT Helene Bechstein - NANCY CARROLL King Ludwig & Franz von Papen - WILLIAM CHUBB Dorothy Thompson - LAURA DONNELLY Sefton Delmer - ADITOMIWA EDUN Kaiser Wilhelm & Karl Alexander von Müller - NICHOLAS FARRELL Leni Hanfstaengl & Anni Winter - MELODY GROVE President Hindenburg - DEREK JACOBI Putzi Hanfastaengl - COREY JOHNSON Hermann G怀ring - SCOTT KARIM Rudolf Hess - GEORGE KEMP Else Janke & Mimi Reiter - SORCHA KENNEDY Oskar von Hindenburg - JACK LASKEY Sinclair Lewis - FORBES MASSON Kurt Eisner & Joachim von Ribbentrop - MICHAEL MALONEY Hermine Hoffman - LYNNE MILLER Adolf Hitler - TOM MOTHERSDALE Magda Goebbels - SHANAYA RAFAAT Captain Mayr - TOBY STEPHENS Geli Raubal - TANVI VIRMANI Joseph Goebbels - ALEXANDER VLAHOS General Ludendorff and Kurt von Schleicher - ANDREW WOODALL The Narrator is JULIET STEVENSON Sound designer - ADAM WOODHAMS Studio Manager - MARK SMITH Casting Director - GINNY SCHILLER Original Score - METAPHOR MUSIC Executive Producer - EDWARD CROZIER Producer - NICHOLAS NEWTON Writer and Director - JONATHAN MYERSON A Promenade production for BBC Radio 4 and BBC Sounds January 1933: the grandees grant Hitler the Chancellorship - they reckon he's boxed in. How Adolf Hitler turned a fringe sect into the dominant force in German politics. |