Rai 1 drama series La Sposa (The Bride) broadcast on Sunday, January 16 at 21.40 won the slot with 5.9mln viewers with an audience share of 26.8% vs the first episode of game show Avanti un Altro - Pure di Sera, special edition in prime time recorded 2.7mln viewers with an audience share of 12.7%.
La Sposa (The Bride), starring Serena Rossi is a six-part series from Endemol Shine Italy, co-produced with Rai Fiction. Set in the late 1960s, it stars Serena Rossi (Ammore e Malavita, Io sono Mia, Mina Settembre) and will air on Rai1 in 2022. The series is directed by Giacomo Campiotti (Bianca come il latte, rossa come il sangue, Braccialetti Rossi, Chiara Lubich - L'amore vince tutto) and has been created by Valia Santella (Mia madre, Napoli velata, Il Traditore).
The Bride is a touching tale of redemption and liberation, centring around Maria, a young woman who marries Italo by proxy, a widespread practice in Italy, in the late 1960’s, where young women from the South married landowners in the North. Maria adjusts to a controversial rural life as a stepmother with the disdain of a husband who is still traumatised by his first wife’s disappearance. Despite the adversity, her unwavering resilience and positivity see bonds begin to form, until the appearance of her ex-boyfriend threatens to change everything.
These personal stories are set amidst significant social change such as a rise in worker’s demands for rights and Italy’s industrialisation throughout the 1960s. Although set in the past, the series speaks to the present and addresses very topical issues, including women’s rights, their emancipation and gender equality.
