New series starring Ewan McGregor is my TV pick of the week - Opinion

With so many streaming services and TV networks competing for our attention, the amount of content on offer can be overwhelming but to hopefully make your choice of viewing a little easier, I’ve picked out a TV series that should be well worth investing your time into, A Gentleman in Moscow

Starring Ewan McGregor, A Gentleman in Moscow is the actor’s first TV production since appearing in the Star Wars series, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and while his new project may take place in our own galaxy, it promises to be must-watch viewing for any fans of the Scottish actor.

What is A Gentleman in Moscow about?

Based on the 2016 international bestselling novel of the same name by Amor Towles, A Gentleman in Moscow tells the fictional tale of Count Alexander Rostov.

In the aftermath of the October Revolution of 1917, Rostov returns to Russia from Paris and thanks to his aristocratic ancestry, finds himself placed under house arrest by the newly empowered Bolsheviks.

Spared immediate execution, he is instead banished to the attic room of a grand Moscow hotel and is threatened with death should he ever step outside.

Over the course of the following decades, some of the most tumultuous in Russia’s history, Rostov’s exile gives him a newfound perspective, allowing him to see the true value of friendship, family and love.

Why it’s my TV pick of the week

Not only is A Gentleman in Moscow based on a book that earned huge critical acclaim but the TV adaptation has also earned rave reviews.

On the aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the series has debuted with an impressive 91% from its first 11 reviews.

The score means that it’s the best-reviewed TV series of Ewan McGregor’s career, earning a higher score than 2021’s Halston series, for which McGregor won an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series.

As a lifelong Star Wars fan, I’ve always had an interest in projects involving Ewan McGregor – while I’m on the subject, his travel docuseries Long Way Round, Long Way Down, and Long Way Up are all well worth a watch by the way – and I’m keen to see how the actor approaches the challenge of playing a character in such constant confinement.

Not only does the series feature McGregor in its lead role but his real-life wife Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Scott Pilgrim vs the World, Fargo, Star Wars: Ahsoka) features in the series, too, as a guest at the hotel and love interest of Count Rostov’s.

And finally, despite being set in Moscow, the series was actually filmed in several towns in northern England, specifically Liverpool, Bolton – not far from Manchester, as well as Halifax and Leeds in Yorkshire.

As someone who lives near these filming locations, I’m intrigued to see which local landmarks I can spot throughout the series. In the show’s trailer alone, the iconic Bolton Town Hall features in a prominent shot.

While some of these may be slightly selfish reasons to want to watch A Gentleman in Moscow on my part, Ewan McGregor is rarely an actor to let viewers down, making the series a fascinating prospect indeed.

A Gentleman in Moscow will be available from March 29 on Paramount+ with Showtime in the US and Paramount+ exclusively internationally.