Sanjeev Bhaskar reads Napoleon's letters to his wife Joséphine, played by Miriam Margolyes

Watch Sanjeev Bhaskar's hilarious rendition of Napoleon Bonaparte's slightly overwrought letters to his wife Joséphine (played by Miriam Margolyes).
Originally performed at Freemasons Hall, London in October 2016.

[@somedipshtinthecomments2507]

Napoleon blowing up Josephine's DMs

[@jbrubin8274]

You know you’re a nerd when I read this one-liner and busted out laughing. Legendary reply. 😂🙌💯

[@enthusedtosing9655]

That's such a horrendous parallel.

[@andreavrsa6297]

😂

[@realme-pw2lc]

😂😂😂

[@applemint7670]

I died at “Not a word from you.” 🤣🤣

[@DiscoCatsMeow]

Realizing all these years later that the safest job in France was Napoleon's courier. Poor guy was busy.😁

[@psiclops521]

Been to Paris, saw Napoleon's tomb, read the walls about his accomplishments, and read a biography of the great man. Nobody mentioned he was so high maintenance.

[@allenrobinson8602]

Napoleon is a piece of trash. Napoleon loved slavery☹️

[@bookie5667]

You have to wonder if Napoleon would have fought so many battles if she'd just answered his letters!

[@The_Farwall]

Sanjeev does the pomposity brilliantly then undercuts it with a line delivered in a dropped accent. Lovely.

[@mgg5418]

This one is my absolute favorite. Those two are a perfect pair and Miriam’s eyes make all the difference. Sanjeev Bhaskar is a master at underlining the hidden humour in Napoleon’s letters 😂

[@kattoneycliffe6715]

Brilliant reading voice, that's for sure!!

[@michael24taggart]

If I didn’t know that these were segments from Napoleon Bonaparte himself, I might have mistaken for someone who is one part genius, one part hopeless romantic, and one part six year old with a temper tantrum.

[@frenchimp]

I wonder what Trump's love letters look like. Well on second thoughts I'm lucky I'll never know.

[@roddo1955]

A classic narcissist. 'You are amazing! I love you, WHY haven't you written back? DO you realise how much I love you?! Do you even love me?! Here: take this present because I love you.' All in one minute.

[@jsharp3165]

@@roddo1955 It's not called a Napoleon complex for nothing.

[@moonhunter9993]

@@roddo1955 yup

[@thisasiankidistrashfordram374]

He was great at studies but not very athletic as a soldier. Hopeless romantic but not great w/ ladies. Had a chip on his shoulder as a Corsican & very minor Noble. He was of average height, similar to other men of his place & era, so his complex Didn't come from a lack of physical stature but a lack of Social stature. He had been sent to the fanciest Military Academy of France but his French Aristocratic schoolmates & the French in general viewed Corsicans like Hicks. As a young man, he was kind of Emo & wierd. Again, he adored women but women didn't often adore him. For the first half of his life, he wanted freedom & Nationalism for his native Corsica from the tyranny of French colonial rule. He was a supporter of the French Revolution but later crowned himself Emperor of France & reinforced slavery (which had previously been abolished) in French colonies, amongst many other ironies. Some hint of how megalomaniacal he'd become even when he was a young nobody was that he was a huge fanboy of Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, Oliver Cromwell, Brutus, etc. Men who conquered, committed acts of genocide in certain regions, dethroned other Kings only to (unofficially) become Kings themselves.

[@tigranmikayelyan3963]

How can an Actress keep silent and be so expressive?! That's talent! That is the talent called Miriam Margolyes! Hats off!!!

[@BrooklynJackBlue]

Miriam is absolutely marvelous. Exceptionally talented and skillful. Someone could spend their whole life studying and practicing how to evoke laughter with mere gestures of the head, changes to the eyes, and perhaps not achieve her natural mastery of it. She is utterly brilliant at it.

