LITERARY epic War And Peace is to be brought to life in a 10-hour dramatisation to be broadcast in a single day as Radio 4 clears its New Year's Day schedule.

Stars such as John Hurt and Simon Russell Beale will appear in the production which will run from 9am, with short breaks for news bulletins, editions of The Archers and a comedy programme.

Leo Tolstoy's saga is famously one of the longest works of fiction ever published and many readers have tried and failed to work their way through its entirety.

The station will offer online support to listeners with family trees and historical details to heighten their understanding, and in a further effort to bring the 1869 publication to the digital generation, there will be tweets throughout to accompany it.

It will also be divided into 10 hour-long episodes which will go on to be broadcast as a series.