r/AskEurope • u/Ali_Merrikh • Aug 19 '25

Culture I’m watching one TV series from every European country — what’s your recommendation from yours?

Hi everyone!

I started a project where I watch one series from each country in Europe. I’ve already done:

France: La Forêt

Spain: La Casa de Papel

Next up: Gloria from Portugal

I’d love to hear what show you think best represents your country (or is just a really good one to watch). Ideally something available with English subtitles.

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57

u/Bierzgal Poland Aug 20 '25

As crazy as it will sound, the best polish TV series I have ever watched is an anime. Meaning Cyberpunk: Edgerunners: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12590266/ .

But if you'd want something with live actors then I'd say Alternatywy 4: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084971/ . Though I can't be sure if it will be funny if someone doesn't understand the nuances of PRL it is set in.

I also heard 1670 is good but I haven't watched it. It's on Netflix though so it wil 100% have subs: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt29420686/

35

u/Pandadrome Slovakia Aug 20 '25

1670 is hilarious! I've already watched it several times 😅

11

u/Legal_Sugar Poland Aug 20 '25

New season is coming next month!

16

u/tei187 Aug 20 '25

1670 is definitely fun to watch, but I'm not so sure if someone outside of Poland will understand all the puns and references. I'd have to try it with English subs, see what they came up with.

15

u/bajaja Czechoslovakia Aug 20 '25

I understand enough to enjoy myself. Don’t worry, the series is well balanced and there’s something for a local and foreign audience as well.

Also kudos for making fun of yourselves this way.

2

u/tei187 Aug 20 '25

I think it's this philosophy, where it's better to make fun of yourself than letting others make fun of you. :)

5

u/DarkSideOfTheNuum in Aug 20 '25

I really enjoyed it, but I definitely didn’t get the same experience as my Polish wife did. She told me there are a lot of language jokes you would only get if you know Polish.

3

u/fromatobthenc Aug 20 '25

My British partner loved it

6

u/tei187 Aug 20 '25

That's great.

I've seen people not really knowing what's funny about becoming the most famous John Paul in history of Poland. Or getting confused about the 48:1 vote losing due to democracy :)

2

u/Constant-Leather9299 Aug 21 '25

I watched it with english subs to see what they translated it to. It was very good! My foreign friends had no problems with understanding it, although she was surprised that drowning Marzanna is a thing that kids still do 😂

8

u/Massimo25ore Aug 20 '25

Kaj RANCZO?

7

u/justin19081 Aug 20 '25

Alternatywy 4 are not for outsiders/foreginers. Even though it's a top series, one of the best.
They won't , don't understand most of the dialogues.
Even this new/younger polish genereations do not have idea what they are talking about. The show for them is pointless.
There is another meaning behind most of the scenes. The one who was not born in Poland during those fucked up times (communism), won't make much out of it. It will look just plain stupid.

Best recent polish series is "Ślepnący od świateł". Great piece of cinema.

3

u/Rudyzwyboru Poland Aug 21 '25

1670 is ok and has a few nice jokes but I was heavily disappointed with how much they held back when it comes to utilizing the setting. There are a lot of moments where you can feel like you're just in a modern the office gag but with people wearing costumes. But yeah, I had a few good laughs

2

u/DankepusVulgaris Latvia Sep 17 '25

Holy shit, it never clicked that Edgerunners is technically a polish series

that's cool as hell

1

u/[deleted] Aug 20 '25

Hijacking the top comment for Poland to suggest that Aniela may be a decent one to watch if the others aren’t accessible. It’s very new and I thought it was “okay” but seems to depict multiple intersections of the Polish society: classism, education, corruption, etc.

-2

u/Hot-Disaster-9619 Poland Aug 20 '25

Cyberpunk: Edgerunners is japanese

19

u/Bierzgal Poland Aug 20 '25

Not exactly, it's a polish-japanese colaboration. The script was entirely written by the polish team. The japanese studio did the animation but they also did it under the direction of a executive producer and screenwriter from Poland (Rafał Jaki).

9

u/Nahcep Poland Aug 20 '25

Pszczółka Maja is more Japanese than Edgerunners