[@MirlitronOne]

She does do an excellent impression of Mr Bean in a wig.

[@goldenboyproductions2740]

She's excellent at wishing people who dare be conservative dead.

[@j0nnyism]

I think it’s a natural talent

[@ADRAPER1303]

She's no Josephine

[@Andrew-dp5kf]

Tony Hancock was just as good with expressions, another favourite!

[@marykelly7726]

"Peace with Rome has just been signed. Not a word from you!!" Such a timeless statement that shows how feeble men can be.. this was hilarious 😂

[@bdp8102]

his delivery killed me :'D

[@Kanfachan]

Josephine was cheating on him. That’s why she wasn’t replying.

[@bitchoflivingblah]

helplessly in your thrall . . . . . .

[@marykelly7726]

stsohgessi soooo funny!

[@marykelly7726]

Simon Williams Who me? Nah I'm single and gloriously happy. I wised up about my poor choices years ago.. 😉

[@ArtemisScribe]

Not gonna lie, this really makes me want to see Sanjeev Bhaskar *play* Napoleon now

[@Camille-accessories]

Now that Bridgerston has broken the mould let’s hope he is casted in some historical dramas, I love his voice and intonation

[@ArtemisScribe]

​@@Camille-accessories lol, Bridgerton really isn't groundbreaking at all. I was sure he *had* been in a historical drama but turns out he hasn't, he's stuck mostly to comedy and children's stuff, but he would be a really good Napoleon. In British productions we always see a basically mute, grumpy little guy, it would be very interesting to have someone give him some personality in an English language production for once.

[@kellydalstok8900]

@@ArtemisScribe He’s in Unforgotten

[@ArtemisScribe]

@@kellydalstok8900 oh I know, and recently got promoted to the star of the show since Nicola Walker left! But despite it being one of my favourite shows it's an outlier to his general career trend and not a period drama so I didn't mention it.

[@lorrainevanlelyveld8065]

Me too!! I loved this!!!

[@abbygail6010]

I love that Josephine hardly gave a f*** and still had him around her finger ... that woman was so good

[@madelainepetrin1430]

She was incredible. She survived the French revolution, the Terror, the fall of Bonaparte, the new French king, always making friends, never enemies. She also started a brand new fashion and defines the French style!

[@myriammachiche1030]

she wasn't very faithful actually. She had an affair with a man named Hippolyte Charles to whom she was deeply in love with. Napoleon heard of this and asked for a divorce but she managed to dissued him by blackmailing him. Napoleon had no heir and the children of Josephine were like his own children. She was smart and proud of every victory her dear husband brought to France because victory means more money and more money for her. Think about it next time you imagine Josephine as an angel of a woman.

[@madelainepetrin1430]

@@myriammachiche1030 nobody says she was an angel but she definitely was a survivor! She lived through extremely hard times, made many friends, kept old lovers, business friends and looked after her first husband's bastard children. All in all a fascinating woman.

[@myriammachiche1030]

@@madelainepetrin1430 yes she was definitly a survivor. And her main concern was also her children. I am not critizsizing Josephine, she was smart, pretty, and managed to create her own style. It would be unfair to judge her knowing how hard was life for a wonen. She did what she had to do ro survive and keep her children safe. I hope you will understand that I didnt mean to take part for Napoléon by saying what everybody knew anyway. I think they had a very passionate relation may be to passionate.... Love can be so cruel but we cant live without it. Have a nice evening.

[@myriammachiche1030]

@@madelainepetrin1430 By the way I have to say that it was hilarious, knowing Napoléon from what I learned at shool and imagining him writing those lettres made me laugh to tears.

[@bluegreenglue6565]

I'm in love with Miriam. She says so much with such a subtle shift, yet so much more with those dramatic eyes!

[@user-be8ec8gl6t]

I am sunburnt.

[@rhoda6573]

Good thing smart phones and texting weren't around then. "You have not texted me for two whole minutes!"

