Christopher (Christoforos) Papakaliatis is one of Greece’s most recognizable and successful ‘television authors’ and Maestro in Blue, his latest creation, is the series that managed to turn Greece into a full “Netflix nation” (Lobato, 2019). Supported by the National Centre of Audiovisual Media and Communication (EKOME) and originally broadcast by private television channel MEGA TV, Maestro in Blue became – on 19 December 2022 – the first Greek drama show to launch into global subscription video-on-demand streaming platform Netflix, with the latter having already acquired the rights for the second season. Shot on the Ionian islands of Paxoi and Corfu, using the locations strategically in a way that combines Papakaliatis’ signature glossy aesthetic style, traces of Mediterranean noir and ‘weird’ wave, and established (cinematic) representations of Greek island idyll, Maestro in Blue is addressed in this paper as part of Netflix’s glocalization practices (Sigismondi & Ciofalo, 2022) and as an example of “television that travels” (Waade et al, 2020).

By combining a textual analysis of the first season of the drama series with an overview of its production context and a mapping out of its popular/critical reception, this paper engages with the question around the significance of a small television culture gaining international visibility, focusing on three concrete analytical dimensions: 

(a)   exportability, addressed through a close examination of the visual and storytelling strategies potentially contributing to the appeal of the series to international audiences, including the importance of locations to narrative, iconography and cultural specificity

(b)  extroversion, addressed through an analysis of the creative synergies and production strategies orchestrated in order to resonate with a global commercial logic and (international) distribution

(c)   visibility, addressed through a discourse analysis of the series’ reception in both Greek and international popular/cultural criticism, and expressed primarily through the notions of quality and (national) pride.

Drawing from cultural theory, geomedia studies, and media industry studies, and informed by previous research on streaming platforms, international TV flows and content diversity (e.g. Lobato, 2018; Lotz et al, 2022), the present paper aspires to provide an empirically grounded analysis of small television industries’ engagement with developments in international media production and transnational television theory. What is more, it aims to discuss the drama series in question as a potential game changer for Greek television (studies), thus contributing to a broader discussion about the pleasures and gains of international appeal.