“No one passed”: this sentence could be placed as a broad headline for this year’s Ramadan drama. With the exception of very few works, among them, for example, (Awlad El-Shams, El-Nos, 80 Bako and Ashghal Shaqqa Gedan), drama has failed, in the most important season and with the first third of the month over, to attract the audience’s interest, while broad criticism is pouring down on it from critics and audiences alike, the most prominent of which relates to excessive repetition and dramatic incoherence, and the exaggerated reliance on the popular hero as a dominant theme, in addition to the monopolisation of the drama industry in Egypt by almost a single company, under which some entities fall within partnerships, which has killed competition and produced a drama season “closer to failure”, in the critics’ estimation.
During this year’s Ramadan season, Egyptian channels are showing 39 series, compared with 34 works last year, ranging across comedy, popular drama, action, fantasy and suspense; 30 of them are 15-episode works, a commendable trend, as critics describe it, that drama makers have recently embarked on to counter pointless padding and repetition and to be able to show more works during the season. Despite that, repetition and unjustified padding dominate all the scripts presented, which is one of the most important reasons for the failure of most of the works.
Khaled Ashour, academic and art critic, affirms in an interview with Zawia3 that the 2025 Ramadan drama season suffers from clear flabbiness and weakness in the quality of the works, which has made it the weakest in terms of audience for years. Ashour attributes this decline to several basic factors, most notably the absence of strong scripts, unjustified interventions by some artists and the monopolisation of drama production, in addition to the influence of social media on the evaluation of artistic works.
For his part, art critic Adam Mekiwy believes that the drama scene suffers from repetition and audience saturation, which has led to lukewarm engagement compared with previous years. Mekiwy tells Zawia3: “There has always been a popular hero dominating the Ramadan scene, and this year we see attempts to continue this approach, such as the series “Sayed El-Nas” and “Fahd El-Batal”, but they did not achieve the expected resonance. Even works of a popular character such as “El-Maddah” did not achieve the success we were used to.”
He attributes this to a state of saturation among the audience, as the stories and characters are repeated every year in the same dramatic moulds, which deprives the viewer of the element of surprise and dazzlement. He adds in his conversation with us: “The Fawazir or the “A Thousand and One Nights” series used to be presented in the same form for years until the audience began to mock them. And now, we see the same scenario repeating itself with popular melodrama.” Mekiwy touches on a pivotal point, namely the absence of a series that attracts the various social classes, as “Gaafar El-Omda” did in Ramadan 2023. “That work succeeded with the public because it united viewers from different groups, from the sons of the bourgeois class to the popular audience. But this year, there is no work that has managed to achieve this impact.”
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Media Controversy
The attack on the Ramadan series began early, and not only from critics, as Egyptian media figures attacked the drama works heavily; presenter Lamees El-Hadidi launched a sharp attack on what she described as the spread of “popular drama” in Egyptian series, expressing her displeasure at the obscene language that has become a prominent feature of these works. Lamees wrote on her official “Facebook” page: “Popular (slum) series swept the Ramadan season this year, and they may be among the most successful and most watched; the actors in them are skilled and prominent stars, and the violent scenes are well crafted. But I have a question: why are these works dominated by the language of shouting, insolence and strange expressions? Why do the actors speak this way? Egyptian colloquial Arabic is one of the most beautiful dialects, so why do we turn it into a slum dialect and obliterate its features?”
She added: “There is a difference between realist art, whose foundations were laid by the great director Salah Abu Seif, and what we watch today. It is true that there are groups who speak this way as a result of the deterioration of education and the influence of the “tuk-tuk” economy, which has swept through our neighbourhoods and affected our culture, but why do we entrench the worst? What are we teaching the generations who follow these series? And what are we instilling in the fans of these artists? Is the aim for them to imitate them in the way they speak? Has the best actor become the one who exaggerates his pronunciation, and the most distinguished actress the one who twists her lips and speaks in a provocative manner?”
Lamees El-Hadidi continued, saying: “Of course, this does not mean that the only alternative is to present drama that takes place only in upscale and gated neighbourhoods, for this too does not represent society. But there are broad groups of Egyptians who live normal lives far from this distortion. Art has a profound influence, and therefore one should beware of negative influence. The success of a single series will not make up for the heavy price we will pay over many long years.”
The most controversial statement came from media figure and lawyer Khaled Abou Bakr, who published a message on his Facebook page addressing the Egyptian Minister of Interior, asking him to look into Ramadan drama and review the spread of what he described as “works of violence and thuggery”. Abou Bakr said in a post that the drama highlights scenes of violence, thuggery and antiquities trafficking, which may negatively affect young people and society, considering that these works portray the Egyptian street as if it suffers from chaos and a lack of security, which does not reflect its reality.
