Catherine the Great: Season 1

October 23, 2019 5:46 PM - Season 1 (Full Season)

Russian Empress Catherine the Great faces challenges to her throne on all sides as she meets the forthright and bold Lieutenant Grigory Potemkin. (HBO, Sky)

Variety review - The new HBO and Sky collaboration is a bit too narrow in its approach to a historical giant.

Indiewire Review: All Hail Queen Helen Mirren — Yes, Again. - HBO’s miniseries features a glorious performance from Dame Helen and enough spectacle to elevate a clunky script.

Catherine the Great on Rotten Tomatoes

posted by oh yeah! (6 comments total)

I don't know if this has already broadcast in the UK, or if it's following the same weekly broadcast schedule as it will on HBO, but, I figure since it's only 4 episodes and is a historical drama/biopic, it doesn't really need individual episode threads.

I watched the HBO premiere on Monday, and, it didn't really wow me. The costumes and sets are beautiful, and Mirren is charismatic, but, it just didn't draw me in.
posted by oh yeah! at 5:54 PM on October 23, 2019

Cough, spoilers, cough, will there be a stallion?
posted by sammyo at 6:11 PM on October 23, 2019 [1 favorite]

I guess this is one for me to watch with the Spanish language track & subtitles. I don't speak Spanish so I don't have to hear actors doing their darndest with a clunky script. This one weird trick fixes many bad shows like Game of Thrones.
posted by bleep at 8:16 PM on October 23, 2019 [2 favorites]

Cough, spoilers, cough, will there be a stallion?

Why Catherine the Great's Enemies Turned Her into a Sex Fiend: From nymphomania to bestiality to voyeurism, there were few themes of sexual deviance that were not invented about the Empress of Russia.
posted by homunculus at 9:54 AM on October 24, 2019 [4 favorites]

Cough, spoilers, cough, will there be a stallion?
Might be mentioned though, they already hinted at it with the spreading of embarrassing lies about how Peter III died.
posted by rhamphorhynchus at 5:44 AM on October 26, 2019

Having finished watching the series a couple days ago - it was kind of a slog and I wish I hadn't bothered with it. Since I knew very little going in, there were things I found interesting to learn (and stuff I looked up between episodes to better understand what was happening). But the large age difference between Helen Mirren and Catherine the Great at the start was very confusing to me. I spent the first 2 or 3 episodes just trying to figure out how someone in their 70s could have a son so young. I'm not saying that an older actor can't portray someone younger but several decades is quite a stretch and enough to be distracting.

But the biggest issue I had was that I just did not care about a single character. It doesn't help that I get easily confused with large casts of men all dressed in white powdered wigs as they all end up looking the same to me and I struggle to keep track of who is who. I got through to the end because it's only 4 episodes and I felt committed to finishing. But I don't recommend it. I would, however, be interestyed in reading more about Catherine the Great and that period of Russian history as I did find that aspect intriguing but a little difficult to follow.
posted by acidnova at 4:25 PM on November 15, 2019 [1 favorite]