Salatut elämät is a Finnish television soap opera that premiered on MTV3 on 25 January 1999. The series' storylines follow the daily lives of several families who live in the same apartment block in Helsinki. The series primarily centres on the residents of Pihlajakatu and its neighbouring areas. Only four of the original twenty characters – Ismo, Kalle, Aki and Kari – still remain in the series, and most of the series' current characters have made their debuts in 2014 or later. Ismo is the only character who has never left the series.