Helen Mirren will play Catherine the Great in an HBO mini-series, which frankly, we all need right now

As much as we love The Crown, for starters, we can’t help but feel that television is still lacking in the royal show department. Which is why when news broke that HBO and Sky are working on a four-part mini-series called Catherine the Great, we couldn’t contain our excitement! And even better…

Taking on yet another regal role, Oscar winner Helen Mirren will star as Catherine the Great herself, the 18th-century Russian monarch. Honestly, from this casting tidbit alone, we already know that the show will be nothing short of phenomenal.

Directed by The Crown’s Philip Martin and written by Elizabeth I’s Nigel Williams, the series will chronicle the end of Catherine the Great’s reign, which was brought about by her affair with Grigory Potemkin.

"Catherine the Great delves into the politically tumultuous and sexually charged court of the most powerful female monarch in history," Deadline describes. "Catherine wielded supreme power throughout Russia for nearly half of the 18th century; strong-minded, independent, brilliantly intelligent and sexually liberated, she was the definition of the modern woman."

As more and more women are finding the courage to take back the power they deserve, this show is just what we need.

As is Mirren herself, the feminist, no-holds-barred industry legend who, by the way, isn’t new to starring in lavish period pieces. Mirren has a slew of royal roles under her belt, notably Queen Elizabeth II in The Queen (which she won an Oscar for) and Queen Charlotte in The Madness of King George (which earned her a Cannes Best Actress Award).

"I am very excited by the possibility of embodying a woman from history who grabbed and then wielded great power, Mirren said in a statement. “She rewrote the rules of governance by a woman, and succeeded to the extent of having the word Great attached to her name, Catherine the Great."

The show still doesn’t have a release date, but we’re crossing our fingers that it will be sooner rather than later because, hello, we can’t wait to meet Helen the Great!