The TV series The Servant of the People is a political satire from 2015 that came out in three seasons, where the then actor and comedian Volodymyr Zelenskyj plays a history teacher who by chance becomes an oligarch-fighting president.
In 2016 came a feature film based on the same story.
The feature film is shown on SVT in connection with the All Sweden Gathering gala.
SVT has not yet decided when the series will be shown.
- Many of us who follow the war in Ukraine are now interested in Zelensky and this is an important piece of the puzzle in his history.
It was this that actually led to him becoming president, says Eva Beckman, program director at Swedish Television.
Great interest after the invasion
The servants of the people were successful in their homeland and became very popular internationally, not least when the series' action became a reality and Zelensky was elected president of Ukraine in 2019. After the invasion of Ukraine, interest in the series has increased macabre worldwide.
Since both the TV series and the film contain strong scenes that should not be associated with reality, the content will be contextualized on SVT Play.
- We will tell about the people's servants and why it came into being.
Since Zelenskyj has been seen in all the news in a different situation over the past month, it feels important to give the audience help in understanding that it is a fictional series, says Eva Beckman.
- It should be remembered that it is an important part of Zelenskyj's and in fact part of the history of modern Ukraine, which means that there are reasons for the audience to see it.