Servant of the People (2015 TV series)

Servant of the People is a Ukrainian political satire comedy series created and produced by Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Zelenskyy stars as Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko, a high school history teacher in his thirties, who was unexpectedly elected president of Ukraine after finding instant fame when a student recorded a video of him delivering a profane rant against government corruption in his country and uploaded it to the internet. The series ran for three seasons between 2015 and 2019, and a film adaptation was released in 2016. The series was produced by Kvartal 95, a studio founded by Zelenskyy.

In 2018, the studio became involved in Ukrainian politics when a political party of the same name as the show was registered. While this was initially done to prevent others from using the name for "cynical political purposes", it quickly became active in Ukrainian politics, with Zelenskyy running as its candidate in the real-life 2019 Ukrainian presidential election against the incumbent Petro Poroshenko. Zelenskyy was elected president following a landslide victory in the second round election, winning 73% of the vote. He was sworn in as the president of Ukraine on 20 May 2019.

Plot Vasyl Petrovych Holoborodko (played by Volodymyr Zelenskyy) is a high school history teacher who rises to political prominence after a video of his outburst against government corruption goes viral. Without his knowledge, his students organize a crowdfunding campaign that secures his candidacy in Ukraine's presidential election, resulting in his victory.

Upon taking office, he is unprepared for the demands of political power. He rejects the traditional privileges of his position, choosing to live modestly and continuing to travel utilizing various forms of public transport. He works with a small team of initially skeptical but gradually loyal advisers to push reforms.

As President, Holoborodko confronts systemic corruption and oligarchic influence. He dismisses bodyguards, declines bribes, and objects when his family tries to exploit his new position for personal gain. He also exposes a corrupt prime minister by revealing a black ledger detailing insider transactions during a televised debate. Dream sequences and hallucinations of historical figures such as Abraham Lincoln and Che Guevara guide him on his journey.

Later seasons develop into ensemble narratives, showing Holoborodko and his cabinet navigating bureaucratic resistance, securing IMF support, and passing legislation against corruption.

Cast and characters

ActorsRole(s) NoteSeasons 1 (2015) 2 (2017) 3 (2019) Volodymyr ZelenskyyVasyl Petrovych Holoborodko,GrishaA high school history teacher in his thirties who is unexpectedly elected president of Ukraine following a rant against government corruption in his country being secretly filmed by one of his students and going viral. Zelenskyy also portrays Grisha, a government employee who underwent plastic surgery to serve as Holoborodko's body double.Main Stanislav BoklanYuriy Ivanovych Chuiko A corrupt politician who serves as the prime minister of Ukraine and is later exposed as an ally of the oligarchsMain Yevhen Koshovyi Serhiy Viktorovych Mukhin The minister of foreign affairs of Ukraine and a former actorMain Olena KravetsOlha Yuriyivna Mishchenko Vasyl's ex-wife; the director of the National Bank of Ukraine and later acting Prime MinisterMain Mykhaylo Ivanovych Sanin The minister of fiscal affairs of Ukraine.Main Mikhail Ashotovich Tasunyan The head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU)Main Oleksandr PikalovIvan Andriyovych Skoryk The minister of defence of Ukraine and a former navy captainMain Petro Vasylyovych Holoborodko Vasyl's fatherMain Svitlana Petrivna Sakhno Vasyl's sister and briefly first deputy of the Ukrainian tax serviceMain Nataliya SumskaMariya Stefanivna Holoborodko Vasyl's motherMain Minor Oksana Skovoroda Mukhin's secretaryMinor Main Heorhiy Povolotskyy Tolya The Chief of Security and a bodyguard in Vasyl's security detail, dismissed after Vasyl decides his security is excessiveMinor Main Dmytro Surzhykov Dmytro Vasylyovych Surikov Prime Minister of Ukraine, former chairman of the supervisory board of the National BankMinor Main Halyna Bezruk (Season 1)Anastasia Chepelyuk (Season 2)Anna MykhailivnaThe General Adviser to the President, formerly from the Development Department, and Vasyl's mistress, who is later exposed as an ally of the oligarchs Natasha SakhnoThe President's nieceValentyna IshchenkoBella RudolfivnaThe President's secretaryStepan KazaninSpeechwriterThe President's assistant/speechwriter

