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When people watch a historical drama, there's an unspoken assumption that a lot of what they're seeing is probably made up. That holds true for a show like Downton Abbey, which is set in the early 20th century and doesn't pretend to be inspired by any actual events or people; or The Dig, a Netflix movie about a 1939 archeological excavation that does involve real people, although so many of the details are changed it might as well not.
Then there's a show like The Great, which ran for three seasons on Hulu between 2020 and 2023. The Great freely admits that it plays fast and loose with history, and we're all the better for it.
The Great is only "occasionally true"
But always entertaining
The Great is about Catherine the Great, who ruled Russia for 34 years in the eighteenth century. We meet Catherine (Elle Fanning) when she is an optimistic young German noblewoman sent to Russia to marry Emperor Peter III (Nicholas Hoult) as part of a pre-arranged pact. Very quickly, she finds out that Russian peasants are mistreated, women are not educated, and Peter is a boorish, cruel, frivolous ruler who does not have the best interests of his subjects at heart. Despairing, Catherine contemplates taking her own life before she learns of a Russian law that she could use to her advantage: if an emperor dies without an heir, the throne will pass to the empress. Then and there, she begins plotting how she can kill her husband and assume control of Russia for herself.
Some of this is true. Catherine and Peter III really did have an arranged marriage; they were really unhappy with each other, and Catherine really did eventually overthrow him and assume control of the Russian throne. But the details are completely changed. For one, when Catherine and Peter met for the first time in real life, she was only 10 years old, and he was not much older; they waited until Catherine was 16 before they married. In reality, Catherine was married to Peter for 18 years before she carried out the coup, whereas on the show, she does it just a couple of years after marrying him.
There are other differences. For instance, it's true that both Catherine and Peter had lovers outside their marriage. But the lovers we meet in the show, like Catherine's paramour Leo Voronsky (Sebastian de Souza), didn't really exist.
And we're just talking about the first season. The show kisses any pretense of historical reality goodbye in Seasons 2 and 3.
Why recount history when fiction is more exciting?
Before SPOILERS for The Great (and for history) below
For most of its run, The Great bills itself as an "occasionally true" story. And it does get some things right. For instance, Catherine really was inoculated against smallpox, purposefully exposing herself to a small amount of the virus in order to build up an immunity, then a novel concept. The costumes and sets on the show have been widely praised for being lavish and beautiful, but that's not the same thing as being period-accurate.
In the Season 2 finale, The Great adopts a new subtitle, going from "an occasionally true story" to "an almost entirely untrue story." In reality, Peter III died mere days after Catherine deposed him, probably because he was assassinated. On the show, he survives for a long while afterward, and he and Catherine even mend their relationship somewhat. He doesn't die until halfway through Season 3, when he falls through some thin ice in a typically dense moment.
Why do so many of the second and third seasons of The Great revolve around Catherine and Peter's relationship when, in reality, it was pretty much over the moment Catherine ascended the throne? Mainly because Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult have great chemistry, and it's fun to watch them verbally spar. The Great isn't trying to educate the audience; it's trying to entertain them, and if it has to create an entirely new timeline to do that, then so be it.
The Great is great TV
Just don't believe a word of it
The main conflict of The Great Season 3 involves a double of Peter III named Yemelyan Pugachev (also played by Hoult) fomenting rebellion among the populace. Typical of this show, this conflict mixes fact and fiction. There really was a guy named Yemelyan Pugachev who used his resemblance to the late emperor to stir up trouble among the peasants. But unlike on the show, Yemelyan never knew the actual Peter or Catherine beforehand. But wouldn't it be more exciting if he did?
We could keep listing ways that The Great plays loose with history. On the show, Peter grew up with an emotionally manipulative mother, whereas in reality, his mother died when he was an infant. On the show, Peter III is the son of Peter the Great and struggles to live up to his father's example. In reality, Peter the Great was Peter III's grandfather. In general, Peter was likely less of a cad than the show portrays him, but it's more fun if he's a complete jerk because it gives Catherine someone loathsome to overcome.
More great "historical" dramas
But if The Great proves anything, it's that getting all the facts right is overrated. You can see that principle at work in a lot of terrific historical dramas. Black Sailsfeatures several characters based on actual people from the Golden Age of Piracy, but they interact with characters completely made up from whole cloth. The Last Kingdomis a fantastic drama about medieval England that ropes in real-life historical figures like Alfred the Great, but the show mainly revolves around an original character named Uhtred.
None of this should stop you from watching these shows. If you want to learn about history, your best bet is to crack a book. But if you want to laugh, cry, and grip the edge of your seat, The Great is available to stream on Hulu.
