Salatut elämät ("Secret Lives", literally "Concealed Lives") is a Finnish television soap opera that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment block, Pihlajakatu 23 B in Helsinki. The series primarily centres on residents of Pihlajakatu and its neighbouring areas. Only four of the original twenty characters – Ismo (Esko Kovero), Kalle (Pete Lattu), Aki (Sami Uotila) and Kari (Tommi Taurula) – still remain in the series, and most of the series' current characters have made their debuts in 2004 or later. Ismo is the only character who has never left the series.
During the series' 27-year run, over 4,900 episodes have been aired, making it the longest running drama in television in the Nordics. On 12 June 2017, it was announced that Salatut elämät will be on the air until the summer of 2023,http://www.mtv.fi/viihde/ohjelmat/salatut-elamat/uutiset/artikkeli/mtv-solmi-historiallisen-sopimuksen-suomen-pitkaikaisin-draamasarja-salatut-elamat-jatkuu-vuoteen-2023/6468296 – MTV.fi (Finnish) making the series the longest-lasting drama series of all time in Finland. It was later stated that the series would continue airing after 2023.
MTV3 also airs reruns of the series every weekend (Monday-Wednesday episodes on Saturday, Thursday-Friday episodes on Sunday). In the summer, the channel airs reruns of the series; in the summer of 2014, episodes from the season 2009–2010 were aired.
Eight web spin-off series have been made; Romeo & Rafael Desperados in 2008, Lillukanvarsia in 2010–2011, Tuuliranta in 2011–2012, Young Man Cash Man in 2013, Young Girl, Dream Girl in 2014, Satula in 2015, Bikineitä ja timantteja (or in English known as Bikinis and Diamonds) in 2016 and Pihlajakadun tuhmat tädit in 2016–2017.
On 5 December 2012, the first Salatut elämät movie was released. The teen thriller movie Nightmare – Painajainen merellä ("Nightmare – Nightmare at Sea") was one of the most watched Finnish films of 2012. The film was directed by Marko Äijö and the main characters are Peppi (Sara Säkkinen), Heidi (Venla Savikuja), Jiri (Mikko Parikka), Joonatan (Markku Pulli), Miro (Patrik Borodavkin), Oona (Sara Lohiniva) and Sampo (Sampsa Tuomala). Nightmare - Painajainen merellä also won the Jussi Award in the category Public Favorite. A second film, called Nightmare 2 was released in December 2014.
The show's romantic storyline between Lari (Ronny Röslöf) and Elias (Petteri Paavola), nicknamed "Larias", initially proved very popular on YouTube. A fan account featured clips of the two gay characters. The production company decided not to intervene because they saw it as good publicity.http://www.mtv3.fi/ohjelmat.shtml/kotimaiset/salatut_elamat/uutiset_kevat_2013/1684854/ (Finnish)
Another LGBT couple Mira Jokinen & Viola Helenius (now having Viola's grandmothers maiden name, Angervuo as their surname) have also become popular on YouTube. "Miola" became a phenomenon abroad after a Finnish fan started uploading their story with English subtitles on Youtube series. (Finnish) Mira and Viola even got married, being the first same-sex couple to be married in a Finnish soap.
The starting position of the series
At the beginning of the series, at the request of a janitor Seppo Taalasmaa (Jarmo Koski) and his wife Ulla (Maija-Liisa Peuhu), the police have come to investigate why Tyyne Puustinen does not open the door. She is found dead in her apartment and police begin investigating the cause of death (later revealed to be murder by her grandson, Tero Puustinen). The couple later tells their daughter Elina Taalasmaa (Sanna Luostarinen) about Puustinen's death.
Aki Nikkinen (Sami Uotila) and Markus Ekholm (Andrei Sandberg) have been looking for a suitable retail space for their café for a long time and eventually find a suitable one. Katja Vainio (Anu Koskinen) promises to be an interior designer. Katja's sister and roommate Jenni (Anu Palevaara) has brought a gentleman Toni Veijalainen (Kristo Salminen) to her home. Jenni receives a letter stating that she has been expelled from school due to continued absences. At the same time, the subsidies also run out, so Jenni asks Toni to be their subtenant.
Jukka Salin (Jouko Keskinen) and his new wife Hanna (Tarja Omenainen) return home from the Canary Islands. At home, they are received by Aleksi (Tuomas Kytömäki), who has just left the army, the middle child of the family Saku (Jasper Pääkkönen) and the family pit Silja (Jonna Keskinen). Hanna and Jukka reveal to the children that they got married during the trip. Saku and Aleksi are happy about Hanna's move to them, but Silja doesn't take the news well, and it doesn't help that Silja hears that Aleksi knew about their marriage intentions.
Next door to Salin family lives Ismo Laitela (Esko Kovero), who is (believed to be) a widow with two teenage children, Miia (Venla Saartamo) and Kalle (Pete Lattu). Ismo works as a retailer in a kiosk-like shop called Ismon Valinta ("Ismo's Choice"). Lawyer Laura Kiviranta (Piitu Uski) lives alone as a sworn single.
Themes The series has dealt with a wider range of subjects such as abortion, drug abuse, alcoholism, homosexuality, incest, animal rights, rape, religious fanaticism, gambling addiction, teenage pregnancy, domestic violence, cancer, eating disorder, school bullying, narcissistic personality disorder and its effects to the family, the search of biological parents, stealing and racism; many episodes involving these themes have caused public debate.
