The Zelensky Story
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- Episode
- Episode One - The Comedian and the Dictator
- Broadcast Info
- 2024 (59 mins)
- Description
- With unique access to Volodymyr Zelensky and Olena Zelenska, this episode charts Zelensky’s extraordinary journey from aspiring comedian to president of his country. Opening with the collapse of the Soviet Union - an event which had a profound effect on Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in very different ways - it features rarely seen footage of Putin in the early 1990s describing the collapse of the USSR as a "tragedy". Alongside archive footage of a young Zelensky performing, his wife, childhood friends and former colleagues describe how Zelensky became a amous comedian both in Ukraine and in Russia, at one point cracking an early gag about Putin. He goes on to win Ukraine’s Dancing with the Stars, and becomes the voice of Paddington Bear. In 2014 the Maidan Revolution sparks an initial political awakening in Zelensky. When he is asked to go on live TV, he chooses to speak out against the corrupt Ukrainian president and, extraordinarily, addresses Putin directly. Zelensky goes on to produce and star in a hit TV show about an ordinary Ukrainian who becomes president of his country, called Servant of the People. It proves to be a remarkable foreshadowing. As Zelensky’s star continues to rise, First Lady Olena Zelenska makes a jaw-dropping revelation - he didn’t tell her that he had decided to run for president in real life. She recalls how she discovered the news along with the rest of the nation, while watching TV. President Zelensky responds by looking directly down the lens and apologising to his wife. As the episode comes to a close, Mrs Zelenska reveals, for the first time, that she had a faint hope her husband would not win the election.
- Genre
- History; Politics; Government
How to cite this record
The Open University, "The Zelensky Story". https://learningonscreen.ac.uk/ou/search/index.php/prog/250797 (Accessed 18 Apr 2025)