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Matador is a Danish television series that aired from 1978 to 1982. It takes place between 1929 and 1947 in the fictitious Danish village of Korsbaek. It chronicles the lives of a diverse cast of characters from various walks of life, with a particular focus on the competition between the families of two businessmen: banker Hans Christian Varns, an established local worthy, and social climber Mads Skjern, who comes in town as the series begins. The name Matador was inspired by the localized edition of the boardgame Monopoly, which also serves as the series' potential English title. Furthermore, in contemporary Danish, a "matador" is a business tycoon, which refers to the character of Mads Skjern and his craftiness as a self-made entrepreneur in the series. Matador, directed by acclaimed Danish filmmaker Erik Balling, was the brainchild of author Lise Nrgaard, who co-wrote the majority of the episodes with Karen Smith, Jens Louis Petersen, and Paul Hammerich. The series is one of the most well-known and popular examples of Danish television and symbolizes the pinnacle of the public service channel Danmarks Radio's long-term development of Danish TV drama. The series has become part of the modern self-understanding of Danes, partly because of its successful mix of melodrama and a distinct warm Danish humour in the depiction of characters, which were portrayed by a wide range of the most popular Danish actors at the time, but also not least because of its accurate portrayal of a turbulent Denmark from around the start of the Great Depression and through Nazi Germany's occupation of Denmark in World War II.