Prime Minister (TV Series)

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Ekipa
DVD case of the first two episodes of the series.
Format	Series
Created by	Agnieszka Holland Magdalena Łazarkiewicz Katarzyna Adamik
Starring	Janusz Gajos Andrzej Seweryn Marcin Perchuć Krzysztof Stroiński Katarzyna Herman
Country of origin	Poland
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	14
Production
Running time	55 minutes (approximate)
Broadcast
Original channel	Polsat
Original run	September 13, 2007 – December 6, 2006
External links
Official website

Ekipa (English title: Prime Minister) is a Polish political drama TV series created and directed by Agnieszka Holland, aired from September 13, 2007 until December 6, 2007 (there are rumors about planed second season) in Polsat. Ekipa is the second Polish political fiction series after the 1980s miniseries The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma.

1 Creators
2 Plot
3 Characters
4 Real-life inspiration
5 Political parties in Ekipa
6 References

[edit] Creators

Series is directed by three directors - Agnieszka Holland, Magdalena Łazarkiewicz and Katarzyna Adamik, and produced by ATM Grupa and Grupa Filmowa. Copyrights are owned by Telewizja Polsat. Script has been created by Dominik Wieczorkowski-Rettinger i Wawrzyniec Smoczyński.

[edit] Plot

The action of the series is set in present day Poland. The story begins when Prime Minister and legendary opposition leader during Communist rule Henryk Nowasz of "Polist Centre Bloc" (Polski Blok Centrum) was suspected for being an agent of former Communist security services. Nowasz decided to resign in order to prevent of government downfall and proposed non-partisan 37-year old Professor of Economy and Political Sciences Konstanty Turski, his friend and an unofficial advisor, to became a caretaker until he would prove his innocence. Turski was narrowly confirmed by the Sejm, with silent opposition of coalition party, "Right-wing for Poland" (Prawica dla Polski), whose leader, Jan Matajewicz, soon became his archenemy, with support of his party colleague, President Juliusz Szczęsny and both far-right and left-wing opposition parties. Turski, however, soon proved to be an effective (but idealistic and unconventional) leader, but his administration is involved with serious odds with other politicians. The key ally of Matajewicz is deputy Sejm Marshal Krystyna Sochaczewska, a longtime Nowasz's friend from opposition and his successor as party leader.

[edit] Characters

Henryk Nowasz (Janusz Gajos), former Prime Minister and PBC leader
Konstanty Turski (Marcin Perchuć), Prime Minister
Julian Szczęsny (Andrzej Seweryn), President
Jan Matajewicz (Marek Frąckowiak), acting Sejm Marshal, PDP leader, briefly Acting President after Szczęsny's death
Krystyna Sochaczewska (Bogusława Schubert), PBC leader and Sejm Marshal
Adam Niemiec (Krzysztof Stroński), chief of the Prime Minister's chancellery
Aleksandra Pyszny (Katarzyna Herman), chief of the Prime Minister's political cabinet
Hubert Kowerski (Rafał Maćkowiak), spokesman of the government
Julia Rychter (Katarzyna Gniewkowska), Chief of the Prime Minister's economic advisory team
Dorota (Agnieszka Grochowska), Niemiec's assistant
Mateusz Bonowicz (Marcin Bosak), Prime Minister's assistant
Dr Jan Guss (Marek Kalita), Prime Minister's economic advisor
Boczek (first name unknown) (Ryszard Kotys), Deputy Prime Minister
Naruszewski (first name unknown) (Maciej Banach), Leader of the far-right
Paulina Turska (Aleksandra Justa), Turski's wife
Marta Kołodziejczyk (Ewa Kutynia), journalist, Kowerski's former wife

[edit] Real-life inspiration

Fictional politicians in Ekipa are often said to be an "TV alternative" for then National Conservative administration of the Law and Justice^[1]. Series creators also mention The West Wing^[2] as a model.

However, there are some significant smillarities to other U.S. political drama - Commander in Chief. Like Mackenzie Allen, Turski became a leader very aicidentally. Also his chief opponent is Sejm Marshal, which could remind odds between Allen and Speaker of the House Nathan Templeton. Third of all: Turski preserved all cabinet of his precedessor just as Allen did, despite lack of loyalty from number of ministers.

Nowasz's PBC is said to be based on former Freedom Union, while Matajewicz's PDP on Law and Justice.

[edit] Political parties in Ekipa

Sejm political parties in Ekipa^[3]:

Polish Centist Party (Polski Blok Centrowy) - largest party in parliament, ruling in coalition with PDP. Centrist political positions. PBC composing people's with both left (i.e. Niemiec) and right-wing leaning (Nowasz, Sochaczewska). Has 184 Sejm seats (40%)
Right for Poland (Prawica Dla Polski) - national-conservative, second largest in Sejm. Headed by Matajewicz. President is also a former PBC leader and it's founder. 92 seats (20%)
United Left (Zjednoczona Lewica) - ruling party during previous term. Modeled on real-life SLD or LiD. Social democratic. 74 seats (16%)
Patriotic Convent (Konwent Patriotyczny) - far-right wing. Modeled on real-life League of Polish Families. Hard-core anti-European Union. 64 seats (14%)
Agrarians - modeled on real-life Polish People's Party. 43 seats (9.5%). Smallest Sejm party