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New Channel 4 Drama To Shock Viewers With Full Nudity Sex Scenes

New Channel 4 Drama To Shock Viewers With Full Nudity Sex Scenes

The Great is loosely based on the rise of Catherine the Great, Empress of All Russia

Rebecca Shepherd

Rebecca Shepherd

If you've finished Bridgerton and you're looking for the next frisky fix, look no further because Channel 4's The Great seems to be up the same street:

The comedy drama is loosely based on the rise of Catherine the Great and how she rose to rule Russia in the 18th Century.

The series, which aired on Hulu in the US and premiered in the UK on Channel 4 last night (3 January), stars Elle Fanning as Catherine (as well as an executive producer) and Nicholas Hoult as sex-mad Emperor Peter.

Speaking of sex, the 10-part series is expected to shock viewers as it goes on, with scenes far from PG-esque. Maybe this is another to be watched without 'rents in the room.

Some scenes are expected to shock viewers.
Hulu/Channel 4

In the description, Channel 4 says: "The Great is a satirical, comedic drama about the rise of Catherine the Great from outsider to the longest reigning female ruler in Russia's history. It's modern love story that incorporates historical facts, occasionally.

"It is the fictionalised, fun and anachronistic story of an idealistic, romantic young girl (Elle Fanning), who arrives in Russia for an arranged marriage to the mercurial Emperor Peter (Nicholas Hoult).

"Hoping for love and sunshine, she finds instead a dangerous, depraved, backward world that she resolves to change. All she has to do is kill her husband, beat the church, baffle the military and get the court onside."

Elle Fanning as Catherine the Great.
Hulu/Channel 4

An upcoming scene is set to show Hoult walk the full length of a palace hallway 'pretty much buck naked'.

He told the Guardian: "I remember reading the script and saying, 'Aaaaargh, Tony [McNamara, the show's writer], I'm not sure about this one.' Because that hallway is long and busy; the hallways are where people hang out and mingle in the palace.

"We had a debate about how many supporting artists would come in that day. It was originally 70 people in the corridor. I said, 'Can we get it down to about 30?'

"You have to switch off that part of your brain that's saying, 'I don't want to walk down a corridor naked.'"

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Fanning explained how the production team wanted to make the sex scenes as realistic as possible.

She said: "We had an intimacy coordinator that was on set whenever we had those scenes, to make everyone feel good and make everything look real.

Hulu/Channel 4

"She [Catherine] was very open and free and loved sex, so that's obviously something that I wanted to touch upon. You see the young Catherine on her first wedding night and it's not exactly how she was expecting it to go.

"And she ultimately gets a lover in Leo, they have the sex that they have, which is more loving and passionate."

Speaking about the series writer, Tony McNamara, said: "I think I wanted to be true to certain events in Catherine's life but also create a show that felt contemporary so not be yoked to details of history that didn't help tell her story, and were anti drama."

The Great airs at 9pm on Sundays with the first on 3 January. You can catch up on episode one here.

Featured Image Credit: Hulu/Channel 4

Topics: Entertainment, TV and Film