Minor roles Actor / actress Role NoteOleksiy KiryushchenkoSerhiy Pavlovych Former presidentTetyana PechonkinaNina Yehorivna TretyakVasyl's teacher in school, briefly head of the SBUYuriy HrebelnykPlatoOleksiy VertinskySergey SusseldorfDesigner (Episode 5) / Louis XVI (Episode 20)Oleh Maslennykov OligarchOligarchOlena Bondareva-RepinaRaisa AndriivnaSchool principalOleksiy SmolkaSerhiy Leonidovych KarasyukLeader of a factionAnastasiya KarpenkoYana KlymenkoOpposition journalistMykhailo AugustAndriy Volodymyrovych YakovlevMinister of CultureDanilo OskinMykhailo SemenovychOligarchVitaliy IvanchenkoVitalii RomanchenkoMP from the Dobrobut factionRinat KhabibulinDimaVasyl's sonOleksandr DanylchenkoNikolay Pavlovych PylypenkoChief of the Housing and Maintenance Office (ZhEK)Alexander Ignatusha Judge/Monk SebastianJudge/MonkNazar ZadniprovskyyNazar DobryvechirMayor of ZaporizhzhiaAndriy RomaniyPolitical talk show hostDmytro MelenevskyKarasyuk's bodyguardAndriy DanylkoVerka SerduchkaUkrainian pop singerDarya PitsulJournalist

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1

Season 2: From Love to Impeachment

Season 3: Choice

Development

Production Concept: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Andriy Yakovlev, Oleksiy Kiryushchenko, Serhiy Shefir, Borys Shefir Scriptwriters: Andriy Yakovlev, Oleksiy Kiryushchenko, Yuriy Kostyuk, Yuriy Mykulenko, Dmytro Hryhorenko, Mykhailo Savin, Dmytro Kozlov, Oleksandr Bragin Directed by: Oleksiy Kiryushchenko Cinematographer: Serhiy Koshel Production designer: Vadim Shinkaryov Composer: Andriy Kiryushchenko Soundtrack: Dmitry Shurov, Potap, and Nastya Make-up artist: Nina Kremeshna-Lavrinenko Costume designer: Veronika Yatsenko Executive producer: Victor Yarish Creative producer: Yuri Kostyuk Producers: Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Borys Shefir, Serhiy Shefir, Andriy Yakovlev, Oleksiy Kiryushchenko

Release Servant of the People originally aired on the 1+1 channel in Ukraine. with all episodes being posted for free on YouTube. Select countries would later receive the first season on Netflix in 2017. However, in 2021, Netflix lost licensing rights. In March 2022, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Netflix re-licensed the first season, and in May 2022, added the second and third seasons for over 33 countries. The Netflix release combines the first two episodes into one in both seasons one and two, resulting in 23 episodes instead of 24 for both seasons.

Belarusian TV channel Belarus-1 began broadcasting the show in evening prime time on November 11, 2019. The Russian channel TNT aired the pilot episode of the show's first series on December 11, 2019, claiming it did so as "a marketing move to raise awareness of the platform". TNT cut a scene from the episode in which president-elect Holoborod'ko asked if Russian President Vladimir Putin wore a Hublot watch, a joke referring to a well-known anti-Putin chant in Ukraine, and stopped airing the show after a day.

In the United States, HITN presents the series in a Spanish-language version. Jewish Life Television carries the series in its original Russian and Ukrainian languages, with English subtitles.

Sequels

A film adaptation of the series, Servant of the People 2, was released in 2016. The second season utilized footage from the film to expand on its plot and was released in 2017, bringing the movie into the series' main continuity.

Impact

2019 Zelenskyy would later mirror his character's rise to political power by being elected President of Ukraine in 2019. After his victory was announced, Zelenskyy walked onto the stage at his campaign headquarters with the show's theme playing.

2022 In the wake of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine and Zelenskyy's wartime leadership, the show's popularity received a notable boost. Broadcasting rights have been requested by various foreign companies. On March 16, Netflix announced that season 1 of the series would be available to US streamers again due to popular demand. On May 16, Netflix added the 2nd and 3rd seasons.

Broadcasting rights

In 2022, Zelenskyy, serving as president during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, received international attention, which corresponded with increased interest in the series.

Remakes An American remake of Servant of the People was ordered by Hulu, with British writer Simon Farnaby involved in its development, but the show was later shelved. After the premiere of the original show, the rights to create a Poland-based remake were bought by Okil Khamidov; however, no film studios showed interest. In 2022, in the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and Zelenskyy's wartime leadership, the popularity of the original show increased internationally, causing Polsat, a Polish television network, to express interest in the remake's creation and to begin its production. This show, also titled Servant of the People, premiered on 4 March 2023. It was created by Khamidov, directed by Khamidov and Maciej Bieliński, produced by Polot Media, and distributed by Polsat. It currently features one season of 24 episodes, with a second season in production. Khamidov sent the first episode of the series to Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who reportedly approved of it.

Servant of the People (2015 TV series)

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