Volha (TV series)

Volha (Volga) is a comedy-drama television series directed by Jan Pachl. It is based on a book by Karel Hynie called Volha – záznam o provozu motorového vozidla. It starts broadcast on 2 April 2023. The series follows a Czechoslovak television chauffeur Standa Pekárek from 1970s to 1990s. It was filmed to celebrate 70th anniversary of television broadcast in the Czech Republic.

Plot
Communist Czechoslovakia in 1971. Standa Pekárek finishes his compulsory military service and became a chauffeur at Czechoslovak television. He dreams about getting his own Volha, driving for the humor and folk entertainment editorial office and driving Karel Gott. He is willing to do anything to fulfill his dream and thus he agrees to collaborate with State Security under codename Volha.

Cast

 * Kryštof Hádek as Standa Pekárek
 * Klára Melíšková as Mother Pekárková
 * Tomáš Jeřábek as producer Pepa Horáček
 * Aňa Geislerová as Director Vlasta Válová
 * Stanislav Majer as Cinematographer Zikmund
 * Aneta Krejčíková as Secretary Květa
 * Eliška Křenková as assistant Dáša
 * Lukáš Příkazký as Editor Zajíček
 * Bohumil Klepl as Director Truhlář
 * Jiří Dvořák as StB operative Labský
 * Přemysl Bureš as StB operative Šlégr
 * Robert Mikluš as Pavel Landovský
 * Vanda Hybnerová as Jungmanová
 * Jiří Lábus as Míla Vyhnálek
 * Martin Pechlát as Comrade Brabec
 * Kristína Svarinská as Pekárek's second wife Táňa

Reception
The series won 5 awards at 2023 Czech Lion Awards in categories Best Actor in Leading Role (for Kryštof Hádek), Best Supporting Actor (for Tomáš Jeřábek), Makeup and Hairstyling, Costume Design and Best TV Series. Along with Restore Point it was the most successful 2023 project according to number of won categories. Volha was the first television series to win the most categories at Czech Lion Awards.