On the TV channel "Russia 1" there will be a historical series directed by Dmitry Iosifov ("Catherine. Rise", "Catherine. Pretenders") "Elizabeth" about the fate of the Russian Empress.

The role of Elizaveta Petrovna was played by Yulia Khlynina (“Ice 2”), other historical characters were played by Agrippina Steklova, Alexander Baluev, Viktor Rakov, Alexei Agranovich, Vladimir Koshevoy, Sergei Makhovikov, Angelina Poplavskaya.

The action takes place in the 1720s - Emperor Peter I (Baluev) is still alive, but seriously ill.

Filmmakers paid a lot of attention to the relationship between the ruler of the empire and Elizabeth.

Despite some strictness towards the girl, the on-screen Peter loves his daughter very much.

According to the plot, the emperor initially planned to leave part of the inheritance to his wife Catherine, but she betrays him, so Peter, on his deathbed, will bequeath the throne to Elizabeth. 

According to the authors of the series, the project is inspired by one of the legends about the will of Peter I, according to which the great emperor passes the throne to the only person who did not betray his trust.

However, the document cannot be saved - the will ends up in the wrong hands and goes missing. 

In the series, the young ruler is not at all ready to become an empress, so her father's gift becomes a real curse for her.

At the time of Peter's death, Elizabeth was 16 years old, for her personal happiness is more important than the fate of the state.

The Tsesarevna is in love with her father's orderly Alexander Baturin (Kirill Kuznetsov), who reciprocates her feelings.

In a fit of feelings, Elizabeth even offers him to run away.

The love line is given a significant part of the screen time.

  • © Shot from the series "Elizabeth"

Because of her father's will, the tsesarevna acquires enemies, including in the person of Vice-Chancellor Andrei Osterman (Agranovich), Prince Alexander Menshikov (Rakov) and even the mother of Catherine I (Steklova).

The environment of the young and naive Elizabeth is interested in gaining and retaining power.

Involuntarily, finding herself in a whirlpool of palace intrigues, she is faced with betrayal, hatred and a number of trials.

Many previously close people turn away from the princess, but faithful pages remain nearby, with the help of whom she is going to restore justice.

The authors of the series claim that many of the historical data and characters in the series are shown reliably.

Nevertheless, there is a lot of fiction in the tape. 

“Although we studied the history of that period in the most careful way, in nuances and details, we did not have the task of observing scrupulous historical accuracy.

Our film is a rather free fantasy on a theme, such an adventure fairy tale for adults, which, nevertheless, is based on historical facts and exact dates,” says director Dmitry Iosifov.

While working on the film, filmmakers focused on the works of famous Russian historians, and also drew inspiration from the novel "Peter the Great" by Alexei Tolstoy, the play "Assembly" by Pyotr Gnedich, the scripts by Oleg Osetinsky and Leonid Nekhoroshev for the serial film "Mikhailo Lomonosov" and other sources . 

According to the scriptwriters, one of the most difficult tasks was to recreate the oral speech of people living in the 18th century, since it, unlike the written one, has not been preserved.

In addition, speech differed among the estates, everyday language differed from the language of decrees.

When writing dialogues, the authors focused on the work of Alexei Tolstoy.

  • © Shot from the series "Elizabeth"

More than 50 actresses applied for the role of the main character, Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

Khlynina, according to the director, in the role of a 16-year-old princess looked more organic than others. 

“During the period of life that the series covers, the actions of the princess were largely dictated by sincerity and cordiality.

And I would like her human qualities, which I personally value highly, to be associated with her, rather than the fact that she loved balls, feasts, or that she was flirtatious and amorous, ”says Yulia Khlynina, the lead actress.

The actress practically did not make up, especially when she played the young Elizabeth.

To create an adult image, make-up artists and dressers added gems, rings and brooches to her costumes, and also complicated her hairstyles. 

On the set of the series, 330 wigs were used to make the picture correspond to the Peter the Great era.

One leading lady had four of them.

The costumes also attract attention, more than 500 of which were brought from Italy and Spain.

Their craftsmen manually decorated with embroidery and stones.

Special attention was paid to the costumes of the central characters - exact copies of historical samples were sewn.  

The tape was filmed in Moscow, Rostov, St. Petersburg and the surrounding area.

On the screen you can see the Oranienbaum palace and park ensemble, as well as the museum-estates of Kuskovo and Tsaritsyno.

Nature was filmed on the shores of the Gulf of Finland and in Dzerzhinsky near Moscow.

The necessary historical interiors were found in the St. Petersburg mansions of Kelkh and Polovtsov (now the House of the Architect), the abandoned palace of the merchants Brusnitsyn on Vasilyevsky Island, and also in the Moscow Yusupov-Volkov Palace.

Over a hundred extras took part in the assembly-ball scene at the Yusupovs.

For greater credibility, the actors were specially engaged in horseback riding. 

The series by Dmitry Iosifov is a vivid story about the path to autocracy of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna.

The authors of the tape not only showed the Petrine era, but also added modern dynamics to the plot, which, together with numerous palace intrigues, with each series, draws more and more into the maelstrom of imperial life.