‘The Empress’ Creator Katharina Eyssen On Feeling A “Mix Of Emotions” As Netflix Hit Ends, Spin-Off Potential & Upcoming Series ‘Witches’

EXCLUSIVE: Katharina Eyssen is reflecting on the “mix of emotions” around the end of Netflix‘s royal hit The Empress, but she’s already got one eye on what the future holds.

The German showrunner told Deadline she has considered how expand the European period drama franchise, though nothing is currently in the works as she moves on to her next Netflix series, Witches. We revealed news of the show, which will be one of the streamer’s biggest budget European originals and is about German witch hunts in the 1700s, back in February.

As for the future The Empress (Die Kaiserin), which stars Devrim Lingnau as Empress Elisabeth of Austria in 19th century Europe, Eyssen has looked at another Netflix showrunner for inspiration. “I’m impressed by what Shonda Rhimes is doing with Bridgerton, with one spin-off here and another there,” she said in an exclusive interview with Deadline.

“Some of the [Empress] characters are finished, given where we leave them historically, but there could be possibilities to go back in time and tell an origin story, or a childhood or youth story. There is also material in the stories of Elizabeth’s children. I’m not pitching this, but there would be material for anyone who is interested. Perhaps we can all sleep on it and see how Season 3 does.”

The third and final season of The Empress launches globally tomorrow (November 12) with a world premiere held in Berlin last night. Eyssen and her husband, Robert Eyssen, who is the series’ co-showrunner, were among those attending at the Delphi Filmpalast alongside the likes of Lingnau and co-star Philip Froissant. Here are some images from the event.

Per a trailer released last month, Season 3 sees Elisabeth (or Sisi) dealing with the rejection and unfaithful behavior of Emperor Franz (Philip Froissant), who returns traumatized from the Sardinian War. Sisi decides to leave Vienna and set off to a distant island to recover her health and distance herself from her European troubles, and soon meets the leader of the Hungarian revolution, Count Andrássy (Dejan Bućin). They immediately share a strong physical and emotional attraction.

Eyssen reflected on the show’s ending, saying it makes “total sense” to stop at this stage. “It’s a mix of emotions,” she added. “I’m relieved and happy that we are able to finish the series on our own terms. We knew while I was writing it that the story really has an ending. On the other hand, I’m sad. The working relationship with so many people in this particular ensemble and this particular combination has come to an end.

“It’s satisfying to end on a high note, while the show is still successful, people are still enjoying it, we are still friends and we still love the work. The idea of a band breaking up while it is still on top always sounded strange to me, but now it makes total sense. It would feel awful to be cancelled or to drag the show on for another season when nobody was enjoying it any more.”

Eyssen, who was showrunner and head writer through the three seasons, praised series star Lingnau, saying their working life together had been a “gift,” and added execs at Netflix had told her “the character is incredibly popular” with audiences.

She also extolled the virtues of her husband, who edited Season 1 before becoming a more hands-on exec producer in Season 2, taking over the entire visual side of the production. “Writing the show and then creatively leading every part of it is too much for one person,” said Eyssen of her Season 1 experience.

Staying respectful during creative process

Given the size of The Empress and the relative scarcity of German Netflix original, The Empress was always going to be heavily scrutinized by both the streamer and creative teams. Eyssen, who is one of a relatively small number of European showrunners who’ve worked at this scale, gave a measured assessment of how the process worked.

She began by referencing her time making 2018 Netflix miniseries Holiday Secrets, aka Zeit der Geheimnisse, before noting that the scale of The Empress meant there was “inevitably conflict, which is completely normal.”

This was partly down her and the producer, Sommerhaus Serien, having never attempted a historical drama of such ambition, and the effects of the Covid-19 lockdown, which “created disagreements” over “how European” the show should be, whether it should be “edgier” and how brazenly commercial it would be on screen.

“I was lucky to work with Eva van Leeuwen, who is now the head of German series at Netflix,” she added. “During Season 1, she was the executive on our show. We deeply respect each other. Through all the ups and downs and the disagreements, which are normal in any creative process, we always remained good colleagues, friends even.

“I respect Netflix for trusting me and my team. The show is as good as it is because sometimes they followed us, other times I came around to their point of view. We had to find common ground, and that made the show what it is.”

Van Leeuwen is also attached to Witches, along with exec producer Scarlett Lacey, who wrote the original script and treatment for Paramount’s 2001 movie the Save the Last Dance, is another returning. The Empress producer Sommerhaus is making the series.

“I have always wanted to do this,” said Eyssen. “After our first project with Netflix – a small miniseries, really a three-part film – they asked in 2019 whether we wanted to work together again, perhaps on a historical series. I said I wanted to tell the story of the witch hunts in Germany, a dark and significant chapter of our history that is not as well known because we have other very dark chapters in our history. I asked, ‘What about the witch craze?'”

Quizzed on when Witches might debut, Eyssen said: “I’m writing at the moment, which is always the hardest part. Sometimes I think, ‘Never,’ because writing is so difficult, but hopefully we can get it done within the next two years.”

Speaking of timeframes, the interview also stretched into the debate over the long lengths of time between seasons on streaming services – The Empress‘s third season launch tomorrow comes two years after the second, for example.

The likes of Katherine Pope, the Sony Pictures Television President, have in recent years advocated for shorter gaps, while the fall-off in ratings between first and second seasons on Netflix shows such as Beef, The Four Seasons and A Good Girl’s Guide To Murder have added fuel to fire around the “sophomore slump” phenomena.

On a personal level, Eyssen said the gap “should be shorter,” but put this down to a German TV-making sensibility of productions taking as long as needed. “Now I understand more, partly because of my own behaviour as a viewer: Two years is a long time. You need a very strong commitment from fans and viewers for them to return to a show after two years. I respect and understand that.

“Showrunners working on recurring shows of this size was a new concept for us in Germany, so we did not yet have the tools to work more efficiently. Now we may be experienced enough to get it done more quickly. We can distribute the work differently. Perhaps I would not need to be on set as much, and I could start writing earlier. We are learning as we go.”

The Empress may be leaving the court, but Eyssen sounds ready for her next her royal appointment.