The Defender (2021 TV series)

The Defender
Genre	Crime, Drama
Written by	Tomáš Feřtek, Matěj Podzimek
Directed by	Tereza Kopáčová, Tomáš Mašín
Starring	Lukáš Vaculík
Country of origin	Czech Republic
Original language	Czech
No. of seasons	1
No. of episodes	10
Production
Running time	60 minutes
Original release
Network	ČT1
Release	5 September (5 September 2021) – 7 November 2021 (7 November 2021)

The Defender (Czech: Ochránce) is a Czech drama television series, that premiered on Czech Television in 2021.[1] Series also appeared at Serial Killer festival.[2] It won Czech Film Critics' Award in category "Outside Kino."[3]

Series focuses on a teacher Aleš Pelán who becomes School Ombudsman to stand up for children, parents and teachers in need. Pelán's cases include teacher bullied by her students, investigation of a pupil's suicide, girl who has never attended school, parents of students harassed by their classmate or sexual abuse of students by their teacher. All episodes are inspired by real cases.[4]

Cast

• Lukáš Vaculík as Aleš Pelán
• Iveta Dušková as Jana Pelánová
• Jaroslav Plesl as Pavel Havlík
• Barbora Kodetová as Marta Beková
• Agáta Červinková as Barbora Černá
• Pavel Řezníček as Petr Starý
• Jiří Havelka as Marcel Suchý
• Petra Hřebíčková as Kristýna Kurzová
• Jan Vondráček as inspektor Jarošík
• Lucie Ducháčková as Sára Jermanová
• Vladimír Javorský as MUDr. Luboš Pivec
• Miroslav Vladyka as Václav Škvára

Episodes

No. in series	Title	Directed by	Original air date	Czech viewers (millions)
1	"Slabý kus"	Tereza Kopáčová	September 5, 2021 (2021-09-05)	1,313
2	"Vražda vychovatelky"	Tomáš Mašín	September 12, 2021 (2021-09-12)	1,342
3	"Andílek"	Tereza Kopáčová	September 19, 2021 (2021-09-19)	1,362
4	"Orchidej na smetišti"	Tereza Kopáčová	September 26, 2021 (2021-09-26)	1,266
5	"Džungle před tabulí"	Tomáš Mašín	October 3, 2021 (2021-10-03)	1,261
6	"Veřejný nepřítel"	Tomáš Mašín	October 10, 2021 (2021-10-10)	1,295
7	"Vrabčák"	Tereza Kopáčová	October 17, 2021 (2021-10-17)	1,361
8	"Ahoj tati"	Tereza Kopáčová	October 24, 2021 (2021-10-24)	1,251
9	"Hidžáb"	Tomáš Mašín	October 31, 2021 (2021-10-31)	1,221
10	"Tichá dohoda"	Tereza Kopáčová	November 7, 2021 (2021-11-07)	1,355

Spin-off

Director of the ČT1 program Milan Fridrich mentioned that spin-off is in production.[5] On 19 March 2024 Czech Television announced series Ratolesti which was called thematical sequel to The Defender. It is set for broadcast in 2025.[6]

References

1. "Seriál Ochránce začne ČT vysílat od neděle 5. září". MediaGuru.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
2. "Východoevropské seriály zdárně dohánějí Západ, ukáže festival v Brně". iDNES.cz (in Czech). 21 September 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
3. "Ceny české filmové kritiky pro Okupaci, cenu má i Ochránce". MediaGuru.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 8 February 2022.
4. "Byl jsem nervózní, některé díly mi přišly fádní, říká k seriálu Ochránce představitel ombudsmana Vaculík". iROZHLAS (in Czech). 20 September 2021. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
5. "ČT1 zůstane vyhrazena pro českou tvorbu, kriminálek ubude". MediaGuru.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 31 January 2024.
6. "ČT natáčí nový seriál Ratolesti, navazuje na Ochránce". MediaGuru.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 19 March 2024.

External links

• The Defender at IMDb