An utterly delightful and absurd romp through "an occasionally true" story of Catherine The Great's rise to power. A powerhouse cast, great visual design and acerbic comedic writing all pull together for an entertaining ride that's short enough to not be tiresome.
The first three seasons were fresh, entertaining, and timely. Later seasons are lackluster or trying too hard.
A decent addition to the BBC Earth collection and Stephen Fry does a bang up job as narrator. The "constructed storytelling" and cgi can be jarring.
Fundamentally a teen soap with a paranormal bent. Other writers have far more adequately addressed the flaws of this show already so I won't repeat them here.