CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

Real Humans

Swedish science-fiction television series

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 16, 2026
Entity authorityQ2690883
Source-derived summary

Real Humans (Swedish: Äkta människor) is a 2012 Swedish science fiction/drama series set in an alternative near-future version of Sweden where consumer-level humanoid robot workers and servants are widespread. The series follows the resulting emotional effects on two families as well as the trials of a group of robots who have attained free will and want their freedom from human ownership.

It premiered on SVT 1 on 22 January 2012. The show was created by Lars Lundström and the first series was directed by Harald Hamrell and Levan Akin. As of 2013, the series has been sold to about 50 countries, including Australia, France, Germany, and South Korea. A second season of ten episodes premiered on SVT1 in October 2013. In April 2013 it was announced that Lars Lundström was writing a third series, but as of August 2014, SVT has yet to officially announce whether the series will be renewed for a third season. As of November 2014, Lundström said in an interview with Festival Court Métrange, "We have planned for a third season, we have written a whole outline and some scripts, but right now it's in decision making, if it's going to happen or not, because we have problem to fund the budget money. In a couple of weeks, maximum a month, we know, but I'm sorry to say, I'm not very optimistic.".

Setting

The story takes place in a version of present-day Sweden where the use of androids is commonplace.

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Real Humans” is swedish science-fiction television series. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Real, Humans and Swedish, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA useful identification and reception guide that helps separate the work itself from editions, performances, ownership and later interpretation. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2012, 2013, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. For this dossier, Real, Humans and Swedish is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “swedish science-fiction television series” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 16, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2690883. The first chronological checks are 2012, 2013 and 2014.

Critical limits

Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Real Humans”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Real Humans primary sources, Real Humans archive and Real research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Real Humans”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Real Humans” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.