It's a disastrous beginning to Nicholas' reign.
- [soft footsteps] - [dogs' distant barking] [Rasputin] Friend.
Would you have food and a bed for the night? - Of course.
- Thank you.
Very nice, thank you.
[quiet, shaky breathing in background] [shaky breathing continues] [shaky breathing in background] [shaky breathing continues] What's all this shaking, old man? Hm? Too many seasons.
Hm.
Feel God flow in you again.
That's it.
[whispering] Breathe his spirit.
[Rasputin] Hm.
Hm.
Remember how they ran.
The hills they climbed.
It's all still there.
Good.
- Uh? - Good.
[Smith] Rasputin becomes more and more convinced of his own abilities, of his power as a healer his insight into human nature.
[Montefiore] He's superb at getting close to people.
 He has empathy.
He has a feral charisma.
[Smith] And then he has those eyes.
And he knows the effect that these eyes have on people.
Especially women.
It's alright to sin.
[kiss] Brings us closer to God.
How can you be redeemed if you haven't sinned? [gasps] [Smith] He's a man who emits electricity from his fingertips.
His physical presence is something that overwhelms people.
[panting] [Smith] And people are transfixed by this.
[gasps] [muffled squeaks] [Montefiore] By 1901, Nicky and Alix have three daughters; Olga, Tatiana and Maria.
And when Alix gets pregnant again of course, everybody is longing for the much-needed son and heir.
[Alix groans in labour] Oh, Lord, forgive us our sins.
[groans] May our prayers be answered.
We thank you for our daughters, but may you bless us now with a son.
[shouts] - [doctor] Push! Push it! - [shouts] [screams] - [gasping] - [baby crying] - [Alix gasps] - [baby cries] Tell me.
[panting] We have a beautiful, healthy baby.
[gasps] I'm sorry.
- [baby cries] - [Alix] Oh.
A son would belong to the people.
This little girl is ours.
Hello, Anastasia.
[male narrator] In Greek, the name Anastasia means, "the one who is reborn.
" Now I had to ask if she truly had been resurrected.
The eyes are the same.
But not the face.
There may be good reasons for that.
Her jaw's been broken.
She has missing teeth.
She's been through serious emotional and physical trauma.
I don't know if anyone could have survived that massacre.
[clock ticks] [faint screams] [bang] [baby crying] [Mr.
Gilliard] One thing that is certain, is that the birth of Anastasia was both a blessing and a curse.
More than ever, Nicholas and Alexandra needed a son and heir.
[whispers] Come back to bed.
We need help.
[narrator] And their desperation would open a door [Alix] There must be something we can do.
[narrator] to a darkness that would destroy their world.
There must be someone.
[Mr Gilliard thinks] She was here in this room with its ghosts and its nightmares.
Could anybody have survived it? A family died here.
[clock ticks] Anastasia, do you remember them? No! Do you remember them? [Mr Gilliard] Do you remember them? Do you remember them? How did you get away? [rustle of bed sheets] According to the notes in her file, she remembers being shot at, wounded, beaten and ending there.
Do you think she could have escaped that cellar with those injuries? Maybe they left her for dead.
After all it was the Czar that they wanted to get rid of, and the boy.
[Mr Gilliard] Alexei the boy who would be Czar, but whose birth would lead to tragedy.
[sound of birdsong] To be the Czar was to have absolute power.
He could choose whatever his heart desired [soft footsteps] except what he needed most.
A son, an heir.
For this, he had to do what the poorest among us must do.
Pray for the grace of God.
- [soft footsteps] - [birdsong] God is miraculous through his saints, God is miraculous through his saints.
God is miraculous through his saints.
God is miraculous through his saints, God is miraculous through his saints.
[birdsong] [splashing of water] [Alix gasps] Please, Seraphim, give me a son.
[sighs] Give me an heir.
[gasps] - [sound of water] - [sighs] [Alix moans in pleasure] [Alix] Oh, God.
- [Alix] Oh, Heavenly Father.
- [Nicky moans] [Alix] Oh, most merciful and compassionate God.
[both moan in pleasure] [Alix] Shine your mercy upon us, and bless us now with glory.
[both moan in pleasure] [muffled moans of pleasure] [moans] - [Nicky laughs] - [Alix sighs in pleasure] [both sigh in pleasure] [Alix gasps] Don't move.
- [Alix] Don't pull out.
- [Nicky pants] The longer you stay inside me, the better our chances of a boy.
It will happen.
Have faith.
[kiss] [Montefiore] The Romanovs have ruled Russia for almost 300 years, since 1613, and Alix has had four children, all daughters.
But of course, only a son can succeed to the throne.
As a result of this, they're starting to turn to all sorts of different methods to attempt to conceive a son.
Nicholas thinks that it's important that for generations to come, the Romanovs will rule Russia and that he is in many ways the trustee of that rule.
[faint sound of retching] [Alix coughing and retching] [Alix gasps] [Alix coughs] [Alix sighs, sniffs] I'm sorry.
No more state occasions.
You're staying in bed.
Look, we won't risk anything going wrong.
[door squeaks] What do we do if it's another girl? [Nicky] Then we throw her in the river.
[both laugh] I don't think I can do this again, Nicky.
- I'm getting too old for it.
- No.
- [Nicky, kissing] Mm! - [Alix] No.
[both laugh] - [Nicky] Brush your teeth.
- [Alix, laughing]Â Get out.
[Dr Alexandrova] A good Russian Czar is supposed to produce a male heir.
That's his number one job.
His number two job is to conquer lands.
He fails with one of those, he is not considered a good Czar.
Nicholas felt enormous pressure to continue the dynasty and expand the empire.
[gunfire] He saw his opportunity in the Far East.
This brought him into conflict with a rising power, Japan.
[shouting] [sound of boots] He was sure that he would win the contest, and that Japan would never dare go to war against him, which is a colossal misjudgment.
- When did they attack? - [general] Midnight.
They torpedoed the Czarevich Retzivan Pallada.
They are fucking monkeys.
Without a declaration of war.
They did try every diplomatic avenue.
[Sergei] There is only one way to respond.
[general] The Japanese are a huge industrial and military force.
I know what your father would do.
Tell Japan we are at war.
[decisive, retreating footsteps] [laughing] This is a situation that Nicholas misjudges catastrophically.
Like any conflict, if it goes badly, it could jeopardize his rule, and indeed, the Czarist regime.
[Dr Hetherington] Part of the problem for Nicholas is that he has a picture of the empire in his head, which, in many ways is a kind of fairy tale, based on the history books that he read about the 17th century.
So, by keeping his head in the sand in this way, he consistently makes the same bad decisions over and over again.
Nicholas is a dogmatic decision-maker.
That's why he consistently ignores advice from good policy-makers.
[hurried footsteps] [Alix's agonized scream] [Alix screams] - [baby makes noises] - [Alix sighs in relief] [doors rattle closed] [doors rattle open] [clapping] [laughing] Thank God you've done it! Ha! The Czarevich! To Alexei.
[Dr Hetherington] The birth of Alexei is incredibly important.
He's the long-awaited son that they had hoped so much for, and that they think is going to secure the Romanov dynasty.
It's a cause of huge celebration and relief for Nicholas and Alexandra.