Ekaterina (2014)

Season 1. This might better be called "Elizaveta" as it focusses more on the reign of the daughter of Pyotr the Great as Empress of all the Russias. Yuliya Aug ably portrays this shrewd and calculating woman who has realised that her nephew and heir Pyotr (Aleksandr Yatsenko) isn't quite the full shilling, but nevertheless must succeed her if the Romanov dynasty is to continue. To that end she picks a princess from a small German principality to marry the man and so enter the timid Princess Sophia (Marina Aleksandrova). She arrives with her mother (Isabel Schosnig) and is soon getting used to a deferential court rife with machinations and schemes whilst learning to appreciate that her potential marriage to a man at best indifferent to her is going to present challenges. With the Empress becoming more and more frustrated that a pregnancy isn't manifesting, the first series depicts the precarious existence of the now Grand Duchess Ekaterina as she learns to tread adeptly on the eggshells around her. Her increasing desparation to avoid the vengeance of Elizaveta and a life in a remote Siberian convent sees her develop skills of ingenuity that, with the tacit complicity of the Empress, see her turn to the dashing Prince Saltykov (Rinal Mukhametov) and next thing there's a Prince called Pavel and a Grand Duke called Pyotr taking the plaudits for something in which he most definitely didn't have an hand. The Empress has all she wants and so the rest of the series sees out her reign and the start of that of the new Czar Pyotr III who has his new mistress Elizaveta Vorontosva (Anastasia Korolokova) in tow and wishes to be shot of his now inconvenient Empress. It's all history this, so little room for jeopardy. What it does provide us with is a sumptuously staged drama depicting a speculative glimpse of life at a Russian Imperial court where life firmly revolved around the person of the Empress. The characterisations are solid with a strong performance from an Aleksandrova (who did remind me often of Rebecca Ferguson) and though the pace does get a bit soapy to pan out ten episodes when probably eight would have done, it keeps moving engagingly. The narrative concentrates more on the domestic goings-on rather than really developing the state of the kingdom's international affairs and conflicts, so that means it's opportunity to develop the other prominent characters from this time - "Potemkin" (Vladimir Yaglych); Bestuzhev (Vladimir menshov) and latterly Orlov (Artyom Alekseev) is limited and they don't really make much impact. Elizaveta, herself, arrived on the throne via a mini-coup and there's also an undercooked side story surround the rather sad life of the very young, imprisoned, Ivan VI that meanders throughout the main thread as does one of the increasing factionalising at the court as the Empress becomes ever more frequently ill. There's some ropey CGI used for many of the establishing shots that is unnecessary and rather compromises the otherwise high-end production values, and with some solid dialogue evoking plenty of the perils that went with the curtseys and the tiaras, this is an entertainingly lavish drama that makes for an easy watch reminding me a little of Marvin Chomsky's more condensed dramatisation of the life of Pyotr the Great made in 1986. It's not an history so best not be doing too much fact-questioning, but if you can overlook that then it's an enjoyable period drama.