History Series / MichelStrogoff

''Michel Strogoff'' is an adaptation of Creator/JulesVerne's famous novel, broadcast for the first time in France on Christmas, 1975. It became very popular and was broadcast again several times over the years, being a children's favourite.

''Michel Strogoff'' is an adaptation of Jules Verne's famous novel, broadcast for the first time in France on Christmas, 1975. It became very popular and was broadcast again several times along the years, being a children's favourite.
Though produced and directed by French film makers, it is considered an European show, since it involved actors and technicians from five different countries and was funded by French, West German, Austrian and Belgian television.

* AntiVillain: Ivan Ogareff is an villain of the WellIntentionedExtremist variety, who does not wage war against the Russian Empire for glory and plunder, but in order to offer the Tatars freedom and equal rights (a far cry from the book version of Colonel Ogareff).
* BattleCouple: Ivan and his mistress Sangarre constantly work together during the campaign, Sangarre being a spymaster, messenger and TheConsigliere for Ivan.
* BlingOfWar: The high-ranking officers in the Russian Army (particularly the Grand Duke Dmitri) wear their dark green uniform with a lot of shining medals, ribbons and so on. The Tatars are slightly less colourful, but they do love their fur capes and chapkas.
** Averted with [[spoiler: Blount and Jolivet who, despite being both officers (major and commandant, respectively)]] never wear their uniforms, even during formal events. On could argue they do it to protect their incognito.
* BritishStuffiness: Harry Blount fits this trope to a T, since Verne originally wrote him as an affectionate caricature of British citizens. However, he quickly shows a kinder and more caring side when Jolivet is injured in a fight, and is genuinely concerned for Michael and Nadia's well-being.

* DecompositeCharacter: the telegraph operator Nikolay Pigassof of the original novel is separated into a nameless civil servant who is killed during a battle and M. Pigassof, a gold digger who helps Michael and Nadia.

* WorthyOpponent: Ivan Ogareff openly admires Strogoff for his courage and sense of duty, and even considers recruiting him for the cause. On the other hand, Strogoff considers Ogareff's ideas as perfectly valid and even names him a hero for never backing down.

* CastingGag: Probably unitentional, but Valerio Popesco, who plays Ivan Ogareff, defector from the Russian Army, defected Romania and the communist system in 1969 before settling in Paris.

* BlingOfWar: The high-ranking officers in the Russian Army (particularly the Great-Duke Dmitri) wear their dark green uniform with a lot of shining medals, ribbons and so on. The Tatars are slightly less colourful, but they do love their fur capes and chapkas.

* DecompositeCharacter: the telegraph operator Nicolaï Pigassof of the original novel is separated into a nameless civil servant who is killed during a battle and M. Pigassof, a gold digger who helps Michael and Nadia.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Wishing to get rid of Ogareff, Feofar Khan plans to use Strogoff to kill him, and then reap all the glory of the Tatars' victorious campaign. It works beautifully save for the little fact that [[spoiler: Ogareff's death prevents him from opening the gates of Irkoutsk to the Tatars, leading to their crushing defeat]].

* MadScientistsBeautifulDaughter: Played with: the lovely Nadia Fedor is the daughter of a scientist who got sent to Siberia for his political opinions and while not actually mad, he is considered as slightly craked by the Great-Duke and several officers.
* MercyKilling: [[spoiler: Ogareff]]'s death at Strogoff's hands can be seen at this. Strogoff could have disarmed him and leave him as the Great-Duke's prisoner, but this way, the man is spared torture and a degrading execution.
* NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: On the train ride between Moscow and Nijni-Novgorod, Strogoff rescues Nadia from a drunken merchant; when the police control the travellers, the merchant denounces Strogoff as a spy for revenge.

* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: General Voronzov is more interested in defending Irkoutsk and avoiding grievous losses to his troops than in vainglorious actions and won't turn down volunteers on the grounds that they are political prisoners.
* RevisedEnding: The German version of the series leaves out the epilogue, where Michel and Nadia attend a ball given by the Czar in St. Petersburg. The reason the ''Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen'' gave for this cut was that such an "operetta ending" did not fit the [[DarkerAndEdgier overall tone of the film]].

* SparedByAdaptation: Unlike the book version, [[spoiler: Sangarre]] survives the battle of Irkoustk. However, without Ogareff's protection, life won't be so easy for her.
* StillWearingTheOldColors: Despite defecting from the Empire, Ivan Ogareff still wears his old colonel uniform under the Tatar cloak and chapka, symbolizing both his mixed parentage and the fact he is a modern, rationalist leader, as opposed to Feofar's feudalism.