[@jamesbradley3498]

I just discovered this channel today. I am doomed. I"ll never get another thing accomplished with these readings.

[@MrEnaric]

'Write me ten pages!' With Facebook in 1815, Waterloo would never have happened.

[@morgonerlenstar]

😂😂😂😂

[@starlinguk]

Ten pages in FOUR HOURS! Yikes.

[@inkakoutna7155]

I think even then she would have left him of read

[@Nimmo1492]

Strong "Nice Guy" vibes from Napoleon.

[@rhysnichols8608]

Funny how he won the most battles in history and lived in danger and death, but then was a massive simp with the ladies haha

[@avaDesdemona]

Oh dear, can you imagine Napoleon with a cellphone....

[@sg-vp2qg]

Not previously familiar with Sanjeev Bhaskar, I am an instant fan. This is by far the most I have been entertained by these letter-readings.

[@francisinfocus]

His phrasing, pacing, inflection...

[@hughdancey9280]

It's a shame he didn't add the letter which he wrote to Josephine in 1807, during the negotiations at Tilsit. He wrote that he was so impressed and pleased with the Tsar, that "had he been a woman, I would make her my lover". I wonder how Josephine took that...?

[@jungschiffer8423]

The nerves to write that, I have to applaud him. I really really want to read his collection of love letters now.

[@Saturnia2014]

@@jungschiffer8423 Napoleon was nothing but nerve! Lol just look at how he went head long into a Russian winter; that takes nothing but nerve.

[@officiallymrp]

Probably she was amused and wished to join both 😉

[@fireyflower6643]

Napolean was bisexual

[@jennifertennent8319]

I think Napoleon actually said--he would marry the Tsar. Unless the version or variation I have heard is incorrect or the phrasing makes it difficult to render an exact translation.

[@pamelabonaparte9383]

These are fantastic.....this man is completely insane.....🤣😂❤️......Yes that’s my name 😁

[@Iosephus_Michaelis]

Are you a relation of the Emperor?

[@thomasneedham1224]

How tall are you?( or short)

[@kattoneycliffe6715]

Perfect!!

[@thefirm4606]

Fabulous ❤

[@Siricerasi]

Give these two a romantic comedy stat

[@mrsaoomen]

Miriam Margolyes has me in stitches! Chapeau, madame!

[@annejackson6528]

Sanjeev is brilliant.

[@susie9893]

I kept waiting for the letter where he says he'll be returning soon and "don't wash"

[@anderspedersen7488]

Yep, that was the first thing I thought of when I saw the title. I see his point!

[@lmnll2742]

this letter doesn't exist

[@user-yv5dx5ey7c]

Not a word spoken and yet you know exactly her thoughts and feelings. That there is talent, pure from the soul talent. Miriam we are not worthy 🙌👏🙌👏👏

[@exavyco8686]

You took the thoughts out of my head! :) Miriam is just splendid!

[@crockodile85]

That was so funny. Love those two actors.

[@jop1642]

How have I only just discovered these!

[@catherinerobilliard7662]

I really enjoyed this. Weather is fine. I fought two battalion of horse disguised as grandchildren. Write me 10 pages on the brilliance of Miriam Margoyles and magnanimity of Sanjeet Bhaskar. I’ll wait for a minute then must conquer Europe.

[@bluegreenglue6565]

: D

[@lucyfur]

10 pages in 4 hours! Doable with one word per page lol

[@Vesnicie]

They should do the same with James Joyce's exceptionally ripe letters to Nora.

[@vijaynair2403]

Haha. “Ripe”!

[@Lorna8264]

Josephine expressions are priceless

[@catherinecummins2847]

Absolutely priceless!! The inflection in the reading and the expressions on Miriam's face!!

[@jollyfighter7319]

They need to do more things like this. I love it

[@mariawarner1896]

Wonderful work from 2 amazing actors! Miriam can convey a mood and emotion with her eyes! pure talent

[@ychaps]

What a great pairing...the wonderful Sanjeev and the incomparable Miriam...love them both so much. ..

