The series Legend / Destan – hit or flop?
Legend / Destan
The series Legend / Destan produced by Mehemet Bozdag has generated considerable interest in the world even before its airing. Did the fans’ hopes of a successful start come true? What did the capricious Turkish audience decide: success or failure?
On Tuesday, November 23, Turkish viewers saw the first episode of the long-awaited series Legend / Destan by producer Mehmet Bozdag, starring Ebru Şahin, Edip Tepeli and Selim Bayraktar. Preparations for the series, which shows history of Central Asia in the 8th century, lasted a year. Consulting historians spent three months teaching the actors about the time and the people they had to play.
A palace, city streets, bazaars and gardens with a total area of 20 thousand square meters were built on the shooting plateau of Bozdag Film. On 15,000 square meters were built two buildings with 50 tents of that era, which were manufactured in Turkmenistan. It took six months and the work of a team of 287 people to erect the scenery. In the meantime, the actors mastered the horse riding and fencing. 125 costumes for the main cast and 8115 costumes for extras of 4,500 people were sewn. The film crew of the show consists of 235 people.
Advertising of the project turned out to be extremely effective – it started with a significant number in total with a result of 8.74%, and quite impressive interest of the AB audience. This marks the show’s record for a new season. It is curious that the absolute starting record in the history of Turkish television also belongs to the historical series of Mehmet Bozdag – the series The Ottoman started at 15.73%.
Whether the new project will hold the viewers in the next episodes, we have yet to find out, but fans do not have to worry: the series has already been purchased by several countries at once, including the Arab digital platform Noor play, as well as the Pakistani TV channel PTV, which began simultaneously broadcasting the Legend with the release of the project in Turkey. This means that the future of the show does not depend on Turkish ratings.
