If you’ve been looking to fill the gaping Succession-sized hole in your entertainment schedule, HBO is once again stepping up to the plate. The ratings juggernaut has just dropped the first trailer for The Regime, a new British political satire that stars Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet in her long-awaited return to the small screen. What’s more, the new series is helmed by Will Tracy and Frank Rich, the revered duo behind the Roy family saga. Succession in a political sphere? You had our curiosity… but now you have our attention.
The Regime marks Winslet’s third appearance in the HBO portfolio, following the criminally underrated Mildred Pierce and 2021’s blockbuster smash Mare of Easttown. This time around, Winslet plays Elena Vernham, a tough but fair chancellor of a “modern authoritarian regime”. However, when the delicate ecosystem within the iron walls begins to unravel, Vernham grows increasingly paranoid and unstable.
In response, she turns to a volatile soldier as an unlikely confidant and it isn’t long before he exercises his influence over the chancellor. With her power in dispute and her mindset fractured, Elena runs the risk of leaving the palace around her and the country she rules in ruins.
Judging by The Regime trailer, you can clearly see the influence of Tracy and Rich shine through. The snappy dialogue, expansive set designs and over-the-top exposition hark back to the early seasons of Succession and indeed, Rich’s previous work on the comedy masterpiece Veep. Winslet’s increasingly confused chancellor lands somewhere between Margaret Thatcher and Marie Antoinette, foreshadowing a dramatic demise that promises all-out carnage, but she isn’t alone.
The new HBO series is loaded with an all-star cast, that includes Matthias Schoenaerts, Guillaume Gallienne, Andrea Riseborough, Martha Plimpton and The Gentlemen‘s Hugh Grant. Behind the scenes, Tracy and Rich will serve as executive producers, with the former also taking on showrunning and writing duties, similar to Succession, albeit with help from Seth Reiss, Sarah DeLappe, Gary Shteyngart, Jen Spyra and Juli Weiner.
A six-episode limited series, The Regime is set to premiere in Australia on BINGE on March 4. You can watch the first trailer for the new political satire above.
