Josef Machan

A balladic fairy tale about the underground kingdom of goblins, based on Irish fairy tales. When darkness and rainy clouds gathering low in the sky increase, when October turns into November, everyone in Ireland celebrates Halloween. The eve of All Saints' Day is a time when children run around outside in picturesque masks, adults raise their mugs by the light of flickering torches in hollowed-out turnips, and the world of goblins comes to life underground. It is the only day when these creatures, no bigger than a grown mouse, can enter the human world, and also when mortals can enter their realm. And so Paddy, a young innkeeper generally considered a fool and a child, finds himself in the Moss Hall through a magical well and, in his kindness and desire for love, breaks the laws of the underworld.

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.