Mira Kivilä

The boisterous good humor of Jurmala, the nickel-mine owner, is, if anything, only barely dented by the raging battles in Finland before, during and after World War Two. In fact, everywhere he goes, he meets prospective customers on all sides of the conflict with his all-inclusive greeting "Friends, Comrades." Indeed, the resource he is wrenching from the earth's bowels is necessary to all forms of industrial activity, and is especially necessary for military applications. Thus, he has no reason to fear that he will ever run out of customers. This doesn't prevent him from using every possible means to entice them. At home, his relationship with his wife is not so prosperous, and they resort to some extraordinary means to try and keep on an even keel.

In 2017 Finland celebrates 100 years of independence. The famous philosopher Bruno is curing his writers' block in Lapland, when he gets an invitation to the President's Grand Ball in Helsinki. The railway systems are frozen and he misses the only plane, but the Laplander Jallu agrees to drive him 1200 km (745 miles) south.

The petty criminal Trampas is released from prison and immediately starts planning new jobs with his girlfriend's simpleminded brother Lepsu. They are joined by Trampas's pregnant girlfriend and Jusse, a refugee from Rwanda, as a driver.

Both diagnosed with Parkinson's disease, politicians Esko Seppänen and Iiro Viinanen forge a deep friendship despite their ideological differences.

Raid is based on detective stories by author Harri Nykänen and made into a 12-part series. The story tells about a police officer who has been investigating white-collar crimes is shot dead in a TV-studio. Another policeman takes his own life at his summer home. A young woman, an executive with a powerful electronics concern, also commits suicide. Her embittered father suspects foul play and he invites Raid, the woman's former boyfriend to "make inquiries". Meanwhile, the police are looking for the first killer - and the trail leads inexorably to Raid. Very soon, however, they realise that the guilty party is somewhere else, and the interests of the police and the avenging angel Raid converge. The unholy alliance shows that even those with morals may, to some extent, use immoral means to achieve an end. The Raid series was voted the best TV-programme in Finland year 2000. Tapio Piirainen received an award for best script and best direction.