Ukraine President's TV comedy back on Netflix

NEW YORK • The comedy satire in which Mr Volodymyr Zelensky unexpectedly becomes Ukraine's president - his now war-time job in real life - will be aired again on Netflix, the streaming platform announced on Wednesday.

The resurrection of the television series Servant Of The People (2015 to 2019) comes amid a global outpouring of praise for the former comedian now leading his outgunned country's fight against the Russian invasion.

"You asked and it's back," Netflix tweeted.

On Tuesday, Mr Zelensky, 44, received a standing ovation as he addressed the United States Congress via video link with an impassioned plea for more weaponry and the establishment of a no-fly zone to help Ukraine survive the Russian invasion, which began on Feb 24.

In the series, he plays a teacher who unexpectedly becomes president after a video of him complaining about corruption goes viral.

It was a huge hit in Ukraine and launched Mr Zelensky's career in politics. He was elected president in 2019 as the star of a party with the same name as the TV series. He got more than 70 per cent of the votes.

The French-German TV channel Arte has been airing Servant Of The People online since Nov 19, citing huge interest.

Since the first days of the invasion, channels that have acquired the rights to air the series include Channel 4 in Britain, ANT 1 in Greece and PRO TV in Romania.

The series was first on Netflix from 2017 to last year.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE