Russia 1985-1999: TraumaZone

2022 - 2022

Part One - 1985 to 1989

13th October 2022

Episode 1

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.

Part Two - 1989 to 1991

13th October 2022

Episode 2

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.

Part Three - 1991

13th October 2022

Episode 3

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.

Part Four - 1992 to 1994

13th October 2022

Episode 4

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.

Part Five - 1993 to 1996

13th October 2022

Episode 5

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.

Part Six - 1994 to 1998

13th October 2022

Episode 6

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.

Part Seven - 1995 to 1999

13th October 2022

Episode 7

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".

Top Cast

Mikhail Gorbachev•Boris Yeltsin•Vladimir Putin

Director

Adam Curtis

Writer

Adam Curtis

Documentary War & Politics

What it felt like to live through the collapse of communism and democracy. A series of films by Adam Curtis.

Watch Providers 🇬🇧

BBC iPlayer

Production Companies

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Full Cast

Mikhail Gorbachev

Self (archive footage)

Boris Yeltsin

Self (archive footage)

Vladimir Putin

Self (archive footage)

Full Crew

Adam Curtis

Writer

Adam Curtis

Director

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Rose Garnett

Executive Producer

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Sandra Gorel

Producer

Adam Curtis

Editor

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