Russian Empress, Catherine the Great (born Sophie of Anhalt-Zerbst) is one of the biggest, some would say, characters, in history.
While the term was not coined until at least 1837, Catherine was somewhat of a feminist and held reign over Russia from 1762-1796, making her the country’s longest-ruling female leader.
The new satirical and comedic drama, Stan’s The Great — which premieres on May 16 — tells the story of the Empress which encompasses the many roles she played over her lifetime. Lover, teacher, ruler, friend, and fighter.
“Season One is a fictionalised, fun and anachronistic story of an idealistic, romantic young girl, who arrives in Russia for an arranged marriage to the mercurial Emperor Peter.
Hoping for love and sunshine, she finds instead a dangerous, depraved, backward world that she resolves to change. All she has to do is kill her husband, beat the church, baffle the military and get the court onside,” the synopsis reads.
It may look like the glamourous world of the 1700s, with stunning costumes and set design, but the story is somewhat far from reality — incorporating historical facts… occasionally.
Starring Elle Fanning as Catherine, Nicholas Hoult (from Stan’s True History of the Kelly Gang), Phoebe Fox, Adam Godley, Gwilym Lee, Charity Wakefield, Douglas Hodge, Sacha Dhawan, Sebastian de Souza, Bayo Gbadamosi and Australia’s own Belinda Bromilow.
The series is created, written and executive produced by Tony McNamara, who brought us the Oscar-nominated film The Favourite and if that is any indication of what this will be like — we can expect an exceptional show.
The Great premieres 16 May only on Stan – the same day as the US. All episodes will be available at once.
WATCH: The official trailer for Stan’s The Great.