the great nicholas hoult on channel 4
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The Great on Channel 4: Elle Fanning stars as Catherine in historical comedy drama

This certainly looks different!

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The Great on Channel 4 is a hotly anticipated Russian historical comedy drama features some major stars, including Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning.

But what The Great is about, who is starring and how you can watch it?

Read on to find out more about the programme.

What is The Great on Channel 4 about?

The Great is about the Empress of Russia, Catherine The Great.

Written by the Oscar-winning creators of The Favourite, it is set to offer a raunchy take on the iconic monarch.

nicholas hoult and elle fanning in the great on channel 4
Nicholas Hoult and Elle Fanning star in The Great (Credit: Channel 4/Hulu)

The series is being touted as being a somewhat absurd, slightly surreal and highly sexed interpretation on this period of Russian history.

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How true to life is The Great?

First premiered in America last year, The Great is only loosely based on the life and times of Catherine The Great in the 1700s.

And it will feature a historical accuracy warning when it airs.

Who stars in The Great?

The Great features several major actors. This includes movie stars Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult.

Hollywood actress Elle Fanning is playing Catherine The Great.

The younger sister of Dakota Fanning, Elle’s past credits include starring in Maleficent and its sequel, as well as Super 8 and The Neon Demon.

Elle Fanning as Catherine The Great
Elle Fanning plays Catherine The Great (Credit: SplashNews)

While speaking to IndieWire, Elle said she sees Catherine as a feminist icon.

Elle said: “We wanted to make sure that we were creating our version of Catherine, and the essence of that person, but with all the things that she did do.”

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She continued: “It’s true, she’s the longest woman ruler of Russia. She brought female education, art and science to Russia, variolation (innoculation) [from] the smallpox.”

Nicholas Hoult, meanwhile, plays Catherine The Great’s spouse, Peter III of Russia.

The British star may be just 31, but he’s already a veteran actor.

nicholas hoult plays peter III of russia
Nicholas Hoult plays Peter III of Russia (Credit: SplashNews)

He first shot to fame way back in 2001, when he starred alongside Hugh Grant in the comedy hit About A Boy.

He went on to star in the teen hit Skins and is now a Hollywood star thanks to his roles in four X-Men films and surprise zombies hit Warm Bodies.

Nicholas portrays Peter III as a total misogynist who has little love for Catherine.

She only reluctantly chose to marry him to escape a life of misery in Prussia.

Poster

Additional cast members include Black Mirror’s Phoebe Fox as Marial, Iron Fist’s Sacha Dhawan as Orlo and Breaking Bad’s Adam Godley as Archie.

When is The Great on Channel 4?

The Great starts on Channel 4 on Sunday, January 3 at 9pm.

However, the entire series is already available to watch for StarzPlay UK subscribers.

Will you be watching? Let us know on our Facebook page @EntertainmentDailyFix.


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor