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Post by Dame Bouncy Castle on Aug 28, 2019 19:13:35 GMT
Sky Atlantic’s period drama Catherine The Great will premiere on Thursday October 3rd at 9pm.
Catherine The Great follows the latter years of the Empress’ reign and her passionate affair with Grigory Potemkin amid a backdrop of scandal, intrigue and immense conflict.
Unable to publicly marry and famously promiscuous, Catherine and Potemkin’s story is one of obsessive love for each other and their country as they develop a unique and devoted relationship, overcoming their adversaries to build Russia’s reputation as one of the great European powers of the 18th Century.
The four-part drama, which was written by Nigel Williams, stars Helen Mirren, Jason Clarke, Joseph Quinn, Gina McKee, Rory Kinnear, Richard Roxburgh, Kevin R. McNally, Sam Palladio, Clive Russell, Lucas Englander, Antonia Clarke, Paul Ritter, Paul Kaye, Thomas Doherty, Raphael Acloque, James Northcoate and Andrew Rothney.
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Post by Miranda on Aug 28, 2019 19:41:25 GMT
Oh great. Why is it that when they do a female leader, one of the best Russia has had, it has to be all about the sex? They don't concentrate on the love lives of Frederick the Great or Peter the Great or Napoleon, do they?
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2019 9:19:56 GMT
I saw a Russian version of the story "Ekaterina: The Rise of Catherine the Great" which deals more with how she rose to become Catherine the Great. In Russian, with subtitles it was very interesting; much more interesting than this sounds.
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Post by beverley61 on Aug 29, 2019 11:27:27 GMT
Why does it always have to be an 'obsessive' and 'passionate affair', wouldn't an affair be pointless if it dull and passionless!! If it had been that obsessive they wouldn't have got the political stuff done either.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 29, 2019 12:00:35 GMT
Knowing the history, the story of her rise is far more interesting; from being a lowly German princess to Empress of Russia after overthrowing her husband. Then they could have looked at why she became Catherine the Great.
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Post by beverley61 on Oct 4, 2019 7:52:45 GMT
Gave it a go and it wasn't too bad for a starter, interesting enough for another week. There was sex but not with Catherine, the closest she came to being undressed was a full length nightgown.
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Post by beverley61 on Oct 25, 2019 19:50:41 GMT
Well I stuck with it and learned some things about Russian history - well I am presuming I did - I have no idea how much licence was given. It was average but I couldn't get Potemkin or even why she would love him, he was awful and the acting wasn't a lot better. He seemed to overplay every scene. Gina McKee's aristo was dull for a seductress. She was a bit mismatched age wise with Helen Mirren if they were contemporaries- if they were, I didn't check. McKee must be about 50s or something.
Didn't quite get why she showered her lovers with wealth and properties but at least it showed that they did hang around for a while.
Makes you glad you weren't there really. One of those historical dramas where nothing made you feel it would be nice to be able to time travel.
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Post by Miranda on Oct 25, 2019 20:42:15 GMT
A younger Helen Mirren would make a wonderful Catherine the Great. Sex and power to her fingertips.
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Post by geometryman on Oct 25, 2019 22:08:38 GMT
Well I stuck with it and learned some things about Russian history - well I am presuming I did - I have no idea how much licence was given. It was average but I couldn't get Potemkin or even why she would love him, he was awful and the acting wasn't a lot better. He seemed to overplay every scene. Gina McKee's aristo was dull for a seductress. She was a bit mismatched age wise with Helen Mirren if they were contemporaries- if they were, I didn't check. McKee must be about 50s or something. Didn't quite get why she showered her lovers with wealth and properties but at least it showed that they did hang around for a while. Makes you glad you weren't there really. One of those historical dramas where nothing made you feel it would be nice to be able to time travel. I pretty much agree. It all seemed a bit flat and boring to me. Helen Mirren was on The Graham Norton Show before it started its run, saying because of the bar set by Game of Thrones it had high production values - I can't say that was my impression. I notice HBO wasn't involved with the production, and it shows. It should have been called 'Catherine and Grigory' because although other characters dropped in and out this was really all about their (rather strange) relationship.
As it went up to the end of their lives, there can't be another series. I suppose there could be a prequel - 'Catherine: the Early Years'... |
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Post by diziet sma on Oct 27, 2019 22:39:10 GMT
I haven't seen this, but Jason Clarke is a bad actor.
I don't think I could watch anything with him as a lead.
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Post by beverley61 on Oct 28, 2019 12:42:56 GMT
He was definitely bad in this. It was almost amateur.
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Post by Deleted on Oct 28, 2019 16:14:01 GMT
As it went up to the end of their lives, there can't be another series. I suppose there could be a prequel - 'Catherine: the Early Years'...
The story of how she rose to power is very interesting. It would have made for a much better story with lots of court intrigue, and failed diplomacy. And, there are a few skeletons in the Imperial family closet that could be aired. |
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Post by yankee on Oct 28, 2019 21:15:32 GMT
I haven't seen this, but Jason Clarke is a bad actor. I don't think I could watch anything with him as a lead. He was in a Showtime series called "Brotherhood" with Liverpudlian Jason Isaacs about the Irish mob and political corruption in Rhode Island (a somewhat unusual setting for a gritty, urban TV series).
Isaacs was superb as the bad seed in the family, Jason Clarke rather schmaltzy as the goody two shoes brother who became the "honest" politician.
Fionnula Flanagan was her usual excellent self as their somewhat shady mum who loved (and occasionally loathed) her mobster and politician sons equally.
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Anymore to come?
