Early Swallows

Early Swallows (, Pershi lastivky) is a Ukrainian teen drama television series. The series' storylines involve bullying, online harassment, sexual identity and suicide. The first episode aired in November 2019. Broadcast by Novyi Kanal, the televised episodes attract a viewership of six million viewers on live-to-air television and millions more viewers online. The teen drama was responsible for a 600% increase in calls to a mental health helpline. Because of its rare and graphic content compared to other Ukrainian television series, the series has been described by BBC News as "a local surprise hit". It has also been praised for making issues that are rarely dealt with in public in Ukraine debatable. According to BBC News the series was "pretty much the first time that adolescent LGBT identity had been portrayed on Ukrainian TV". The second season of the show was filmed from late May until August 2020 and was broadcast in December 2020. Production The first season of Early Swallows was filmed in two-and-a-half months with a small budget and unknown actors. The first season was eight episodes long and a second season is believed to be in production. During development, series writers visited Ukrainian schools and interviewed teenagers on condition of anonymity. According to series producer Yevhen Tunik, half of the characters in the programme are based on people they knew. Tunik started the writing and pre-production of the series in 2016. He had hoped the series would debut in 2018. All of the scripts were proofread by lawyers and psychologists but according to Tunik, this did not lead to any script changes. The title of the series, Early Swallows, is a reference to the belief that swallows are the first sign of spring.