# Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003)

> A two-part Canadian biopic traces Adolf Hitler's climb from humble roots to complete command of Germany.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/42536

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 88 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Peter Sussman, John Ryan, Ed Gernon
- Network: CBC Television
- Cast: Robert Carlyle, Zoe Telford, Justin Salinger, James Babson, Stockard Channing, Peter Stormare, Peter O'Toole, Terence Harvey
- TMDB rating: 7.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346293/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: sober, tense, bleak, claustrophobic, restrained

## What critics say

Viewers rate this two-part Canadian biopic positively for its serious, detailed portrait of Adolf Hitler's rise to power.

## Synopsis

Hitler: The Rise of Evil (2003) is a Canadian two-part historical biopic miniseries broadcast on CBC Television and created by Peter Sussman, John Ryan and Ed Gernon. Robert Carlyle plays Adolf Hitler, following him from his humble beginnings to his mastery of Germany, while Zoe Telford portrays Eva Braun, Justin Salinger plays Dr. Joseph Goebbels, and James Babson plays Rudolf Hess. The engine of the story is the slow accumulation of political power: Hitler maneuvers through the shifting alliances of Weimar-era Berlin, courting rivals and bending institutions while his personal life intrudes on public ambition. Each of the two roughly ninety-minute episodes moves through a sequence of rallies, backroom negotiations, family tensions and private confrontations, building a portrait of a man whose charisma and resentment turn into catastrophe. Set in interwar Germany, the miniseries uses restrained period detail and a sober, deliberate pace to create a dread that grows scene by scene. Fans of Downfall and Rasputin will find resonance in its serious, character-driven approach to a historical tyrant, and viewers of documentary-style history will appreciate its grounding in real events and figures.

## Shows like Hitler: The Rise of Evil

- [Mussolini – Son of the Century (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/133539)
- [Faking Hitler (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/115579)
- [Hitler and the Nazis: Evil on Trial (2024)](https://ember.film/tv/168928)
- [The Kennedys (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/31781)
- [House of Saddam (2008)](https://ember.film/tv/7063)
- [Maximilian and Marie De Bourgogne (2017)](https://ember.film/tv/61682)
- [The Nazis: A Warning from History (1997)](https://ember.film/tv/17481)
- [Apocalypse: The Rise of Hitler (2011)](https://ember.film/tv/60171)
- [Hitler: A Film from Germany (1977)](https://ember.film/tv/1104910)
- [How to Become a Tyrant (2021)](https://ember.film/tv/105706)

---

Site overview: https://ember.film/llms.txt