The Best TV Shows on ČT1

Czech Century brings the key moments of the history of the Czech nation from 1918 to 1989.

A Prague police unit reopens time‑critical cold cases before the statute of limitations runs out, pairing a seasoned loner with a principled young detective to re‑examine old evidence and pursue new leads across real city locations.

Sumara, the head of the criminal investigation department, is investigating the case of a girl who was found covered in snake blood. Coincidentally, the girl is studying archaeology and is conducting excavations at the nearby Podlažice monastery. The magical number 666 was written in blood on her forehead, and her body was wrapped in a snake coiled around an egg. This prompts the involvement of Dr. Runa, an expert in magic and the occult. The incredible mysteries surrounding a satanic cult and the creation of the Devil's Bible begin to unravel.

A businessman discovers he has a hidden gene that enables him to breathe water, threatening the existence of the secret Aquarian race, in this charming, comedic fantasy drama from the Czech Republic.

Set in Czechoslovakia, the drama follows the lives of its characters against the backdrop of real historical events that shape their personal stories. To evoke period atmosphere, the series intersperses authentic clips from vintage Czechoslovak film newsreels, using their original commentaries or newly recorded historical voice-overs by Vladimír Fišer. A narrator, initially voiced by Vojtěch Kotek and later by Matěj Hádek, provides continuity and reflection, guiding viewers through changing times. Under the guidance of screenwriter Rudolf Merkner, each episode’s script weaves family and individual dramas into key moments of Czech and Slovak history: political shifts, cultural trends, and social transformations from the 1960s onward.

Finding the body of the regional politician Karas, killed in the spirit of medieval torture and carefully arranged in a strange scene, unleash police hunt for a sadistic perpetrator. He puts investigation team in the way of a complex series of murders that shake the local region and criminologists themselves.

1950s. Under the communist regime, a struggling actor joins the KGB as an informant to make ends meet. He quickly finds himself caught up in a dangerous web of deceit and treachery.

The Inspector Hynek Budik as been assigned chief of police in the area on the outskirts of Prague, With detectives Martin Novacek an inexperienced rookie and the inspector Havlik will seek to solve difficult cases of murder.

Barrandov Studios, once one of Europe’s most modern film factories, became both a cultural refuge and a propaganda tool under Nazi occupation, churning out Czech comedies and romances to keep the public distracted while its actors mingled with German authorities. After the war, many of those same stars faced accusations of collaboration, their meteoric Protectorate-era fame tainted by the compromises they made to keep the cameras rolling under shifting regimes.