Abou Bakr says in his message: “Your Excellency the Minister, you know, and I know, and everyone knows that drama is not merely entertainment, but a dangerous weapon that affects minds directly, perhaps at times exceeding the effect of government plans aimed at raising awareness and correcting concepts. This year, we watched respectable and successful drama works that deserve appreciation, but, with all due respect, we also spent money on other works that promote thuggery, violence, kidnapping, and arms and antiquities trafficking, in addition to their use of language alien to our Egyptian society.”
He added, asking: “Is this the real Egyptian street? Are these the popular neighbourhoods we know, which are governed by morals and values before the law?”, pointing out that education and culture in Egypt face major challenges, and that social media reflects an unreassuring picture of social reality.
Abou Bakr’s statements opened a wide door of controversy, reaching the point of an exchange of barbs between a number of media figures, including what media figure Mohamed El-Baz wrote, describing Abou Bakr as suffering from “media squint”, criticising Abou Bakr for addressing his message to the Ministry of Interior instead of directing it to the producers and drama makers themselves, and considering that Egyptian drama has in recent years presented prominent works that showed the role of the police in combating terrorism and crime, such as the series “El-Ekhtiyar” and others, which makes focusing only on works dealing with violence an unfair proposition.
For her part, critic Ola El-Shafei, editor-in-chief of the “Youm7” newspaper and head of drama content at “United Media Services”, commented, saying that she did not understand the purpose of Abou Bakr’s post, asking on “Facebook”: “Is it a complaint against drama makers, or what?” El-Shafei pointed out that Ramadan drama was not limited to scenes of violence, but presented diverse content reflecting various social issues, such as the series “El-Nos”, whose events take place in the 1920s, and “Awlad El-Shams”, which dealt with the issue of the exploitation of orphans. She also stressed that the Egyptian police appeared in many drama works in a fitting image, with their role in combating crime and protecting society highlighted.
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Production Monopoly and the Crisis of Creativity
One of the fundamental reasons that weakened the drama season, according to critic Dr Khaled Ashour, is production monopoly, as he points out in his conversation with us that the absence of competition between production companies has led to a single entity controlling the market, which has weakened quality and deprived drama of the element of diversity. He stresses that the situation in the past was different, as there were several strong production companies, which created competitiveness that forced everyone to present high-quality works.
He adds: “Now, however, the monopolisation of production has led to the absence of competitiveness, which has produced a weak season. The Egyptian academic and critic points out that some production companies have turned into “factories” for producing series without regard for the quality of the content, as drama works are executed quickly and without attention to a coherent dramatic plot, which has led to the production of similar series that repeat the same themes and problems.”
In addition, Ashour points to the role of social media in promoting drama works in an unreal way, explaining that some actors now have electronic committees that work to promote their series even if they are weak, which makes the viewer feel that he is living in a reality parallel to what is said on social networking sites. He points out that there are pages paid entirely to promote some works, and that some artists have electronic teams that work to inflate their success, even if their series have no real following among the audience.
“United Media Services” controls the largest share of the drama production market, and some critics and drama makers believe that the control of a single production entity affects dramatic creativity and its diversity. “United” includes a group of companies specialising in publicity and advertising, among them Media Hub, which was co-owned by Mohamed El-Saadi and Ehab Gohar, Synergy, which was owned by Tamer Morsi, and the company POD, which was owned by Amr El-Feki, the latter currently being the advertising agent for all the media outlets of United Media Services, in addition to the company Ingredients, which works alongside Media Hub in producing advertising content.
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Censorship and the Interventions of Decision-Makers
Critic Adam Mekiwy, in his conversation with us, points to another crisis linked to the drama industry in Egypt, relating to the lowering of the censorship ceiling as one of the most important reasons affecting the drama industry in Egypt, as the writer and the makers of a work in general are forced to hide behind a thousand and one masks to write the work; by contrast, production in 2011 was characterised by great boldness in addressing topics, and consequently a large number of works were produced that became landmarks in the history of drama, such as “Mawga Hara” and “Bedoun Zekr Asmaa” and others.
The Supreme Council for Media Regulation sets the standards that drama producers are asked to adhere to, and the committees emanating from it also determine the topics that drama makers should focus on. Among these directives is the need to stop portraying the achievement of justice outside the framework of the law, such as resorting to physical violence instead of legal means, and the encouragement of works that highlight the heroic role of members of the military establishment and police officers in protecting the homeland. The committee also called for promoting historical and religious works, and for highlighting the popular biographies of national heroes with the aim of deepening belonging and national awareness.
The drama committee had approved in 2017 the imposition of a fine of EGP 200,000 on every satellite channel, and EGP 100,000 on radio stations, for every offensive word broadcast through these outlets. The decision also stipulated the withdrawal of the licence of any media outlet in which the offences are repeated within six months, with the licence to be reissued after new procedures are taken. Likewise, the Supreme Council for Media Regulation issued in 2021 a warning to satellite channels against showing any drama works without obtaining the approval of the censorship authority, stressing the need to comply with censorship procedures at all stages of production.
