''El Continental'' is a Spanish drama television series about

organised crime Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local group of centralized enterprises run to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally thought of as a form of illegal business, some ...

set in 1920s Spain. Created, written and directed by Frank Ariza, it aired from September to November 2018 on La 1. Harshly criticised during its pre-screening at the

FesTVal FesTVal is the main Spanish annual television and radio festival which takes place in the city of Vitoria-Gasteiz in the Basque Country of northern Spain. The festival, an initiative of the ''Asociación Cultural Fila 2'', began in 2009 and runs d ...

and with dismal ratings during its free-to-air broadcasting run, the series was described as "the biggest fiasco of national (Spanish) fiction in recent times".

Premises

The series, set in the 1920s

Madrid Madrid ( ; ) is the capital and List of largest cities in Spain, most populous municipality of Spain. It has almost 3.5 million inhabitants and a Madrid metropolitan area, metropolitan area population of approximately 7 million. It i ...

, is titled after a fictional club in which illegal businesses take place. The fiction tracks both the struggle over clandestine businesses in the city and the relationship between Andrea Abascal (

Michelle Jenner Michelle Jenner Husson (born 14 September 1986) is a Spanish actress. She became popular in Spain for her role as Sara in television series ''Los hombres de Paco''. In addition to live action performances, she has also developed a career as a v ...

) and Ricardo León ( Álex García).

Cast

Production and release

Created, written and directed by

Frank Ariza Frank, FRANK, or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a Germanic people in late Roman times * Franks, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusa ...

, ''El Continental'' was produced by

RTVE The Corporación de Radio y Televisión Española (; ), known as Radiotelevisión Española (''Spanish Radio and Television'', RTVE), is the Spanish national public Broadcasting, television and radio broadcaster. It is a state-owned enterprise f ...

in collaboration with Gossip Events. Consisting of 10 episodes with a running time of around 70 minutes, the series was shot in a film set in

San Sebastián de los Reyes San Sebastián de los Reyes (, colloquially called "Sanse") is a municipality in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1492, it is located north of Madrid. Geography It forms an urban continuum with the neighboring Alcobendas, Transpor ...

and in the Príncipe Pío train station in Madrid. Derided in social media already since the release of the first images as a knock-off of ''

Peaky Blinders The Peaky Blinders were a street gang based in Birmingham, England, which operated from the 1880s until the 1920s. The group consisted largely of young criminals from lower- to working-class backgrounds. They engaged in robbery, violence, racke ...

'', the series also received harsh reviews by professional critics after its pre-screening at the

in Vitoria. It premiered on La 1 on 17 September 2018 with a "correct" 10.4% audience share in

prime time Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to ...

, only to sink down to a 2.8% audience share in the season finale aired on 20 November 2018, when the series had been already moved to the late night slot. At the time of its closure, the series was described as "the biggest fiasco of national (Spanish) fiction in recent times".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Continental, El 2018 Spanish television series debuts 2018 Spanish television series endings 2010s Spanish drama television series Television series set in the 1920s Television shows set in Madrid Television shows filmed in Spain La 1 (Spanish TV channel) network series Television series about organized crime Spanish crime television series