''Midnight at the Pera Palace'' (

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

: ''Pera Palas'ta Gece Yarısı''), is a

time travel Time travel is the hypothetical activity of traveling into the past or future. Time travel is a concept in philosophy and fiction, particularly science fiction. In fiction, time travel is typically achieved through the use of a device known a ...

historical drama A historical drama (also period drama, period piece or just period) is a dramatic work set in the past, usually used in the context of film and television, which presents history, historical events and characters with varying degrees of fiction s ...

television series directed by Emre Şahin starring

Hazal Kaya Leyla Hazal Kaya (born 1 October 1990) is a Turkish actress best known for her leading roles in Aşk-ı Memnu (2008–2010), Adını Feriha Koydum (2011–2012) and Bizim Hikaye (2017–2019). Kaya is one of Turkey's highest-paid actresses. ...

, Tansu Biçer,

Selahattin Paşalı Selahattin Paşalı (born 2 February 1990) is a Turkish actor. Early life and career Paşalı was born on 2 February 1990 in Bodrum. He joined Darüşşafaka Sports Club at the age of 14 and served as a team captain during his time there. He ...

and James Chalmers. The show was released on

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

on March 3, 2022, with the first season consisting of 8 episodes. Centered around the real-life

Pera Palace Hotel The Pera Palace Hotel () is a historic special category hotel and museum hotel located in the Beyoğlu (Pera) district in Istanbul, Turkey. It was built in 1892 for the purpose of hosting the passengers of the Orient Express and was named aft ...

, the series was inspired by the 2014 historical non-fiction book ''Midnight at the Pera Palace: The Birth of Modern Istanbul'' by Charles King. The series was renewed for a second season, which aired on September 12, 2024.

Premise

Esra, a young orphaned journalist in modern-day Istanbul, is assigned to write an article about the upcoming 130th anniversary of the

. At the hotel, she meets its manager, Ahmet, who shows her around and explains the history of the Pera Palace and some of its famous guests. Esra is particularly intrigued by the story of Peride, a young woman who apparently saved

Mustafa Kemal Mustafa () is one of the names of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, and the name means "chosen, selected, appointed, preferred", used as an Arabic given name and surname. Mustafa is a common name in the Muslim world. Given name Moustafa * Moustafa A ...

from an assassination plot orchestrated by the British in 1919, during the

occupation of Istanbul The occupation of Istanbul () or occupation of Constantinople (12 November 1918 – 4 October 1923), the capital of the Ottoman Empire, by United Kingdom, British, France, French, Italy, Italian, and Greece, Greek forces, took place in accordan ...

. What Ahmet conceals from her is that, in combination with a mysterious key, one of the hotel's rooms becomes a time-travelling portal. That night, Esra accidentally time travels back to 1919, where she is soon mistaken for her apparent

doppelgänger A doppelgänger ( ), sometimes spelled doppelgaenger or doppelganger, is a ghostly double of a living person, especially one that haunts its own fleshly counterpart. In fiction and mythology, a doppelgänger is often portrayed as a ghostly or p ...

, Peride. Her encounters with men such as George, a scheming British officer, Halit, an enigmatic nightclub owner, and Reşat, a police officer in love with Peride leave her struggling to know whom to trust. Together with Ahmet, however, she must find a way to stop the assassination attempt on Mustafa Kemal and preserve the course of Turkey's independence.

Cast and characters

as Esra/Peride * Tansu Biçer as Ahmet *

as Halit *

Engin Hepileri Engin Hepileri (born 3 March 1978) is a Turkish actor and theatre director. He is best known for hit military comedy "Emret Komutanım", youth series "Kampüsistan" and İntikam adaptation of ''Revenge''. He portrayed singer Kazım Koyuncu an ...

as Reşat * Hakan Dinçkol as

Mustafa Kemal Atatürk Mustafa Kemal Atatürk ( 1881 – 10 November 1938) was a Turkish field marshal and revolutionary statesman who was the founding father of the Republic of Turkey, serving as its first President of Turkey, president from 1923 until Death an ...

* Yasemin Szawlowski as Sonia * James Chalmers as George * Ahmet Varlı as Dimitri *

Nergis Öztürk Nergis Öztürk (born 25 May 1980) is a Turkish actress. She has appeared in more than twelve films since 2006. She had leading role in Böyle Bitmesin. She played in hit period series "Hatırla Sevgili". Filmography References External l ...

as Eleni * Osman Albayrak as Naim Efendi * Ergün Metin as Fahrettin * Clare Louise Frost as

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

References

External links

* {{Netflix original current series 2022 Turkish television series debuts Netflix television dramas Turkish-language television shows Turkish drama television series Turkish historical television series Turkish time travel television series Television shows based on novels