Salatut elämät


Salatut elämät is a Finnish television soap opera that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999.
During the series' 21-year run, over 3,700 episodes have been aired, making it the longest running drama in television in the Nordics. On 12 June 2017, it was announced that Salatut elämät will be on the air until the summer 2023 making the series the longest-lasting drama series of all time in Finland. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment block in Helsinki. The series primarily centres on the residents of Pihlajakatu and its neighbouring areas. Only six of the original twenty characters Ismo, Kalle, Ulla, Aki, Kari and Elina still remain in the series, and most of the series' current characters have made their debuts in 2014 or later.
MTV3 also airs reruns of the series every weekend. In the summer, the channel airs reruns of the series; in the summer of 2014, episodes from the season 2009–2010 were aired.
Eight web spin-off series have been made; Romeo & Rafael Desperados in 2008, Lillukanvarsia in 2010–2011, Tuuliranta in 2011–2012, Young Man Cash Man in 2013, Young Girl, Dream Girl in 2014, Satula in 2015, Bikineitä ja timantteja in 2016 and Pihlajakadun tuhmat tädit in 2016–2017.
On 5 December 2012, the first Salatut elämät movie was released. The teen thriller movie Nightmare – Painajainen merellä was one of the most watched Finnish films of 2012. The film was directed by Marko Äijö and the main characters are Peppi, Heidi, Jiri, Joonatan, Miro, Oona and Sampo. Nightmare - Painajainen merellä also won the Jussi Award in the category Public Favorite. A second film, called Nightmare 2 was released in December 2014.
The show's gay storyline between Elias and Lari, nicknamed "Larias", initially proved very popular on YouTube. Scenes featuring their storyline were uploaded by a user called "missfinlandia88". As her account got terminated, she created a new one, "Elias' Story". She claims to have had the permission of MTV3 and FremantleMedia to post the clips. Elias was killed off in November 2016 but was seen in some dream scenes later on. The final parts, up to 459, can be seen on the "Lauri K" channel on YouTube.

The starting position of the series

At the beginning of the series, at the request of caretaker Seppo Taalasmaa and his wife Ulla, the police have come to investigate why Tyyne Puustinen does not open the door. He is found dead in his apartment and police begin to find out the cause of death. The couple later tells about their event to their daughter Elina Taalasmaa.
Aki Nikkinen and Markus Ekholm have been looking for a suitable retail space for their café for a long time and will eventually find a suitable one. Katja Vainio promises to be an interior designer. Katja's sister and roommate Jenni has brought a gentleman Toni Veijalainen to her home. Jenni receives a letter stating that she has been expelled from school due to continued absences. At the same time, the subsidies also run out, so Jenni asks Toni to be their subtenant.
Jukka Salin and his new wife Hanna return home from the Canary Islands. At home, they are received by Aleksi, who has just left the army, the middle child of the family Saku and the family pit Silja. Hanna and Jukka reveal to the children that they got married during the trip. Saku and Aleksi are happy about Hanna's move to them, but Silja doesn't take the news well, and it doesn't help that Silja hears that Aleksi knew about her marriage intentions.
Ismo Laitela lives next door to Salin family, who is the widow of two teenage children, Miia and Kalle. Ismo works as a retailer in a kiosk-like store called Ismon Valinta. Lawyer Laura Kiviranta lives alone as a sworn single.

Themes

The series has dealt with a wider range of subjects such as abortion, drug abuse, alcoholism, homosexuality, incest, animal rights, rape, religious fanaticism, gambling addiction, teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, cancer, eating disorder, school bullying, narcissistic personality disorder and its effects to the family, the search of biological parents, stealing and racism; many episodes involving these themes have caused public debate.
An exceptionally widespread controversy was started by the season finale aired on 1 June 2009. In the episode, a pregnant woman, Paula Sievinen, was seemingly buried alive and a café exploded during a wedding celebration, which implied death of many main characters. Many, including Finland's Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén, questioned the show's suitability for school children. FICORA decided later that the episode was not suitable for children under the age of 11, but the show's programming slot was late enough to meet the regulations. In 2013, the original main character Jenni Vainio played by Anu Palevaara, was shot on front of the main house and it caused a lot of talk among the fans of the series. Jenni left the series after 14 years presence. However, producer Marko Äijö said that the biggest sensation of the series was in the early days, when Kalle Laitela, played by Pete Lattu, kissed another man. At that time, the channel MTV3 received over 40 meters of fax about the kiss.
During the series' entire run in Finland, a 30-minute episode has aired every weekday in an early-evening slot at 7:30 pm. A new season usually premieres in either late August or early September and concludes by the beginning of June. Normally, the series is on a hiatus during the Christmas holidays, approximately 3 or 4 weeks. The series' episodes are also available online at the website http://katsomo.fi/ for 30 days after their original airing.

Settings

Salatut elämät's main focus is the fictional street Pihlajakatu, located in Ullanlinna, Helsinki. Other locations include a high school, a hospital, Café Moose and an inn, Amanda, which contains the hotel, a restaurant and a gym Amadeus. Former "main café" was Kentauri which, however, exploded during a wedding celebration in the season finale of the 11th season.
All of the houses and other locations featured in the show are filmed at the FremantleMedia studio in Konala, Helsinki. In real life, Pihlajakatu is Huvilakatu, which is located in Ullanlinna, Helsinki. Salatut elämät has also filmed scenes in Tampere and in Lapland. A few episodes have also been filmed in the Canary Islands, Lithuania and London.

