Although based on the problems associated with the sex trade, the series is not so much a documentary or engaged criticism of those problems as it is a source of entertainment. However, director Marc Punt has said that it wouldn't be terrible if the series made people aware of those problems. Already, the series is used to warn women in the former Eastern Bloc of the practices associated with the sex trade. The program was first broadcast on the Belgian channels
Canal+ (now known as "Prime") and
VTM. After ten episodes,
Russian Dolls received a viewership in excess of 1.1 million. Other countries picked up the show as well. A deal was negotiated between VTM, Independent Productions, and several foreign commercial broadcasters to make a second season. The second season finished shooting in October 2007 and aired in Belgium in 2008. Thus far, the series has twenty episodes. The British composer
David Julyan provided the musical score for the series. The theme song is "
Post-Modern Sleaze" by British group
Sneaker Pimps. The song from Season 2 Episode 5 playing in Bulgaria is Tazi Vecher by Sonq Nemska. A second season titled
Matrioshki 2 was released in 2007 and continues to deal with
human trafficking for
prostitution in Europe. The series takes place three years after the first serial, when the traffickers from the first season are released from jail and go to
Thailand. This time it deals not only with prostitution of eastern European girls, but also with trafficking of Asian girls brought back for
prostitution in Europe, sometimes to help their families. ==International broadcasts==