The War and Peace horse should win an award according to Twitter

It may have boasted a most impressive cast (including Stephen Rea, Gillian Anderson, Paul Dano, Lily James and James Norton), but the real star of War and Peace's opening episode was a white horse.

At least, that's what Twitter thought.

The beautiful beast made only a fleeting appearance in the sumptuous opening episode, but still managed to steal the show thanks to a dramatic death scene.

As the young Nikolai Rostov (Jack Lowden) rode into battle, his mount was shot down by Napoleon's forces – much to the dismay of viewers following along online.

The young Russian picked himself up just in time to comfort the dying horse.

Some even deemed its performance Bafta-worthy.

And lamented the fact that the creature wouldn't be returning.

Perhaps a Bobby from Dallas shower scene is in order?

And before you ask, nope, that wasn't an animatronic head. RadioTimes.com can confirm that the horse was real. Sources on the show have even revealed that the four-legged stars were bigger divas than the actors.

Judging by the Twitter love, though, we think the neigh sayers had best trot on...

War and Peace continues on BBC1 on Sunday at 9pm