Peter I: The Last Tsar and the First Emperor

Peter I: The Last Tsar and the First Emperor (2022) is a docudrama by Andrei Kravchuk you can watch online on iFILM. Konstantin Khabensky guides the story off-screen, while Ivan Kolesnikov and Alexey Lukin carry the dramatized scenes.

The film asks blunt questions and then walks through the answers. How does a boy born well down the line of succession end up on the throne? How do you fight your way to the sea with no real navy and no modern army? How does a country nobody in Europe took seriously claw its way into the first rank within a single lifetime? Staged reenactments alternate with historians unpacking the shipyards, the battle at Poltava, the city raised on a swamp, and the brutal dismantling of the old boyar order.

This is solid historical television — handsome to look at, anchored by strong lead performances, and more interested in the ruler's stubborn character than in a flattering portrait. Worth a look if you like your history argued rather than recited. Stream Peter I: The Last Tsar and the First Emperor (2022) online on iFILM.