Catherine the Great: first look at Helen Mirren in HBO drama

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In HBO/Sky’s upcoming four-part drama, Catherine the GreatHelen Mirren will be portray the Russian empress – and we’ve got fresh details on the series…

The drama, which was announced earlier this year, will focus on the monarch towards the end of her reign and her romance with Gregory Potemkin. Mirren will assume leading lady duties while Potemkin will be played by Zero Dark Thirty star Jason Clarke.

It’s now been announced who will be joining the pair. Gina McKee will star as Countess Bruce, a lifelong confidant to Catherine while Rory Kinnear will play Minister Panin, an advisor and governor to Catherine’s son. Meanwhile, Richard Roxburgh and Sam Palladio will star as a couple of her lovers, with Kevin McNally will play Alexei Orlov, a key player in Catherine’s downfall.

The rather lengthy additional cast list include Clive Russell as The Fool; Lucas Englander as Lieutenant Mirovich; Antonia Clarke as Princess Sophie; Paul Ritter as General Suvorov; Paul Kaye as Pugachev; Thomas Doherty as Peter Zavadovsky; Raphael Acloque as Platon Zubov; James Northcoate as Alexander Bezborodko and Andrew Rothney as Alexander Dmitriev-Mamonov.

Catherine the Great will be written by Nigel Williams and filming is currently underway in Russia, Latvia and Lithuania. We’ve attached our first look at Mirren in costume to the top of this article.

The series will air next year and we’ll keep you updated on it.

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