1983 (TV series)

The series is set in 2003; 20 years after a coordinated terrorist attack took place on multiple sites in Poland in 1983 which altered the course of history. The Iron Curtain (and probably the Berlin Wall) is still in place and the Cold War did not end. Law student Kajetan (Maciej Musiał) and Citizens' Militia investigator Anatol (Robert Więckiewicz) uncover a conspiracy that could potentially start a revolution.

{{Essay-like|date=June 2023}}

The story is set in a gloomy and cold Warsaw, where dilapidated, grimy Soviet-style apartment blocks stand side by side with futuristic and imposing government and police buildings. The secret police of the Security Bureau now use computer surveillance mechanisms, tracking cell phones and digitizing citizens' data (classified according to their "level of danger").{{cite news |last1=Lorusso |first1=Leo |title=1983: dalla Polonia su Netflix una serie distopica di culto ∂ Fantascienza.com |url=https://www.fantascienza.com/24214/1983-dalla-polonia-su-netflix-una-serie-distopica-di-culto}} People need to scan their digital ID cards before entering government buildings, leaving a record of their activities.

Society is run by the "Party", a privileged elite who enjoy a good education, high economic and social status, and live in gated compounds. The rest of the population is uninterested in politics and are distracted by escapism and consumerism, at least for goods that are not censored or prohibited. Many Western books are censored. The "Light Brigade", a group of young resistance fighters, oppose this dictatorship.

Poland is imagined to have seen massive immigration from Indochina, and in particular from the socialist republic of Vietnam. Some night scenes set in overcrowded Asian neighborhoods hint at Ridley Scott's Blade Runner.

There are few explicit references to communism in the series (no statues of Lenin in the streets, no red stars on uniforms or revolutionary chants). The regime created an Orwellian state, whose sole ideological goal is the suppression of dissent and the control of individuals.

File:MJK32641 Agnieszka Holland (Pokot, Berlinale 2017) crop.jpg, one of the series directors.]]

• Maciej Musiał as Kajetan Skowron
• Robert Więckiewicz as Anatol Janów
• Michalina Olszańska as Ofelia Ibrom
• Zofia Wichłacz as Karolina Lis
• Andrzej Chyra as Władysław Lis

• Ewa Błaszczyk as Maria Gierowska
• Edyta Olszówka as Julia Stępińska
• Agnieszka Żulewska as Maja Skowron
• Wojciech Kalarus as Mikołaj Trojan
• Mirosław Zbrojewicz as Kazimierz Świętobór
• Patrycja Volny as Dana Rolbiecki
• Vu Le Hong as Bao Chu ("Uncle")
• Clive Russell as William Keating
• Mateusz Kościukiewicz as Kamil Zatoń

{{Episode table |background=#191970 |overall= |title= |director= |writer= |airdate= |airdateR={{cite web |title=1983 - Episodes Guide and Summaries |url=https://next-episode.net/1983/season-1 |website=Next Episode |access-date=26 November 2018}} |country=Poland |episodes={{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 1

|Title = Entanglement

|AltTitle = Uwikłanie

|DirectedBy = Agnieszka Holland and Katarzyna Adamik

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary = It is set in 2003 in a totalitarian Poland, after Poland suffered a series of massive terrorist bombings in 1983. The Cold War never ended, so the Iron Curtain remains in place. A young law student and a jaded old detective are starting to discover evidence of a conspiracy and they learn about the Light Brigade, a resistance movement.

|LineColor =#191970

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 2

|Title = Rollback

|DirectedBy = Agnieszka Holland and Katarzyna Adamik

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor = 000

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 3

|Title = Alignment

|AltTitle = Układ

|DirectedBy = Katarzyna Adamik

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor =#191970

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 4

|Title = Blowback

|AltTitle = Reperkusje

|DirectedBy = Katarzyna Adamik

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor =#191970

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 5

|Title = Sanctuary

|AltTitle = Sanktuarium

|DirectedBy = Olga Chajdas

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor =#191970

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 6

|Title = Subversion

|AltTitle = Zdrada

|DirectedBy = Olga Chajdas

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor =#191970

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 7

|Title = Mayday

|DirectedBy = Agnieszka Smoczyńska

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor =#191970

}}

{{Episode list

|EpisodeNumber = 8

|Title = Requiem

|DirectedBy = Katarzyna Adamik

|WrittenBy = Joshua Long

|OriginalAirDate = {{Start date|2018|11|30}}

|ShortSummary =

|LineColor =#191970

}}

}}

On 6 March 2018, Netflix announced that the series was in production, consisting of 8 episodes.{{Cite web |url=https://media.netflix.com/en/press-releases/the-first-polish-netflix-original-series-is-currently-in-production |title=1983: The first Polish Netflix original series is currently in production |website=Netflix Media Center |date=7 March 2018 |access-date=13 November 2018 }} On 2 October 2018, the first teaser trailer was released, with the series set to premiere globally on 30 November.

A second season is being considered.{{Cite web| url=https://antyweb.pl/2-sezon-1983-powstaje-komentarze-opinia/ | title=Powstaje 2. sezon 1983. Czy polski serial Netflix powinien wrócić? | language=pl | date=2019-10-11}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title}}
• [https://www.netflix.com/title/80205593 1983] on Netflix

{{Netflix original ended series (2012–2018)|state=collapsed}}

Category:Netflix television dramas

Category:Polish-language television shows

Category:2018 Polish television series debuts

Category:Alternate history television series

Category:Television series set in 2003

Category:Television shows set in Poland

Category:Television shows set in Warsaw

Category:Television series about the Cold War

Category:Dystopian television series

Category:Polish spy television series

Category:Polish speculative fiction television series

Category:Multilingual television series