If you’re a lover of historical fiction, you may well have read Amor Towles’ best-selling novel A Gentleman in Moscow, which released a few years ago and found a captive audience, counting the now Queen consort Camilla amongst its fans. Unsurprisingly, a TV adaptation was soon in the works, and now at long last Paramount Plus is set to bring the mini-series to its platform this month.

Star Wars and Trainspotting star Ewan McGregor, who you can also see in indie film Bleeding Love in cinemas this month stars as Count Alexander, a man confined to a hotel room in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. Here’s everything we know so far:

What do we know about A Gentleman in Moscow?

A Gentleman in Moscow is set in Russia following the Russian Revolution, with the wealthy Count Alexander Rostov (McGregor) being spared execution by a Bolshevik court, and is instead sentenced to remain in house arrest in an attic room in a hotel in Moscow. Unable to leave, and having never had to work a day in his life, Alexander only has his own quiet thoughts and other residents in the hotel for company, as he searches for a new purpose in life. The two people he grows closest two in the Hotel Metropol are Nina (Lockwood and Co.’s Alexa Goodall), a young girl with a precocious attitude whom he befriends, and the actress Anna Urbanova (Ahsoka star Mary Elizabeth Winstead)

While confined to the walls of the hotel, Alexander misses out on decades of transformative history occurring in the outside world, but goes on his own journey of emotional discovery and change. The miniseries aims to bring the same charm and philosophy that made the novel a best-seller into live action, with series creator Ben Vanstone saying in an interview with Vanity Fair “It’s trying to capture the whole breadth of human existence in a television show, which is a bold mission to try and achieve”. Across the show’s eight episodes, the Count’s journey from an unapologetic aristocrat to a more contemplative figure unfolds as we see more of not just his life but the hotel itself.

A Gentleman in Moscow’s official trailer unveils our first proper look at the series, beginning with Alexander’s sentencing and accepting his fate of being locked away. Meeting the young Nina (“I like your moustache” she comments) and Anna, he discovers a new lease of life that he didn’t realise he could have: “They can take away your house, they can take away everything- but they can’t take away who they are.” The series begins on 29th March on Paramount Plus, and you can watch the trailer below.

Want more historical fiction? Apple TV+’s assassination drama Manhunt also releases this month 

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