The Great (episode)

**"The Great"** is the first episode of the first series of *The Great*.

## Synopsis

### Hulu

Catherine travels to Russia and becomes the Empress by marrying the Emperor of Russia, Peter; Catherine soon realizes Peter is a selfish brat and feels hopeless until her servant, Marial, presents her with an alternative path - to overthrow Peter.

### All 4

In 1761, Catherine travels to Russia and marries the Emperor of Russia, Peter. Her hopes of marrying a great love are dashed as she soon learns that he's a selfish, spoiled brat.

### Amazon Prime

Catherine travels to Russia to marry the Emperor. After becoming Empress, she realizes Peter is a selfish brat. She feels hopeless until her servant, Marial, suggests they overthrow him.

## Plot

In the eighteenth century, a young and naïve Catherine marries Peter III of Russia. Her ambitions and optimism shatter as she finds out about Peter's childish, cruel and spiteful nature and that he only married her for an heir. Catherine finds an unexpected friend in her maid, Marial, a former noblewoman demoted to serfdom. When Catherine discovers that Russian women are uneducated, she secures funds with Peter's permission to establish a school. But Peter burns the school soon after learning that the school was meant for girls. When Peter shoots the bear he gave to Catherine during a ball, she slaps him in front of everyone. Peter punches her in seclusion and warns her. Catherine, now being nothing more than a prisoner, decides to evade the palace with the help of Marial, but the plan fails as Peter finds out. Disheartened, Catherine is about to slit her wrist when Marial informs her about a law in Russia: if an emperor dies without an heir, the throne will goes to the empress. Delighted, Catherine begins to plot to overthrow her husband.

## Cast

### Starring

* Elle Fanning as Catherine
* Nicholas Hoult as Peter III
* Phoebe Fox as Marial

### Series Lead

* Adam Godley as Archie the Archbishop
* Sacha Dhawan as Orlo
* Gwilym Lee as Grigor Dymov
* Belinda Bromilow as Aunt Elizabeth
* Bayo Gbadamosi as Arkady
* Florence Keith-Roach as Tatyana

### Guest Star

* Charity Wakefield as Georgina Dymov
* Douglas Hodge as Velementov
* Danusia Samal as Lady Antonia Svenska
* Louis Hynes as Vlad

### Co Star

* Kemi-Bo Jacobs as Marina
* Liv Hill as Angeline
* Liam Fleming as Guard 1
* Jordan Kagaba as Guard 2

## Trivia

* Catherine is seen learning Russian (reading "Da" and "Niet") but French was the language of court and Russian aristocracy. She was however a staunch Russian nationalist, unlike her husband.
* This was Elle Fanning's first nude scene.[1]
* Elle Fanning was previously costumed by Holly Waddington in Ginger & Rosa (2012).
* Catherine tells Orlov that she has met René Descartes. This is one of the "occasional" parts of the story that isn't true; Descartes was long dead before Catherine was born.
* Though in the show Catherine arrives to the Russian court at age 19 and presents herself to a crowned Peter III, she actually arrived aged 14 while Empress Elizabeth, Peter III's aunt, ruled Russia. Peter and Catherine had a long engagement and were married when he was 17 and she was 16. They were married for 18 years before they were even crowned.
* Soundtrack: Patti Smith's "Everybody Wants to Rule the World". Written by Chris Hughes, Roland Orzabal, Ian Stanley.

### Errors

* At the party towards the end of the episode (where the Bear is killed), just before Peter and friends are talking about the sites on the guns, a crew member can be seen in the middle of the scene, (clearly identifiable by his modern jacket and ear piece).

### Cultural references

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## References

1. ↑ https://tvschedule.zap2it.com/overview.html?programSeriesId=SH02767168&tmsId=SH027671680000&from=sl&aid=gapzap
2. ↑ https://www.hulu.com/series/the-great-238db0d4-c476-47ed-9bee-d326fd302f7d
3. ↑ https://www.channel4.com/programmes/the-great/episode-guide/
4. ↑ https://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Great-Season-1/dp/B0892SNRCR
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9313500/trivia?ref\_=ttqu\_sa\_1
6. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9313500/goofs?ref\_=tttrv\_sa\_1
7. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9313500/goofs?ref\_=tttrv\_sa\_1
8. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9313500/soundtrack?ref\_=ttgf\_sa\_6
9. ↑ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9313500/goofs?ref\_=ttsnd\_sa\_2

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