In a new breed of stories, the past is a playground, not a corset

TWO TELEVISION shows about Catherine II of Russia recently had their premiere. The first, “Catherine the Great”, a collaboration between Sky in Britain and HBO in America, was released in October 2019. Set in the aftermath of the empress’s overthrow of Peter III, her husband, in 1762 the series was an earnest costume drama starring a grande dame of British acting, Helen Mirren. It focused on Catherine’s consolidation of power and her relationship with Grigory Potemkin, with the occasional speech about the Enlightenment and the solemn nature of statecraft. 

The other show, “The Great”, was first released on Hulu, a streaming service, last year. A riotous comedy adapted by Tony McNamara from his own play, “The Great” begins with a young Catherine (Elle Fanning) leaving Prussia to marry Peter (Nicholas Hoult). Her hopes for a refined romance are dashed when she meets her foolish, barbaric spouse, whose main priorities are smashing things and shagging the women at court. Aided by her sharp-tongued maid and a weaselly courtier, Catherine plots a coup. 

Notionally based on the same material, the two productions diverge drastically in content and tone. The difference captures a trend in historical dramas; more than that, it indicates an evolution in attitudes towards history itself in the...