Series synopsis
Russian Dolls: Sex Trade, also known as Matroesjka's is a crime drama television series that premiered on VTM on January 5, 2005. It ended on June 13, 2008. It was created by Mark Punt, Guy Goossens. It stars Axel Daeseleire, Manou Kersting, Indrė Jaraitė and Luk Wyns.
Young women from Lithuania and Russia are taken to Belgium by a gang involved in the sex trade to work as sex slaves.
Premise
Young women from Lithuania and Russia are taken to Belgium by a gang involved in the sex trade to work as sex slaves.
Cast and characters
Leading cast
- Axel Daeseleire as Jan Verplancke
- Manou Kersting as Danny Bols
- Indrė Jaraitė as Inesa
- Luk Wyns as Eddy Stoefs
- Peter van den Begin as Raymond van Mechelen
- Tom van Dyck as Vincent Dockx
- Evgenia Brik as Kalinka
- Žemyna Ašmontaitė as Daria
Supporting cast
- Viktorya Kosova as Nastya
- Chalita Chaisaeng as Pat
- Dirk van Dijck as Bob Sels
Guest cast
- Lucas Van den Eynde as Nico Maes
- Vilma Raubaitė as Kasandra
- Stany Crets as Clem de Donder
- Wim Opbrouck as Mike Simons
- Hilde Heijnen as Laura Keyser
- Liubomiras Laucevičius as Borzov
- Adolis Lauranivicius as Daria's Brother Ivan
- Dainius Kazlauskas as Arnas Jarasunas
- Vidas Petkevičius as Daria's Father
- Rasa Kirkilionytė as Daria's Mother
- Denise Zimmerman as Mike's Neighbour
- Veerle de Jonghe as Esther van de Walle
Episodes
This series spans 2 seasons with 20 episodes.
| Season | Episodes | First aired | Last aired |
|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 10 | January 5, 2005 | March 16, 2005 |
| Season 2 | 10 | April 11, 2008 | June 13, 2008 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 Ray and Mark organize dance auditions in Vilnius and tell the girls they will dance in discos in Western Europe. Two dead hookers are found. |
January 5, 2005 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 On Cyprus the girls receive "dancing classes" and all of a sudden all illusions are gone. They are forced to strip in a local nightclubs. 2 girls, Olga and Deborah where able to escape. Mike Simons meanwhile has showed remorse for what he had done, Inspector Clem still remains sceptic about his willingness to talk, he refuses to offer him protection. Reporter Nico Meas publishes a revealing article about Women Trafficking and the negligence of the Belgian police to do anything about it. Vincent Dockx is arrested for the murder of the 2 Russian women. Ray Van Mechelen gets nervous and steps in. |
January 12, 2005 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 De cops soon close the case of the murder on Mike Simons. Laura suspects that Clem De Donder is passing along information to the gang of Ray Van Mechelen. The group of East-European women arrive in Antwerpen. They are not allowed to leave the night club. Van Mechelen makes it very clear what he expects of the girls. Already on the first night things go wrong, Deborah has assaulted one of the customers. The gang decides to sell her. |
January 19, 2005 |
| Episode | Title | Air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 |
Episode 1 After 3 years in jail Ray Van Mechelen and Eddy Schoefs are released and discover that their previous business partner Jan Verplancke invested all their savings in a business in Thailand. When they go out to visit him, Jan makes them an offer. Meanwhile Bob Sels travels to Moldova wit Inesa to recrute new girls. |
April 11, 2008 |
| 2 |
Episode 2 Bob Sels gets a visit from Ukranian women traffickers. He turns their offer for cooperation down. The following night the Pussycat gets smashed up and 2 new girls, Nastya and Sveta, get kidnapped. Sels seeks the help of Ray Van Mechelen but he is not enthousiastic about the idea. Eddy does not want to leave Pattaya untill Jan has paid him back the full debt. To keep himself occupied he rins the T&A-hotel, where the girls entertain their guests. |
April 18, 2008 |
| 3 |
Episode 3 In Pattaya the T&A-stripclub gets closed by the police after a fire in the attached hotel. The Gallaghers suspect Jan of exporting girls to Belgium for his own profit. Ray travels to Kiev to recruit girls for Bob Sels together with Ukranian trafficker Maksim Morozov. Morozov makes Ray the offer of working together and placing Sels out of the game. The girls of the Pussycat still have not been paid. Sveta loses her patience, escapes and goes to the police. |
April 25, 2008 |
Production
Release
| Original network/platform | VTM |
|---|---|
| First aired | January 5, 2005 |
| Last aired | June 13, 2008 |
| Runtime | 50 minutes |
| Status | Ended |
| Schedule | Wednesday at 20:00:00 |