Lovers of costume drama and romance, Russian-style, will feast their eyes on a splendid new production of Leo Tolstoy’s 19th-century novel “War and Peace.”

Produced by the BBC and awards addict Harvey Weinstein, the four-part series is one of the most ambitious TV projects since “Game of Thrones.” In muted tones and gorgeous cinematography, the mini-series offers thrilling glimpses of the champagne days and vodka-fueled nights of the Russian aristocracy — and a much-needed contrast to the brain-dead content on network television. The characters speak in complete sentences and there are no fart jokes. So you know you’re not watching CBS or Fox.

The story traces the fortunes of two men, the idealistic Prince Pierre Bezukhov (Paul Dano) and the haughty Prince Andrei Bolknosky (James Norton), in 1805 Russia, when Napoleon’s advance through Europe served as a giant wake-up call. Each man takes a knock, Andrei in the Battle of Austerlitz, Pierre on the battlefield of love. After he inherits a fortune, Pierre is preyed upon by a gold-digging hussy and her avaricious father. Marriage for both men is a disaster. Andrei’s wife dies in childbirth. Pierre’s Helene banishes him from the bedroom.

The quest for both men is to find a love that is real during peacetime. Andrei has the good fortune to meet the enchanting Natasha (Lily James, whose post-“Downton Abbey” career has been remarkable). Pierre has a harder time of it. While they are finding their way, screenwriter Andrew Davies explores the lives of a dozen other characters. Jack Lowden plays the impetuous Nikolai Rostov, a military hero who refuses to marry for money after plunging his family into destitution. Tom Burke raises the hackles as Dolokhov, a seducer of other men’s wives. Tuppence Middleton is arrogant and twisted as Helene, who will have sex with her own brother, various soldiers-on-call but not her husband. Gillian Anderson adds effective frosting as another scheming aristocrat.

Best of all is Dano, the rare American actor who can truly disappear into a character. He makes you root for poor, foolish Pierre from scene one.

“War and Peace” proved popular when it premiered to British audiences earlier this month. With a simultaneous, three-network broadcast, all the parties involved obviously have high hopes. Viewers willing to lose themselves in this rich tapestry of a bygone world will not be disappointed.