Catherine The Great
HBO | Release Date: October 3, 2019
CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
61
METASCORE
Generally favorable reviews based on 18 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
10
Negative:
0
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
The GuardianLucy ManganDec 4, 2019
Season 1 Review: The parts are all good – the scenery, the performances, the script – but they add up to slightly less than their sum. Perhaps it is the extra exposition that makes it feel too ponderous and prevents it from taking flight. Read full review
60
Reason.comGlenn GarvinNov 3, 2019
Season 1 Review: In short, there's a zesty story to be told here. But it mostly isn't in this miniseries. Read full review
60
Paste MagazineKeri LummOct 17, 2019
Season 1 Review: Even if you can get over the historical inaccuracies, the show still falls kind of flat. I wanted to love it, but I just couldn’t get into it. Read full review
58
The A.V. ClubDanette ChavezOct 21, 2019
Season 1 Review: Catherine The Great’s storytelling never manages to equal the grandeur of its richly detailed set design; as the series unfolds, those extravagant visuals become more and more like façades from the mythical Potemkin villages. ... Mirren and Clarke deliver compelling performances as a clever, iron-willed queen and a soldier turned high-ranking statesman, respectively. Read full review
50
Rolling StoneDavid FearOct 21, 2019
Season 1 Review: You can feel that director Philip Martin and screenwriter Nigel Williams are relying on the mighty Dame Helen to do most of the dramatic heavy lifting here. You can also sense when, despite her best efforts, that particular plan of action still falls short. Read full review
50
The Hollywood ReporterDaniel FienbergOct 21, 2019
Season 1 Review: In effect, the miniseries trims the tawdry and scurrilous details from the monarchy's biography and replaces them with a much more conventional story of a woman whose greatest ideas are supplied by or on behalf of a compelling man. On her own behalf, Catherine mostly fights a repetitive battle to maintain control, Read full review
50
VarietyCaroline FramkeOct 18, 2019
Season 1 Review: “Catherine the Great” is a handsome and competent production that luxuriates in every regal Russian set it gets (albeit with an occasionally distracting green screen for more elaborate outdoor scenes). Mirren is as good as aforementioned, and Gina McKee especially pops as the Countess Praskovya Bruce. ... And yet: stepping back from the series’ four episodes reveals a disappointing lack of ambition in portraying such a titanic force’s final days. Read full review
50
NewsdayVerne GayOct 18, 2019
Season 1 Review: Mirren will get an Emmy nod for this because she's Mirren. She is a great actress, and she's certainly good here. A pity she'll get that nod for so cramped a story. Read full review
50
Cleveland Plain DealerMark DawidziakOct 17, 2019
Season 1 Review: Mirren is in full command of the role. ... But the script is nowhere near as commanding as her portrayal of Catherine. ... Our fascination with the story, though, comes and goes, even with Mirren consistently rising above and transcending the inconsistent writing. Read full review
50
TV Guide MagazineMatt RoushOct 14, 2019
Season 1 Review: Opulent if oddly constricted. ... [Mirren is] great, even when trapped in a romance novel. [14-27 Oct 2019, p.11]
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