[@MedievalFolkDance]

Why isn't it "Dame Mirriam" yet?

[@rosehill9537]

She is magnificent She needs to be made a dame!!

[@MelissaThompson432]

That's funny. I would swear I knew she was one. She's OBE, at least.... I adore her.

[@MedievalFolkDance]

​@@MelissaThompson432 Being awarded a medal and receiving an actual title are entirely different things. It's all arbitrary bollocks at the end of the day, however, I stand by the resolve that Miriam Margolyes is fully deserving of any titles they can offer. She's a firework!

[@camogrrl]

They named a baby koala after her

[@dawittywats1934]

I am American but say here, here!

[@_MSD75_]

they didn't call him Needy Napoleon for nothing!

[@Kanfachan]

He wasn’t needy, like you (and even Josephine) believe. He was just passionately in love with his wife. Once Josephine broke his trust, he was never as ardent about her as he was at the beginning of their marriage.

[@rhysnichols8608]

Also a man likes to hear from his fucking wife when he’s risking death daily

[@74oshua]

If you think this is bad, imagine what it's going to be like in 200 years when celebrities are reading our texts on stage.

[@sylviamcauley8454]

Only just found this, so funny, both show just how brilliant they are

[@Carpedog2206]

Who knew Miriam Margoyles could be so funny without opening her mouth? I laughed so hard it spooked Pumpkin, who is now under the bed.

[@googlyeyedcat]

Lol

[@Philrc]

I'm presuming pumpkin is your wife

[@Carpedog2206]

@@Philrc ha! No, I’m not gay so no wife. Pumpkin is my cat.

[@Philrc]

​@@Carpedog2206 yes I know I was just joking 😃😃

[@Carpedog2206]

@@Philrc you must have just realized I’m a woman :)

[@monicacall7532]

Brilliant! Miriam didn’t have to speak a word, but her looks spoke volumes as Sanjeev hilariously read Napoleon’s letters. I had no idea that Napoleon was such a petulant baby. That’s something you don’t learn in your world history classes! Perhaps history ought to be taught through the letters of the so called movers and shakers as well as those who had to deal with them so that we could get a truer version of what these people were REALLY like.

[@roddo1955]

I think its best to first make sure the basics are known before delving into the personalities. Imagine being a teacher grading a test and reading answers like: " I don't know where he met his Waterloo(😉) but he was a total baby man. If Josephine was my gurl, I would tell her to ignore his letters and live her best life, periodt"

[@nigelcarren]

Being still in love with a French girl, I feel for him and his wrung-out heart. For in all fairness, such pain is still better than the nothing that was before! 🤔🇬🇧

[@emaarredondo-librarian]

(Please remember that at the time there were no cellphones or social networks. Without letters, you were utterly isolated. Imagine one day without knowing anything of your loved one. Also imagine being Napoleon, a guy not known for being patient 🤣)

[@roddo1955]

Most people today were born before the cellphones and social networks were introduced. But maybe they forgot.

[@emaarredondo-librarian]

@@roddo1955 I was born before cellphones and the Internet, and sometimes I wonder how I managed to live 🤣

[@roddo1955]

@@emaarredondo-librarian it's almost like we 'forgot' but it's more that you can't do anything these days without a device Banking, taxes, doctor's appointments, socializing ...it wasn't 'better' back in the day but it sure was a lot simpler. I like the internet for instance but I miss the 'television' days.🤣 I'm an 80's baby. Am I old enough to be considered a boomer or is that specifically for the baby boomers?😄

[@emaarredondo-librarian]

@@roddo1955 I am from the 60s, so I am a legitimate boomer 🤣 You are Generation X or even a Millennial. I remember black & white TV, so...

[@roddo1955]

@@emaarredondo-librarian 🤣🤣🤣 fantastic! So you had longer to see all the changes unfolding! Your era had some the best music. I'm stuck in between the GenXers and the Millenials. My era gave the world tiny Motorola flip phones that you could snap shut with assertiveness. It's impossible to hang up on someone these days. 😅

[@angeladavies993]

Miriam needed no words her face said it all 😅

[@thereisnospoon12]

This is my absolute favorite Letters Live presentation, absolutely marvelous!! Sanjeev, i love you to bits, and Miriam, I pray to be as marvelous as you when I grow up!! love and hugs to you both. Namaste

[@itsacarolbthing5221]

In two hundred years, at Texts Live, it will be 'Booty Call?', 'C U l8r'.. This was brilliant.

[@TheGalilee416]

Dear Napoleon: After years of therapy, I understand how you wrote this. The crowd laughs because without dealing with grief trauma, it seems pretty erratic and funny. To us who are in it, we thank you for putting words to such deep, terrorizing emotions that words fail to describe….we get it. Your words centuries later give healing and hope to us. Thank you 🙏 Love from Philadelphia, PA USA

[@user-cz5lj2vx1f]

Is this DAVE? sounds like you! Lydia

[@TheGalilee416]

@@user-cz5lj2vx1f Yup!

[@Serai3]

Love this. They're both perfect. I am surprised that Miriam didn't catch the pun in the word "dying". I'd have thought she'd play with that one. All in all, great interplay between them, and I love the sarcasm that crops up in Sanjeev's reading. :)

[@flannerymonaghan-morris4825]

God I love Josephine’s sarcastic reactions! Miriam Margolyes has a great sense of comic timing!

[@jeanhawken4482]

Never tire of watching this brilliance

[@THEchiQ]

Great performances. I’m enjoying her memoir at the moment.

[@annathy]

Loved this.

[@archivist17]

Two burning talents!

[@isaac_buckley]

Holy canoli, Napoleon was hilariously needy. Can you imagine having to live with that guy? "Write me ten pages!"

[@MaliKamicak]

Fabulous!

[@emms8]

Love these two 💚

[@lucylufrank3770]

Simply wonderful

[@kimsherlock8969]

Wonderful Thankyou

[@markroberts171]

Miriam is spectacular

[@theNeathBoy]

Brilliantly done.

[@tasst2674]

Love Miriam! She steals the show before she even says a word.

[@moremerry57]

@Lennie Minder, says you.

[@elizdonovan5650]

Without saying a word, she steals the show. ☘️🌝🌲

[@maureenackerley8024]

I loved the expressions on Mirriam's face. 😂

[@liane4629]

Wonderful!

[@josephinerimmer6888]

Brilliantly done. MM doesn’t need to speak, ‘tis all writ large on her wonderful face.

[@juliaconnell]

I'm a simple woman. I see Miriam and I click.

[@HamzaBaqoushi]

What a talent!

[@mariannegeraud6318]

Now I discover that Napoleon was somewhat ruled by something apparently so irrelevant as his heart !( Somewhat unusual coming from someone who was a great Emperor.. military strategist..and very ambitious!!!)

[@Kanfachan]

At this point he truly loved Josephine, and actually wanted to be a devoted husband. All the things women say they want in a man. Yet she was out cheating on him and barely responding to his letters. That's why he sounds so frantic. He couldn't understand why her replies were so tardy, lackadaisical, short and dispassionate. At this point he was naïve and blind to see what she was.

[@Lisa59]

Thank you for this! And your wife has such funny expressions

[@imisstoronto3121]

thats not his wife

[@wendyhickey9699]

love you, Miriam Margolyes! always make me laugh!

[@melaniemaec1]

Brilliant!

[@Theturtleowl]

I wonder how many times Josephine thought he was bipolar.

