Dostoievsky's travels

In 1862 Fyodor Dostoevsky left St. Petersburg on his first journey to Western Europe. It took hi to Berlin, Baden.Baden, Cologne, Paris and London. A hundred and thirty years later his great-grandson, Dmitri, a down-at-heel tram driver from Leningrad, embarked on a similar journey. He was equipped with his great-grandfather’s beard, his secret roulette system and a few useful quotes. The purpose of this trip was simple: a second-hand Mercedes diesel. But in order to get it he had to become a scholar, a gambler, a painter, a religious thinker and a film star.The program was transmitted in BBC-2’s literary strand, Bookmark,. It was widely previewed and extremely favorably received, and attracted an audience of 900,000 which is very good for a largely subtitled documentary of this nature.