These decisions raised, at the time, many questions, as Law No. 92 of 2016, ratified by the President of the Republic, did not provide for granting the council these powers. Moreover, these penalties and fines came before the issuance of the executive regulations governing its work, which were supposed to be issued by the Prime Minister’s Office in coordination with the Supreme Council for Media Regulation and the two bodies affiliated with it within three months of the ratification of the law.
Furthermore, the committee did not provide a clear definition of offensive words or of what might be considered harmful to the values of society and public order, which opens the way to broad interpretations that may include any word or scene as being in violation, something that gives the state almost absolute control over drama as a means of communicating with the public and a tool for shaping public opinion. This in turn contradicts the principles of the constitution, which guarantee equal opportunities for all currents to express their visions and influence public opinion.
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Drama Without Identity and Without Real Competition
Khaled Ashour points out that the current season witnessed an unprecedented phenomenon in the Egyptian drama industry, as directors, writers and actors withdrew one after another from completing their works because of continuous interference, which caused clear disruption in the structure of the series.
He explains that this is the first time in the history of Ramadan drama that withdrawals have occurred with such intensity, citing several examples, such as director Wael Farag’s withdrawal from the series “Shahadet Moamla Atfal”, and the change of director in another series because one of the actors took control of the script and direction. He also points out that the series “Zolm El-Mastaba” will begin airing in the second half of Ramadan because of production problems, while other works saw directors withdraw after filming several episodes. The withdrawals were not limited to directors and writers, but extended to actors as well, as the artist Diab withdrew from one of the works and was replaced by the artist Khaled Kamal, which caused production chaos that was reflected in the quality of the works shown.
As for comedy works, Ashour pointed out that the current season suffers from an almost complete collapse of this dramatic genre, explaining that drama makers have a mistaken perception that comedy is limited to contrived exaggerations and illogical situations.
Among the major problems Ashour points to is the control of some actors over the script and direction, as it has become customary for the actor to intervene in amending the texts to serve his personal image, which has deprived drama works of their coherence and quality.
He adds that many series suffer from script problems, as it has become customary for the actor to receive the scenes only one day before filming, something that did not happen in the past, when the actor would read the entire script to understand the dimensions of his character and its interactions with the other characters.
Regarding the absence of important issues from drama, Ashour explains that Egyptian drama has always reflected the social and political reality of society, but it has now retreated in favour of superficial topics unconnected to people’s issues. He points out that a series such as “Taht El-Wesaya” succeeded in Ramadan 2023 because it dealt with a real social issue, in contrast to other works that revolve within the framework of violence, antiquities trafficking and thuggery, without presenting issues that actually touch the Egyptian citizen.
In addition, Ashour denounces some fallacies that appeared in the current season, such as the illogical exaggerations in portraying antiquities trafficking, as some works presented scenes suggesting that this trade is capable of outdoing government institutions and official museums.
Ashour affirms that Ramadan drama 2025 suffers from an absence of identity, a lack of competition, production monopoly, the absence of a tight script, and unjustified interventions by actors, which has produced a weak season lacking creativity and renewal. He stresses that Egyptian drama will not regain its strength except with the return of competitiveness between production companies, the presentation of real societal issues, attention to the quality of writing and direction, and an end to presenting stereotypical works that do not represent the Egyptian street.
Intensified Production Exhausts the Audience
Adam Mekiwy talks about viewers’ shift from traditional television viewing to digital streaming platforms, as young people now prefer to watch short clips or follow series reviews instead of watching the series in full. He explains: “The generation of mothers and aunts was loyal to television, while the new generation watches summaries on digital platforms.”
He also points to the phenomenon of popular criticism on social media platforms, as many content creators have emerged who offer analyses of series despite their lack of specialised critical expertise. He says: “Criticism is no longer the preserve of art critics; rather, the ordinary viewer has become a critic. And this affects the reception of artistic works, as non-specialist opinions spread and affect the audience’s impressions.” Mekiwy criticises the intensification of production in Ramadan, pointing out that this strategy is now causing audience fatigue. “Showing the important works in a single month leads to the audience being scattered; it does not find time to follow everything, which makes even good works get lost in the crowd.”
This year’s Ramadan drama season revealed a real crisis in the industry, as the factors of repetition, monopoly and weak creativity combined to produce a lacklustre season that could not capture the audience’s attention, and while criticism continues to pour in from the audience, critics and media figures, the most important question remains: will the next season witness a course correction, or will Egyptian drama continue its decline in a spiral of boredom and banality?
Editorial correction: The first version of the report stated that the series “Gaafar El-Omda” and “Taht El-Wesaya” were shown last year (2024); the correct position is that they were shown in the Ramadan 2023 season.