An exceptionally widespread controversy was started by the season finale aired on 1 June 2009. In the episode, a pregnant woman, Paula Sievinen (Johanna Nurmimaa), was seemingly buried alive and a café Kentauri exploded during a wedding celebration, which implied death of many main characters. Many, including Finland's Minister of Communications Suvi Lindén, questioned the show's suitability for school children. FICORA (Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority) decided later that the episode was not suitable for children under the age of 11, but the show's programming slot was late enough to meet the regulations.http://www.ficora.fi/index/viestintavirasto/uutiset/2009/P_51.html FICORA's report concerning the episode (Finnish)http://www.hs.fi/kulttuuri/artikkeli/Salatut+el%C3%A4m%C3%A4t+kirvoitti+keskustelun+v%C3%A4kivallasta/1135246466933 A news article about the controversy published by Helsingin Sanomat (Finnish) In 2013, the original main character Jenni Vainio played by Anu Palevaara, was shot on front of the main house, which caused a lot of talk among the fans of the series. Jenni left the series after a 14-year presence. However, producer Marko Äijö said that the biggest sensation of the series was in the early days, when Kalle Laitela, played by Pete Lattu, kissed another man. At that time, the channel MTV3 received over 40 meters of fax about the kiss.:fi:Salatut elämät(Finnish)
During the series' entire run in Finland, a 30-minute episode has aired every weekday in an early-evening slot at 7:30 pm. A new season usually premieres in either late August or early September and concludes by the beginning of June. Normally, the series is on a hiatus during the Christmas holidays, approximately 3 or 4 weeks. The series' episodes are also available online at the website https://www.mtv.fi/ for 30 days after their original airing.
Settings
Salatut elämät's main focus is the fictional street Pihlajakatu ("Rowan Street"), located in Ullanlinna, Helsinki. Other locations include a high school, a hospital, Café Moose and an inn, Amanda, which contains a hotel and a restaurant. It had also a day spa from 2009 to 2014, and a gym from 2010 to 2017. Former "main café" was Kentauri which, however, exploded due a gas leak during a wedding celebration in the season 11 finale.
All of the houses and other locations featured in the show are filmed at the FremantleMedia studio in Konala, Helsinki. In real life, Pihlajakatu is Huvilakatu, which is located in Ullanlinna, Helsinki. Salatut elämät has also filmed scenes in Tampere and in Lapland. A few episodes have also been filmed in the Canary Islands, Lithuania, London and Copenhagen.
Theme song The original theme song was called Tunteisiin and performed by Anna Hanski but in 2001, the theme was changed to a version performed by Jore Marjaranta. In 2004, the theme song was replaced by an electronic version of the theme music. In 2014, the theme song was switched back to the original one, first heard in 1999. In 2019, the series got completely new theme song again.
Television ratings Since its first episode aired in January 1999, it has been one of the most popular TV shows in Finland, regularly attracting around a million viewers (1/5 of Finland's population). At the moment Salatut elämät is the highest-rated drama series in Finland, although its viewership has declined during the past few years.
Season Episodes Timeslot Season premiere Season finale TV season Most-watched episode(million viewers) 1. 90Weekdays 7:30 p.m. 25 January 1999 3 June 1999 1999 1.191 2. 170 30 August 1999 10 May 2000 1999–2000 1.216 3. 180 4 September 2000 14 May 2001 2000–2001 1.360 4. 170 20 August 2001 3 May 2002 2001–2002 1.308 5. 165 2 September 2002 16 May 2003 2002–2003 1.294 6. 160 1 September 2003 6 May 2004 2003–2004 1.150 7. 150 6 September 2004 27 April 2005 2004–2005 1.226 8. 150Weekdays 7:30 p.m. (autumn 2005)Mondays – Thursdays 7:30 p.m. (spring 2006) 30 August 2005 29 May 2006 2005–2006 1.160 9. 150Mondays–Thursdays 7:30 p.m. 14 August 2006 24 May 2007 2006–2007 1.105 10. 190Weekdays 7:30 p.m. 20 August 2007 4 June 2008 2007–2008 1.033 11. 190 18 August 2008 1 June 2009 2008–2009 1.043 12. 180 24 August 2009 31 May 2010 2009–2010 1.063 13. 180 30 August 2010 27 May 2011 2010–2011 0.937 14. 180 29 August 2011 8 June 2012 2011–2012 0.970 15. 180 3 September 2012 13 June 2013 2012–2013 0.958 16. 170 9 September 2013 12 June 2014 2013–2014 0.896 17. 185 25 August 2014 11 June 2015 2014–2015 0.813 18. 180 31 August 2015 15 June 2016 2015–2016 0.783 19. 188 16 August 2016 13 June 2017 2016–2017 0.748 20. 189 21 August 2017 13 June 2018 2017–2018 0.709 21. 189 20 August 2018 19 June 2019 2018–2019 0.662 22. 209 19 August 2019 23 June 2020 2019–2020 0.646 23. 219 3 August 2020 29 June 2021 2020–2021 0.540 24. 219 23 August 2021 22 June 2022 2021–2022 0.506 25. 199 8 August 2022 22 June 2023 2022–2023 0.519 26. 173 7 August 2023 25 June 2024 2023–2024 0.546 27. 180 12 August 2024 4 July 2025 2024–2025 0.474 28. 180 11 August 2025 3 July 2026 2025–2026 29. 10 August 2026 2026–2027
Present cast and characters Regular cast members