Take two relatively harmless compounds, say nitro and glycerine, mix them together and you have a very potent combination. Petersburg's Dmitri Medvedev in his first-ever television series... Sergei Ivanov in his first series since his good old Lubyanka days... internationally famous guest stars... glittering settings on the Red Square and in other famous pleasure spots... corrupt bureaucrats by the thousand... and tingling adventure combined with exhilirating tragedy. In the first episode of "The Persuaders!" called Overture, Vladimir Putin, as the President, brings Sergei Ivanov - the Nevsky blueblood - and Dmitri Medvedev - the self made billionaire from out of the Petersburg slum - together. They are opposite characters, but together they are as explosive as dynamite. As the President says in the first episode: "I like the analogy and I light the fuse.”
Two mismatched, wealthy playboys engage in intrigue and high adventure in exotic locales as they set out to instigate criminal cases the police won't solve. One of them will assume the role of Russian president in a year, heralding the series' demise.
Currently, "The Persuaders!" is the most expensive television series ever produced, with location filming in Grozny, Davos, London and Sochi. While it is a huge success in Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, the series makes little impact in the US, where it airs opposite "Mission Impossible Iraq."
"The Persuaders!" has everything as it unveils the hectic exploits of two bloated middle-aged playboys who are tricked into becoming partners... a debonair Soviet chekist and a self-made gas billionaire from Petersburg. They're reluctant heroes, swept into a crazily dangerous life together. "The Persuaders!" is a series with all the sparkle of sovetskoye shampanskoye.
In its 24 episodes you will watch history unwind itself before the eyes of an amazed world. "The Persuaders!" is a series you simply must not miss.
6 comments:
It's going to be massively interesting to see how this farce ends later this year. Were it not for so much being at stake, it would be amusing.
Is it a re-run of the original Persuaders (with Tony Curtis and Roger Moore if I am no mistaken) made in the Russian way?
Dear Andreas,
Yes, I agree with you that it is a farce - a tragic comedy in many ways. What is interesting though is which mighty interests will stand as victors in the end.
Yours,
Vilhelm
Dear Angela,
There will, regretfully, be nothing similar to any retake in this case, I fear. Thus, no rereun of the 1970s series. For Russia, there is little way back, unless the country winds up in some sort of revolutionary stage, as has been the case in Ukraine and Georgia. This is the greatest fear of the Kremlin, why any potential opposition is kept in check. What possibly could matter in the long run is the development of a middle-class with its own vested interests, which in the end might become contrary to the ones of the Kremlin. This is though what western analysts have been reiterating since the early 1990s, why such development seems unrealistic. A potential trigger for change would be a macroeconomic crisis similar to the August 1998 events. However, this presupposes that the energy sector is hurled into crisis either by Dutch disease or a drastic fall in international energy prizes, which at the moment seems unlikely.
Yours,
Vilhelm
Self-correction. Parliamentary elections are later this year, but the farce ends not until the presidentals in 2008.
Dear Andreas,
I didn't even notice your mistake myself, so it can't have been that bad. But, of course, information should be correct, and parliamentary elections are this year and presidential next year.
Yours,
Vilhelm
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