The Last Minister
The Last Minister is a Russian dark comedy television series made by Sreda for KinoPoisk streaming service. As of 2024, two seasons have been produced, plus a 40-minute Christmas special. Season 2 premiere episode was screened at the Kinotavr Film Festival on September 25, 2021 with the rest of the season starting to air on December 2 the same year. In February 2022 the show permanently went off the air at the request of its show-runner Roman Volobuev in protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Premise
Tikhomirov, a well-meaning but hapless apparatchik in grips of mid-life crisis is appointed to run Russia's Ministry of Long-term planning - a small, underfunded, understaffed and generally ignored state agency. With a team consisting of sycophants and corrupt cynics he embarks on an idiotic quest to make Russia great again.Cast and characters
Main
- Yan Tsapnik as Tikhomirov, Minister of Long-term planning
- Olga Sutulova as Nechaeva, a corrupt 1st Deputy Minister
- Sergey Epishev as Vikentyev, an insane 2nd Deputy Minister
- Sofia Lebedeva as Sonya, a naive intern who's rapidly rising through the Ministry's ranks
- Anna Shepeleva as Ingeborge, a permanently pregnant Minister's personal assistant
- Alexey Zolotovitsky as Dudar, director of the Ministry's Directorate for External Communications
- Darya and Ekaterina Nosik as Lutch and Skotch, diabolical twins who run the Ministry's Analytical Department
- Sergey Styopin as Ukhov, an undercover FSB agent who is believed to be the Ministry's fire safety officer
- Elvira Kekeyeva as Gemma, the Ministry's HR officer
- Alexandra Drozdova as Lera, Sonya's assistant
Recurring
- Nelli Uvarova as Raisa, Minister's ex-wife and concrete tycoon
- Olga Dibtseva as Larisa, a biathlete and Minister's mistress
- Polina Fedina as Kira, Minister's teenage daughter
- Fyodor Lavrov as Plotnikov, a functionary from the Prime Minister's Office
- Farhad Guseinov as Nodir, Minister's personal driver
- Alisa Khazanova as Antonova, a detective with the Investigative Committee of Russia
- Grigoriy Kaninin as Smirnov, a federal investigator and Antonova's partner
- Alexander Iliyn as X, prime minister's chief of staff
- Roman Volobuev as Y, head of the Department of External Policy
- Ekaterina Vilkova as Z, head of the Department of Internal Policy
- Konstantin Murzenko as Father Vitaliy, a liaison with the Russian Orthodox Church
- Ekaterina Gorina as Oksana Gerasimenko, an investigative reporter for Telegraph, Russia's only surviving newspaper
- Ekaterina Steblina as Polina Nemirovskaya, a Moscow correspondent for The Guardian,
- Andrey Merzlikin as Vasya, Minister's childhood friend and a former gangster
- Yuri Tsurilo as Ranevskiy, the Governor of Saratov Oblast
Guests
- Konstantin Bogomolov as Fyodor, Russia's only Oscar-winning filmmaker
- Anna Chipovskaya as Redkina, a vice president of Pornhub
- Anton Bagmet as Zakhar, a writer
- Viktor Kulyukhin as Snegirev, a filmmaker
- Vadim Lobanov as Vladimir Pozner
- Odin Biron as Edward Snowden
- Alexander Gorchilin as Andrey Zvyaginsev
- Sergey Gilyov as Igor F. Baranoff, Alaskan separatist
- Timofey Tribuntsev as the voice of Prime Minister
- Aleksandr Bashirov as Prime Minister
- Andrey Arzyaev as Leskov, First [Deputy Prime Minister of Russia|First Vice Premier]
Episodes
Production
Background
Producer Aleksandr Tsekalo started developing a comedy about corrupt bureaucrats originally known as The Ministry in 2015. The pilot was written by Pavel Bardin with Maksim Pezhemsky slated to direct. Due to high level of political censorship on Russian broadcast TV Tsekalo was unable to find a network willing to commission the show, but the emergence of streaming services eventually allowed him to sidestep the obstacle. In 2018 Roman Volobuev and Lena Vaninа were signed to write a 15-episode first season with Volobuev directing.Writing
Volobuev described The Last Minister as "an Aaron Sorkin show were everyone has irrevocably lost their conscience". Some of the show's characters and ideas were borrowed from Volobuev and Vanina's aborted series Zavtra about Russia’s liberal opposition unexpectedly winning presidential elections in 2018.Filming
The show's first season was filmed in 2019 over period of 3 months mostly on soundstage in Moscow. Principal photography on the second season started in October 2020.Reception
Critical response
The show's first season won acclaim from Russian critics for its absurdist setting, writing and visual stile. Mikhail Trofimenkov of Kommersant called it “the one comedy to capture and preserve the spirit of ‘era of stability’ ”. It was also praised for breaking an unofficial ban on LGBTQ characters on Russian TV by making one of its main protagonists — Nechaeva — a closeted lesbian. Some outlets criticised the series for relying too heavily on inside jokes and playing safe with its political subject matter. Ogoniok’s Andrey Archangelsky called out show’s writing team for “falling too much in love with their own characters, effectively becoming their hostages” and eventually “drifting away from the subjects of big politics, greed and power-lust towards much safer and well-trodden melodramatic story”.Awards
For its first season The Last Minister was nominated for APKiT Awards in a Best Comedy Series category.Second season was nominated for National Web Industry Awards in three categories: best series, best director and best actor.