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About Catherine The Great

Catherine is intelligent, resourceful and utterly determined. She faces challenges on all sides, but everyone has underestimated the new Empress. Catherine has no interest in getting married again after the disaster of her first marriage. She certainly has no intention of handing power over to her son. This is not just a story of incredible political success against all odds. It is also a love story between the most extraordinary woman and man of the age.

The characters

Meet the cast of Catherine The Great

  • Empress Catherine

    Played by: Helen Mirren
    The longest-serving female ruler in Russian history and one of the most significant monarchs of modern Europe, Catherine is responsible for a huge expansion of the Russian Empire, including the acquisition of Crimea, and turning Russia into one of the great powers of Europe. Brought from Germany as a young girl to marry the heir to the Russian throne, it soon became apparent to everyone that she was a more suitable ruler than her unstable husband.

  • Grigory Potemkin

    Played by: Jason Clarke
    Grigory Potemkin is the love of Catherine’s life and the most powerful man in the Russian empire for much of her reign. Charismatic, irreverent, and witty, Potemkin is as bold in the face of Court intrigue as he is brave on the battlefield – refusing to be intimidated by anyone. Gifted at political calculation and shrewd in military strategy, Potemkin becomes not just Catherine’s most important and trusted advisor, but her intellectual, emotional and political soul mate.

  • Minister Panin

    Played by: Rory Kinnear
    Minister Panin is Catherine’s chief minister and Prince Paul’s tutor, but his loyalties ultimately lie with the Crown Prince. Panin is the closest thing that Paul has to a parent and mentor. A cunning politician and master diplomat, Panin was a key supporter of Catherine’s coup but was left disappointed by Catherine’s decision to declare herself Empress rather than act as a Regent for her son.

  • Grigory Orlov

    Played by: Richard Roxburgh

    Grigory is Catherine’s first real love. They begin an affair whilst she is still married to her unpleasant husband, Emperor Peter III, and he plays a key role in the coup to place her on the throne. He is a handsome, rather simple soldier more at home in the barracks than the Court. His relationship with Catherine slowly deteriorates as he realizes she will never marry him for fear of public perception.

  • Countess Bruce

    Played by: Gina McKee
    Countess Bruce is Catherine’s oldest friend and most trusted confidante. She has been by Catherine’s side since she first arrived in Russia as a young bride in a foreign land. She is an intelligent, charismatic and sexually liberated woman - much like Catherine - and takes a keen interest in any attractive young men who arrive at Court. In later years, Countess Bruce provides a link to Catherine’s idealistic youth and a painful reminder of how much she has had to compromise and change.

  • Prince Paul

    Played by: Joseph Quinn
    Often referred to as the “Russian Hamlet”, Paul is a tortured figure who struggles to cope with his father’s death and his mother’s new lovers. Taken from Catherine at birth and raised by his great aunt, Empress Elizabeth, and tutor, Minister Panin, Paul never formed a loving relationship with Catherine.

  • Alexei Orlov

    Played by: Kevin McNally
    The brutal, conniving and ambitious brother of Grigory Orlov (Richard Roxburgh), Alexei played a key role in the coup that placed Catherine on the throne. He is also the man responsible for killing Catherine’s deposed husband Peter III in a drunken brawl. While he poses a political threat to Catherine, Alexei is given several notable positions in government. However, his power starts slipping away as Catherine’s relationship with Grigory hits the rocks.

Episode guide

  • Episode 1
  • Episode 2
  • Episode 3
  • Episode 4