Russian television series
Ekaterina is a 2014 Russia-1 historical television series starring Marina Aleksandrova as the eventual Russian empress Catherine the Great. The first season tells the story of princess Sophie Friederike Auguste, and her rise to power to become Empress of Russia, following a coup d'état and the assassination of her husband, Peter III. The second season portrays the challenges she faces at home and abroad during the early years of her rule, as she tries to revitalise Russia to become one of the great powers of Europe, and becomes titled "the Great".
The first season premiered on November 24, 2014 on Russia-1,[1] and was released on Amazon in 2017 under the title Ekaterina: The Rise of Catherine the Great. The second season premiered on Russia-1 on February 27, 2017, and was released on Amazon in 2018. The third season premiered on October 21, 2019. The series premiered its fourth season on October 5, 2023.
Plot summary
Season 1: Catherine (2014)
Motto – «I will reign… otherwise I will perish…»
1744. In Saint Petersburg, Empress Elizabeth is childless, and she appoints her nephew Peter Fedorovich as the heir to the Russian throne. But he had been born in Prussia and could hardly speak Russian.
Elizabeth decides to marry him to a princess, intending to take any future son and educate him to become the future emperor. Elizabeth chooses a wife for her nephew, German Princess Sophie Friederike Auguste von Anhalt-Zerbst-Dornburg. Sophia Frederike hopes to find happiness in the distant and foreign land, but she is faced with the intrigues and plots of the Russian Imperial court, the indifference of her husband, and the plans of the Empress. The girl takes the name Catherine Alexeevna (Yekaterina) and works to save herself and her children from danger, as the emperor Peter III desires to send her away from the palace.
In July 1762, barely six months after becoming emperor, Peter commits the political error of retiring with his Holstein-born courtiers and relatives to Oranienbaum, leaving his wife in Saint Petersburg. On July 8 and 9, the Leib Guard revolts, deposes Peter from power, and proclaims Catherine as the new monarch. The bloodless coup d'état succeeds and Catherine becomes the new empress, and thus the Golden Age of the Russian Empire begins.
Season 2: The Rise of Catherine (2017)
Motto – «She ascended the throne to become Great!»
1768. Catherine has ruled Russia for six years. A dangerous prospect of war with Turkey is looming. At the same time, Catherine is looking for a way to legally marry her longtime favorite Grigory Orlov and legitimize their common son Alexey, to make him heir to the throne in case Pavel Petrovich (the son of Catherine II and Peter III) remains childless.
However, Orlov's cheeky and unpredictable behavior, as well as his problems with male health, make the empress abandon her thought of marriage and send her son Alexey abroad. Having thrown Pavel Petrovich into the arms of her maid of honor, Sofia Stepanovna, the Empress makes sure that Pavel Petrovich can have children. Having got rid of Orlov, Catherine falls in love with the guard Grigory Potemkin and finds in Europe a bride for Pavel Petrovich, Wilhelmina Louisa of Hesse-Darmstadt.
1774. The Russo-Turkish War ends with a victory for Russia, which establishes its protectorate over the Crimean Khanate and gets access to the Black and Azov Seas.
1776. Pavel Petrovich marries for the second time to the Duchess Sophie Dorothea of Württemberg, while Catherine marries Potemkin, who in her honor establishes the city of Yekaterinoslav in the south of the empire.
1780. Catherine releases the Braunschweig family, children of the Duke Anton Ulrich – the great-grandchildren of Peter the Great's brother, from prison. They sail to Denmark.
1782. Catherine opens a statue of Peter the Great in Saint Petersburg and sends Pavel Petrovich with his wife and children on a trip to Europe.
Season 3: Impostors (2019)
Motto – «Russia is waiting… I won't let anyone stop me!»
Note: This season takes place between the 11th and 12th episode of the second season, from 1774 to 1776.
1774. The rule of the great and mighty Ekaterina is threatened. The Russo-Turkish War continues, draining the Empire's treasury. Numerous pretenders appear with claims to the throne. The Peasants' War is in full swing – a war led by Yemelyan Pugachev, who passed himself off as Peter III. There is danger brewing inside the palace, too: the noblemen want to pass the throne on to her oldest son, Paul. Ekaterina's personal life is troubled. She has lost hope of having a child with Prince Potemkin. She has new love interests, new favorites. But the biggest and most important love of the Empress is Russia itself. Ekaterina has to make decisions that determine the fate of her throne and her empire.
Prequel: Elizabeth (2022)
The prequel tells the story of the Empress Elizabeth, daughter of Peter I, who was all but 16 years old, when her father died and left her to govern her immense empire. For Elizabeth, her throne became a living hell: against her will the young girl was pulled into court intrigues, where she is opposed by notable members of the court such as Andrei Ivanovich Osterman, Aleksandre Danielovich Meshikov, and even her own mother Catherine the First.[2]
Season 4: Favorites (2023)
1779. Everyone already calls Empress Catherine II the Great at the instigation of her closest associate, the influential Princess Dashkova. His Serene Highness Prince Potemkin, the former favorite and married husband of Catherine, remains a faithful comrade-in-arms and, in fact, the second person in the state. The personal life of the Empress, as before, is full of passions and love affairs. However, despite everything, Catherine does not forget about important state affairs. Among them is a manifesto on succession to the throne. The Empress decides to transfer the throne to her grandson Alexander, bypassing the legal heir - her son Pavel. However, the Tsarevich is not going to give up his rights and will fight to the end. A new struggle for power begins.
Reception
The series has received praise for its acting and costume design, and the first season won Russia's Golden Eagle award for "best television series". A review at Eclectic Pop described it as "a vivid and beautifully crafted series replete with lavish costumes and a stirring musical score".[4] Writing for BroadwayWorld, Robert Kahn described the series as "gloriously filmed" and added: "The story of Catherine's rise to power rivals any contemporary soap opera, as an intricate web of politics, adultery and betrayal unfolds within the Russian court in spectacular fashion."[5]
During the broadcast, the series held the top spot for film and television series ratings in Russia, and became one of the most popular TV series in the Russian Federation.[6]
Release
Season one, with English subtitles and reformatted into ten episodes, was released by Amazon Prime in June 2017. This drama also aired in Pakistan on LTN Family, dubbed in Urdu.
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