THE EMPRESS

TRUE STORY OF

FORBIDDEN LOVE

Fans of The Crown and Victoria will find a lot to relish in this new German-language period drama series set during the 19th century. Chockful of romance, jealousy, politics, back-biting and soulsearching, it tells the true story of Sisi (Devrim Lingnau, above), a free-spirited German noblewoman who travels to the court of the Austro-Hungarian Empire when her elder sister is suggested as a possible match for the Emperor Franz Joseph. However, when the young ruler falls for Sisi rather than her sister, she finds herself caught up in a whirl of intrigue as she struggles against court life and the disapproval of Franz’s family, especially his domineering mother, Archduchess Sophie. From Thursday