Looking Back at THE GREAT S1. Brisk, Funny and Intense

Its creator, Tony McNamara (The Favourite, Cruella), knows that you can tell or show absolutely anything—so long as you have the right people on your team. And he has a real talent for choosing them. That’s why The Great was destined for success from the very first episode.

It’s not the first time someone has built a fundamentally made-up story around a well-known name, hoping that under a famous captain the ship will sail itself to shore. And yet, such ventures often end in disaster. McNamara therefore didn’t stop at the catchy headline—he additionally equipped The Great with characters so improbable that they become painfully believable.

On the throne sits the royal couple: the Catherine of the title (played by a mercurial, hysterical and capricious Elle Fanning) and her foolish husband Peter (utterly delightful in Nicholas Hoult’s performance). Around them, shifting between diplomatic cliques, orbit the Archbishop (Adam Godley), Aunt Elizabeth (Belinda Bromilow), Marial (Phoebe Fox), Grigor (Gwilym Lee), Georgina (Charity Wakefield), Velementov (Douglas Hodge), and Orlov (Sacha Dhawan). Each of them, of course, has their own agenda, usually cloaked in sanctimonious platitudes about the good of the nation, the country, or the ruling family—and each ruthlessly exploits every opportunity to pursue those goals.

The script of The Great is a gem. From the moment young Catherine steps into the Russian court, the creators keep surprising the audience. It’s extremely rare to find a three-season, 10-episode-per-season series without at least one weaker, less engaging, or dragging episode. The Great somehow maintains its absurd, bawdy, sometimes vulgar theatricality without ever losing the viewer’s attention—who, despite themselves, slides along the endlessly shifting alliances like beads in a kaleidoscope, all while having a wonderful time. Peter’s problems, first with his own mother and then with his mother-in-law (a fantastic guest appearance by Gillian Anderson), add almost nothing to the main plot—but they deliver juicy entertainment and beautifully develop the characters.

Every character in The Great has a personality that is thoughtful, consistent and unique. In many long-running series, characters that audiences grow attached to early on tend to shift, blur, and make decisions that contradict the traits established in the beginning. I don’t mean natural evolution—I mean the rather common phenomenon of creators drifting away from their original concept, usually out of simple laziness, relying on viewers’ sentiment and sliding into a sticky web of tired clichés.

In The Great, this never happens. Yes, the characters evolve (the relationship between Peter and Catherine is particularly dynamic), but they remain true to who they are. My favourite character is definitely Aunt Elizabeth, played with panache by Belinda Bromilow—you truly never know what this woman will come up with next, so every scene she appears in enlivens the episode. Bromilow wonderfully portrays a woman who is emotionally unstable yet full of heart and unshakeable principles (see, for instance, her attitude—nomen omen—toward Vinodel). Equally colourful is the Archbishop, affectionately called Archie (Adam Godley).

The poor man has far too many masters—Mother Russia, the all-powerful Orthodox Church, and his own no less powerful desires. Torn between this authoritative triumvirate, he reaches peaks of comedy. One may look at him with mild disgust, true—but also with involuntary sympathy.

The actors clearly have a blast inhabiting their roles within the gorgeous, though regrettably not authentically Russian, interiors (the series was filmed in Italy and the UK). The Great is full of imperial splendour in both its set design and costumes. From Peter’s unconventional outfits, through the rich gowns of the nobles, to the colourful clothing of the lower classes (and oh, how amusing are the debates of all social estates convened by Catherine in her modernising zeal!), each costume is carefully crafted and perfectly suited to both the character and the moment. The opulence of the empress’s official attire inspires awe; Peter’s informal fur throws with their ever-present, lavish pendants—delight.

A tremendous amount of work went into The Great. It doesn’t always happen that such effort pays off, but in this case it certainly did. One cannot demand historical accuracy from a series that is clearly a pastiche and a playful take on its subject—yet it must be acknowledged that it captures the spirit of the era remarkably well. And although it treats Catherine’s attempts to steer hermetic Russia toward the wide waters of the Enlightenment with a wink (have I mentioned the freely interpreted but wonderfully intriguing Voltaire, played with obvious relish by Dustin Demri-Burns?), it firmly underscores her achievements in this regard.

The abolition of serfdom, the introduction of penalties for murder, the building of schools—these are all presented in the show in an absurd, easy-to-digest form that nonetheless sticks with the viewer. The unexpected consequences of introducing divorce or the character of Pugachev are certainly memorable. If one approaches McNamara’s production as pure entertainment very loosely based on historical figures, disappointment is unlikely. And if The Great happens to inspire someone to dig into proper historical sources and learn about the real story of Empress Catherine II—so much the better.

Regardless of which option you choose, The Great is without question a series worth recommending. Its brisk, funny and intense action, supported by excellent acting and well-crafted characters, guarantees entertainment from the first to the last episode. And since a fourth season is unlikely (unsurprising, given how season three plays out), we now have a complete story—though only occasionally a true one.