Illegals or Extractors. Czech reporters rescue female tourists kidnapped in Pakistan

The espionage TV mini-series Extractors from the Voyo video library shows the work of Czech intelligence operatives who rescue domestic citizens abroad. The series with Pavla Gajdošíková, Jan Révai and Jakub Štáfek in the main roles is based on the story of investigative journalist Jaroslav Kmenta. “The series was created based on reality, I based it on the experience that is done in this field. Of course, we are not in America or another big country where they have really special teams supported by, for example, some military equipment,” Kmenta said, adding that the series is based on real events from 2013.

The six-part miniseries from the Voyo Original workshop tells the story of members of the Czech intelligence service who try to rescue a pair of kidnapped Czech female tourists on the Pakistani border. “The newly formed team of the Czech intelligence service has the task of helping Czechs who find themselves in need abroad. To do this, they need not only top training and physical condition, but also language skills, cultural and political insight, sharp judgement, and the ability to make quick decisions,” the Czechoslovak Film Database describes the series.

“Agents of the Czech civil intelligence are going abroad to help stranded Czechs get home,” adds the streaming service Voyo, which falls under Nova TV. “From my point of view, Extractors is interesting because a large part, almost half of the series, was filmed abroad. This brings a certain degree of authenticity that is not quite usual for a Czech film,” added series director Roman Kašparovský.

Extractors cooperate with international governmental organizations and help solve problems that cannot be solved in a completely official way for various reasons. The story, inspired by real events, is based on researched facts and knowledge from the environment of secret services and high politics. The creators used several expert advisors and consultants, and filming was also done in Turkey on the border with Iran.

The subject of the series is the investigative journalist and columnist Jaroslav Kmenta, who also wrote the script together with Jan Stehlík (Rage, Specialists, Indian and Sister) and Evita Naušová (Guy, Professor T.). The legendary cameraman and holder of eight Czech Lions, Vladimír Smutný, was behind the camera. The main roles were played by Pavla Gajdošíková, Jan Révai and Jakub Štáfek. Gabriela Heclová, Roman Zach or Lukáš Duy Anh Tran will also present themselves.

“The series was created based on reality, I based it on the experience that is done in this field. Of course, we are not in America or another big country where they have really special teams supported by, for example, some military equipment. We are a small country that sometimes has to help itself with some specialities, a little ‘in the Czech way’. What appears in the series is the essence of reality combined with artistic license,” says the author of the theme and co-screenwriter Jaroslav Kmenta.

Creative producer Voyo and dramaturg Lenka Szántó describes Extractors as a spy series about a special unit of the Czech intelligence service, which can and can intervene if a Czech gets into serious trouble abroad, or “extracts” that person from the country in which he has problems. “I’m a big fan of spy series myself. It was my dream to shoot something like this. There will be at least one action scene in each episode, which of course has high demands on preparation and production,” added Szántó.

The TV miniseries Extractors premieres on October 27 at the Voyo video store.