[@LittleGrandpaSimpson]

Me: Oh cool! A KZbin channel you can listen to while doing chores and don't really have to watch to enjoy! Miriam Margolyes: *makes a micro expression that I can't even begin to describe but it means "Bollocks"*

[@TruthSayer2007]

Men can concur and are STILL weak to a woman’s love. THAT is pure poetry ❤

[@Greg_Rix]

2:40 Miriam's opus in skill and humour! She is delightful and I would be honoured were I were ever to be in her presence for even a fleeting moment.

[@sjinzaar]

@2:44 - 2:55. Brilliance. Miriam = Oscar performance

[@nelsonclub7722]

Fun fact. Wellington also had the very same Josephine as his mistress too - yep

[@deejayk5939]

Lovely!

[@nilifaivre2540]

Excelent 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏💕

[@classiclife7204]

I see Miriam Margolyes in a thumbnail, I click

[@stardresser1]

Love her and him.

[@puzzlemobile1249]

who knew that Napoleon was a 5 yr old boy!

[@moremerry57]

Ummm, all of Europe?!?!!

[@rackpunch4026]

I recommend listening to Warhorses Of Letters BBC Radio 4. These are letters between Wellington's horse Copenhagen, and Napoleon's horse Marengo. Very droll.

[@kneau]

Thank you for introducing this into my life.

[@MandyRRAh]

Miriam Margoles is a goddess.

[@wolfpack444]

I miss Sanjeev Bhaskar and Mumbai Calling...

[@caoimhenimhuireadhaigh1303]

I am crying with laughter!

[@Querencia7779]

His voice. OMG

[@SomePeopleCallMeWulfman]

Napoleon: Jo, adjutant. Write some quick lines to the old ball and chain. Adjutant: Has a field day on Napoleon's behalf People today: Napoleon was such a romantic guy.

[@Kanfachan]

Only problem is, the letters are in his hand writing.

[@trendydelquendy]

Well that was lovely

[@dinazwadia1487]

Brilliant! Hilarious!

[@emmamortiboy1520]

Napoleon made Henry the Eighth look stable 🤣

[@Kanfachan]

Napoleon didn’t behead his wives

[@emmamortiboy1520]

@@Kanfachan If they had committed treason he would have

[@Kanfachan]

@@emmamortiboy1520 You have no proof of that. Officially, Henry VIII beheaded two of his six wives (Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard) for adultery. Josephine was unfaithful to Napoleon yet he did no such thing. Her (Josephine) adultery certainly cooled Napoleon’s ardor towards her, but he didn’t kill her for it. Hell, he even crowned her Empress of the French well after the fact.

[@emmamortiboy1520]

@@Kanfachan 'You have no proof....' Christ mate it was a fucking joke! 😂

[@EterPuralis]

@@emmamortiboy1520 a very inaccurate joke.

[@theavandenberg6876]

Ah this is so great. And funny too.

[@rev.rachel]

Hahahaha the silent reactions next to the letters really add something

[@michellephillips8035]

Bravo 😂👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻🇬🇧

[@MSYNGWIE12]

I kept thinking of one "cliche" portrait of Napoleon as I waited for Miriam to speak...Pompous, bombastic, he rattles on and her facial expressions change, slowly, from confused to confounded to startled to contrite, annoyed, ALL WITHOUT SPEAKING, GENIUS...( do you think smug Napoleon deserved a "slap" for referring to the not long before, soundingboard, the passion of his egomaniacal life, as "fat"- !?) Ah mon dieu, le cad! Both artists were terrific!

[@roddo1955]

Being as fat as a Normandy cow was a compliment. It was their version of 'guuuurl, I heard your curves are still SLAYING. Live your best life, boo; imma send you a lil' sumthing. Treat yo'self.

[@DonJuanMarco1994]

I never knew Napoleon is this needy as a husband? 😆

[@lizfotouhi2146]

How I love Miriam Margolyes.

[@user-ei6cx1pr8r]

Josephine would have sent him a cease and desists letter if it was 2024.