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  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z on BBC iPlayer
  • 1h
  • 7h (7 episodes)
  • United Kingdom
  • English, Russian
  • History, Documentary, War
What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of films by Adam Curtis.

7 episodes

Series Premiere

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x01 Part One - 1985 to 1989

Series Premiere

1x01 Part One - 1985 to 1989

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

Perestroika. The dream of saving communism. But no-one believes in anything any longer. The managers loot the system. Soldiers return defeated in the war to liberate Afghanistan.

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x02 Part Two - 1989 to 1991

1x02 Part Two - 1989 to 1991

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

There are no potatoes in Moscow. Things get worse. Then they get much worse as the rational Communist plan runs out of control everywhere. But McDonald’s opens in Moscow.

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x03 Part Three - 1991

1x03 Part Three - 1991

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

The empire strikes back. Hardliners attempt a coup. Power slips through their shaking hands. Oligarchs publish a manifesto. Money will replace all ideology. Yeltsin seizes power.

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x04 Part Four - 1992 to 1994

1x04 Part Four - 1992 to 1994

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

Russia goes through the mirror into a chaotic dream world where nothing is stable any more. Dream visions of Russia's imperial past start to rise up. People cannot afford food.

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x05 Part Five - 1993 to 1996

1x05 Part Five - 1993 to 1996

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

Russian society implodes. Millions of people fall into the abyss. Many live underground or in forests. The president attacks parliament with tanks saying he is saving democracy.

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x06 Part Six - 1994 to 1998

1x06 Part Six - 1994 to 1998

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

The group around the president believe a war in Chechnya will save him. Others want the war to restore the glory of the Russian empire. The Oligarchs seize control of practically everything. In the upside down world gangsters become heroes for defending democracy.

Season Finale

2022-10-12T23:00:00Z

1x07 Part Seven - 1995 to 1999

Season Finale

1x07 Part Seven - 1995 to 1999

  • 2022-10-12T23:00:00Z1h

Suddenly the western bankers leave. Oligarchs take control and search for a new president to be their puppet. They choose Putin. Russians turn against “the curse of democracy".

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