Why are Stephen Berkoff and Brian Blessed going to court

A.� Berkoff and Blessed are leading a cast of 27 British actors who are suing the American producers of one of the most expensive television series ever made.

War and Remembrance, which starred Robert Mitchum, Jane Seymour, Sharon Stone and Sir John Gielgud, took five years and cost �75 million to make. But Blessed, Berkoff and their colleagues claim ABC Entertainment, the producers, owe them hundreds of thousands of pounds for the repeats of the programme shown on ITV networks in 1995 and 1996. They are also seeking injunctions banning any further repeats until they have been paid appropriate fees.

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Q.� What was the production about

A.� Set in the Second World War, the 32-hour 14-episode series aimed to chronicle nearly every big event that happened after America entered the conflict in 1941. It attracted audiences of nearly 30 million a night when it was first screened in the States, and was very popular in Britain, where around five million viewers turned in each night. Trailers in 1989 heralded it as "the greatest television event of all time".

ABC�Entertainment spent millions of pounds on the�detail of the production - filming in locations around the world and hiring more people than actually landed on Omaha Beach during the real D-Day invasion. As a result, it is in the latest edition of the Guinness Book of Records as the most expensive mini-television series ever made. This has, however, been surpassed by Stephen Spielberg's Band of Brothers, made for an estimated �84 million and enjoying good viewing figures in the UK at present.

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Q.� Will the dispute make it to court

A.� Berkoff, who played Hitler, and Blessed, who played Gen Yevenko, are the most prominent stars suing ABC Entertainment, which is now owned by Disney. The actors allege that their contracts stated they would get 75 per cent of their original fee for the first repeat and 50 per cent for the third showing in the UK. ABC Entertainment would also have to get the actors' permission for any repeats shown more than five years after the original broadcasts in 1989. The actors say that when repeats were shown in 1995 and 1996, ABC Entertainment was in breach of contract because they were not contacted and were not paid. The actors are being backed by their union, Equity.

ABC Entertainment, which is based in Los Angeles, is refusing to comment to media organisations on the case.

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by Katharine MacColl