Theme song

The original theme song was called Tunteisiin and performed by Anna Hanski but in 2001, the theme was changed to a version performed by Jore Marjaranta. In 2004, the theme song was replaced by an electronic version of the theme music. In 2014, the theme song was switched back to the original one, first heard on 1999. In 2019, the series got completely new theme song again.

Television ratings

Since its first episode aired in January 1999, it has been one of the most popular TV shows in Finland, regularly attracting around a million viewers. At the moment Salatut elämät is the highest-rated drama series in Finland, although its viewership has declined during the past few years.
SeasonEpisodesTimeslotSeason premiereSeason finaleTV seasonMost-watched episode
1.90Weekdays 7:30 p.m.25 January 19993 June 199919991.191
2.170Weekdays 7:30 p.m.30 August 199910 May 20001999–20001.216
3.180Weekdays 7:30 p.m.4 September 200014 May 20012000–20011.360
4.170Weekdays 7:30 p.m.20 August 20013 May 20022001–20021.308
5.165Weekdays 7:30 p.m.2 September 200216 May 20032002–20031.294
6.160Weekdays 7:30 p.m.1 September 20036 May 20042003–20041.150
7.150Weekdays 7:30 p.m.6 September 200427 April 20052004–20051.226
8.150Weekdays 7:30 p.m.
Mondays – Thursdays 7:30 p.m. 		30 August 200529 May 20062005–20061.160
9.150Mondays–Thursdays 7:30 p.m.14 August 200624 May 20072006–20071.105
10.190Weekdays 7:30 p.m.20 August 20074 June 20082007–20081.033
11.190Weekdays 7:30 p.m.18 August 20081 June 20092008–20091.043
12.180Weekdays 7:30 p.m.24 August 200931 May 20102009–20101.063
13.180Weekdays 7:30 p.m.30 August 201027 May 20112010–20110.937
14.180Weekdays 7:30 p.m.29 August 20118 June 20122011–20120.970
15.180Weekdays 7:30 p.m.3 September 201213 June 20132012–20130.958
16.170Weekdays 7:30 p.m.9 September 201312 June 20142013–20140.896
17.185Weekdays 7:30 p.m.25 August 201411 June 20152014–20150.813
18.180Weekdays 7:30 p.m.31 August 201515 June 20162015–20160.783
19.188Weekdays 7:30 p.m.16 August 201613 June 20172016–20170.748
20.189Weekdays 7:30 p.m.21 August 201713 June 20182017–20180.709
21.189Weekdays 7:30 p.m.20 August 201819 June 20192018–20190.662
22.20919 August 201923 June 20202019–20200.646
22.3 August 20192020–2021

Recent characters

Regular cast members

ActorCharacterDuration
Esko KoveroIsmo Laitela1999–present
Pete LattuKalle Laitela1999–2001, 2002, 2012–present
Sami UotilaAki Nikkinen1999–2002, 2014–present
Maija-Liisa PeuhuUlla Taalasmaa1999–2007, 2010, 2013–present
Tommi TaurulaKari Taalasmaa 1999, 2001–2004, 2005, 2007–2010, 2014, 2015–2018, 2019–present
Nora RinneCamilla Axelsson2001–2004, 2014, 2015, 2016–present
Timo JurkkaLasse Sievinen2004–2012, 2013–2015, 2019–present
Teemu LehtiläAaro Vaalanne2004–2006, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2017–present
Sampsa TuomalaSampo Kaukovaara2008–2010, 2020–present
Mikko ParikkaJiri Viitamäki2010–present
Emil HallbergOnni "Tale" Taalasmaa 2011–2018, 2019–present
Hemmo KarjaJanne Haukkala2011–2019, 2020–present
Riitta ElsteläAnni Vatanen2011–2012, 2019, 2020–present
Kerttu RissanenSanni Taalasmaa2014–present
Maarit PoussaJutta Korhonen2014, 2016, 2017–present
Tiia ElgEva Tamminen2014–2019, 2020–present
Monika LindemanLinda Eerikäinen2015–2018, 2019–present
Pinja KanonIida Mustonen 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020–present
Roope PuhakkaSeveri Sievinen 2016–present
Vivi WahlströmViola Helenius 2016–present
Inkeri MertanenDahlia Mustavaara2016–present
Aaron BojangBenjamin Taalasmaa 2017–present
Raimo GrönbergGunnar Mustavaara 2017–present
Eva AdamsonTiina Järvinen2017–2018, 2020–present
Jarkko MiettinenNoel Axelsson2018–present
Emma NopanenNella Tamminen 2018–present
Jasmin VoutilainenAino Kaukovaara 2018–present
Pablo OunaskariRessu Mattila2019–present
Ville KettunenSamuli Palokoski2019–present
Ilona ChevakovaSabrina Mustavaara2019–present
Konsta HietanenMiki Kajander2020–present
Inna TähkänenElina Taalasmaa 2020–present
Tuuli MattilaSusu Honkanen2020–present

Recurring cast members

ActorCharacterDuration
Ruupertti ArponenIlja Taalasmaa 2015–present
Ukko SirénMagnus Mustavaara2017–present
Olga HeikkalaMira Jokinen2018–present
Julia KorpinenAnna Ihalainen2019–present

Future characters

Returning

New

Former characters

Last appeared in 2020

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Last appeared in 1999

Books based on the series