The Octopus

La Piovra is an Italian television drama miniseries about the Mafia. The story was written by Sandro Petraglia, with production design by Luigi Perelli. The soundtrack was composed by Riz Ortolani and later by Ennio Morricone, who continued to compose music for several sequels. All 10 series have been released on DVD in Australia by Aztec International Entertainment, with English subtitles, following their original broadcast on the Special Broadcasting Service television channel. The series was also broadcast on MHz Networks in the United States. The first three series were shown in the UK on Channel 4. The TV drama was highly successful in the USSR, where it aired on state television in 1986, and in Bulgaria, where it was broadcast at the end of the 1980s under the title Октопод, offering viewers in both countries a glimpse of thrilling and dark drama from beyond the Iron Curtain. La Piovra was also shown in communist Albania from 1987 to 1988, where it became a major hit and remains a cult film to this day, with its characters and expressions having influenced Albanian culture, language, and society.