The comedy satire in which Volodymyr Zelenskiy unexpectedly becomes Ukraine’s president will be aired again on Netflix in the US.
The resurrection of the TV series Servant of the People comes amid a global outpouring of praise for the former comedian who is now leading his country’s fight against the Russian invasion. “You asked and it’s back,” Netflix announced.
On Tuesday, Zelenskiy received a standing ovation as he addressed the US Congress via video link with an impassioned plea for more weaponry and the establishment of a no-fly zone to help Ukraine survive the Russian invasion, which began on 24 February.
Before politics, Zelenskiy wrote and produced standup comedy shows, TV series and films, and sold tickets to live concerts.
Servant of the People sees Zelenskiy, who is now 44, play a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president after a video of him complaining about corruption goes viral.
Once elected, Zelenskiy’s character faces a difficult task to reform Ukraine, fight corruption and unify the nation despite resistance from politicians serving the interests of oligarchs. The show resonated with Ukrainians and audiences in other former Soviet countries
The first two seasons released in 2015 and 2017 were a hit. The series was also an integral part of Zelenskiy’s own triumphant presidential campaign in 2019.
The third season was released under the tagline The Choice in March 2019, just a few days before the first round of elections, and promotion of the show was planned to coincide with Zelenskiy’s real-life campaign. Clips from earlier seasons of the satire circulated on the campaign’s social media accounts, blurring the lines between Zelenskiy’s life and that of his on-screen character.
He was elected to the presidency in a landslide in 2019, securing more than 70% of the vote. Later that year, Zelenskiy’s personal fame and appeal helped his new party, named after the TV series, win parliamentary elections.
After Zelenskiy won the presidency, some of his friends and business partners from his film production business, Kvartal 95, joined his administration.
The French-German TV channel Arte has been showing Servant of the People online since 19 November, citing huge interest. Since the first days of the invasion, channels that have acquired the rights to air the series include Channel 4 in Britain, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV in Romania.
The series was first on Netflix from 2017 to 2021.
Agence France-Presse contributed to this report