PREMIUM SPOTLIGHT ON CATHERINE THE GREAT SERIES VELIKAYA: THE GOLDEN AGE SECOND SEASON WHICH STARTS NEXT WEEK

  THE GREAT: GOLDEN AGE  

VELIKAYA IS COMING THIS MONTH

The series starts tomorrow on Russian broadcaster

We are continuing our international weekend today with the second season of Russian historical series THE GREAT: GOLDEN AGE (Великая. Золотой век - not to be confused with their rival series CATHERINE II in which the tzarina was played by Marina Aleksandrova and which already had two seasons). In the new chapter, that starts airing in Russia February 5th,  Elizabeth Boyarskaya now appears in the role of older Catherine II. The first part, where Julia Snigir played the Empress, was released in 2015 and it followed her arrival to Russia, marriage with the great prince and then the coup she organised and her ascendance to the throne of imperial Russia. Now the action takes place in 1763, the first year after the coronation of Catherine.  

 

 THE STORY IS NOW SET IN 1763

the first after the coronation of Catherine. Power is in her hands, but having taken the throne, she now must keep it. The young empress will have to make sure that the second is much more difficult than the first, and only ten years later she herself will rightfully call herself the Autocrat of All Russia. These years will be filled not only with victories and accomplishments, but also with defeats, losses of loyal people, betrayal of those whom she considered close, struggle with palace intrigues and intrigues of enemies from abroad. As a person of a broad worldview and education, she quickly realized that only a fair, but strict government to all subjects is able to save the country, which internal and external opponents are trying to tear into "tidbits". War with Turkey; European intrigues; a conspiracy with an attempt to elevate the half-witted John Antonovich to the throne; smallpox epidemic, then plague in Moscow; the appearance on the political field of the imaginary daughter of Elizabeth, Princess Tarakanova; "Pugachev's rebellion" - if all this does not kill Catherine it will only make her stronger. And now all the ambassadors of foreign powers call her Catherine the Great. But only she knows what sacrifices the achieved greatness demanded from her. The choice between "woman" and "ruler" was not easy for her. But she did it.

WHO ELSE IS AT THE COURT?

The series also stars Anton Khabarov (as her lover Grigory Orlov), Alexei Morozov (another of her lovers and great general Gregory Potemkin), Pavel Vorozhtsov (Nikita Panin), Alexey Filimonov (Lev Naryshkin), Igor Gordin (Alexey Bestuzhev), Sofia Sinitsyna (Ekaterina Dashkova) and Philip Ershov (future Emperor Paul). Filming took place in palaces, parks and mansions of St. Petersburg and Leningrad region, as well as on the ship "Poltava". The project involves more than 560 historical costumes, which were sewn and rented in Spain and the Czech Republic.