Though produced and directed by French film makers, it is now considered as an European show, since it involved actors and technicians from five different countries.

* DamnedByFaintPraise: When asked his opinion about Great-Duke Dmitri, Strogoff can only answer that the Duke is certainly the best dancer in all Siberia - which says a lot about his military skills.

* DawsonCasting: Nadia Fedor, 17 at the beginning of the story, is played by 31-year-old Lorenza Guerrieri.

* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: Strogoff has no particular grudge against Feofar - it's just military business between these two. However, since Ogareff personnaly ordered [[spoiler: Strogoff's mother to be tortured in front of her son]], Strogoff wears to kill the man himself.

* DeathByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Marfa Strogoff] survived in the original novel, but here dies from [[spoiler: her]] wounds and consequent complications.

* FakeBrit: Harry Blount is played by French actor Vernon Dobtcheff, with a rather exaggerated posh accent.
* FakeNationality: Almost the whole cast: German actor Raimund Harmstorf plays Russian Michael Strogoff, Italian actress Lorenza Guerrieri plays the Lithuanian Nadia Fedor, Romanian Valerio Popesco plays the half-Russian, half-Tatar Ivan Ogareff, and most of the Tatar secondary characters are played by Hungarian actors. The only exception is Jolivet, played by French actor Pierre Vernier.

* AntiVillain: Ivan Ogareff is an villain of theWellIntentionedExtremist variety, who does not wage war against the Russian Empire for glory and plunder, but in order to offer the Tatars freedom and equal rights (a far cry from the book version of Colonel Ogareff).

* Foil: Ivan Ogareff to Michael Strogoff; one is blond, the other dark-haired, they both served in the army, were both born in Siberia... and they act in radicaly different ways.

* Fanservice: Where to begin? ShirtlessScene? Check, for both the hero and his main opponent. SexySoakedShirt? Check. BathtubScene? Check (rather a bath-in-the-river scene, but still counts). IntimateOpenShirt? Check again.

* KilledByAdaptation: [[spoiler: Marfa Strogoff] survived in the original novel, but here dies from [[spoiler: her]] wounds and consequent complications.

* TheDragon: Officially, the Tatar Taizis and Colonel Ogareff are both CoDragons for Feofar Khan; in fact, Ogareff has [[other goals DragonWithAnAgenda]] for Siberia than just plunder and feudal rule and knows this will likely lead to a fight against his boss.
* DecompositeCharacter: the telegraphist (?) Nicolaï Pigassof of the original novel is separated into a nameless fonctionnaire who is killed during a battle and M. Pigassof, a gold digger (check) who helps Michael and Nadia.

* FakeNationality: Almost the whole cast: German actor Raimund Harmstorf plays Russian Michael Strogoff, Italian actress Lorenza Guerrieri plays the Lithuanian Nadia Fedor, Romanian (?) Valerio Popesco plays the half-Russian, half-Tatar Ivan Ogareff, and most of the Tatar secondary characters are played by Hungarian actors. The only exception is Jolivet, played by French actor Pierre Vernier.
* Fanservice: Where to begin? ShirtlessScene? Check, for both the hero and his main opponent. SexySoakedShirt ? Check. BathtubScene ? Check (rather a bath-in-the-river scene, but still counts). IntimateOpenShirt? Check again.

* HistoricalDomainCharacter: Alfred Nobel in mentionned several times, as Nadia's father was one of his assistants. Though never named on-screen, the czar must be Alexander II, since the action takes place in 1875 and the imperial seal shows a cyrillc A.

* NoodleIncident: at the beginning of the first episode, Strogoff is training with some other soldiers and comments that he could have done better on the [parcours]. One of the others jokingly states that Strogoff overdid himself at his friend's birthday party on the previous day but wisely refrains from giving too many details in front of their officer.

* RunningGag: Alcide Jolivet and Harry Blount constantly place bets on everything, from people to coming events, until the end of the series, when Jolivet gleefully notes that the Englishman owes him over two thousand [roubles] in lost bets.

"Michel Strogoff" is an adaptation of Jules Verne's famous novel, broadcast for the first time in France on Christmas, 1975. It became very popular and was broadcast again several times along the years, being a children's favourite.