I suspect the timings are a bit wrong for Andrei getting back from Austria, Bald Hill is suppose to be near Smolensk and he was in a French hospital in Austria for a while before he was well enough to travel. Everyone was sure he was dead. That's Tolstoy's fault though. Did anyone notice that the icon Maria gave him was gold but it looked more silver when he looked at it the night before the battle, I quite liked that nod to Tolstoy's mistake in the book. I liked how they did him being injured but thought Nikolai riding across the battlefield was one of the strongest sections of the novel but was less thrilling on TV. And his obsession with the Tsar isn't obvious.
Jim Broadbent is fabulous, really love him and his portrayal, it feels exactly right, also think Andrei and Maria are good. There's a lot of meat in that family for actors though. Natasha is annoying me but poor Lily is doing what she can playing a child half her age (who grows up quickly because Tolstoy gets his dates wrong). Was very annoyed they introduced the idea of Natasha loving Pierre so early in the first episode, that wasn't true to the novel, her affections are all over the place. Not keen on Nikolai, but I think I probably wasn't keen on him at this stage of the book anyway (and he is very handsome). There's a lot in the book about the confusion of battle and war not being glorious and I suppose he represents that.
Helene doesn't feel true to me at all, and I was very distracted by the one shoulder dresses and not in a good way. I like Anatole and think he's very sexy (which we need to really) and dangerous.
I think as PP said it's reasonably true to the book but very much a tour of the highlights. Some things I like, the foreshadowing of a minor character's fate is good as are some of the details (liked how Moscow felt more rural and backward than St Petersburg). But some of the secondary characters aren't well drawn enough yet so wondering if their stories will be cut.