Whiskey on the Rocks: release date, cast, trailer, more

Aboard the Whiskey-class Soviet sub U-137, which caused an international incident when it ran aground near a Swedish military base in 1981 (Image credit: Disney+)

It sounds stranger than fiction, but darkly comic political satire Whiskey on the Rocks, which is about a diplomatic crisis that nearly sparked World War Three, is actually based on a true story.

A Swedish-language series recounts the terrifying brinkmanship that ensued when a Soviet submarine ran aground near a Swedish military base in October 1981.

The six-parter starts aboard the Whiskey-class Soviet sub U-137, which goes off course in the Baltic Sea following a navigational error and crosses into Swedish waters before hitting a submerged rock and becoming stranded.

When the sub is spotted by a fisherman, the news is relayed to the Swedish authorities. Meanwhile, the Soviets are desperate to recover the vessel, and the USA gets wind of what could be a defining moment in the Cold War.

Here's everything we know about Whiskey on the Rocks...

Whiskey on the Rocks release date

Whiskey on the Rocks will be available on Hulu in the US and Disney Plus in the UK from Wednesday, January 22.

Whiskey on the Rocks cast

Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev (Kestutis Stasys Jakstas) (Image credit: Disney+)

All Creatures Great and Small’s Mark Noble plays US President Ronald Reagan, and Kestutis Stasys Jakstas stars as Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev. Meanwhile, Swedish PM Thorbjörn Fälldin is played by Rolf Lassgård.

Swedish PM Thorbjörn Fälldin (Rolf Lassgård) (Image credit: Disney+)

While this may be the first time many viewers will have been made aware of the incident, Wallander star Rolf Lassgård, who plays the unflappable Swedish PM Thorbjörn Fälldin, says it looms large in Swedish memories.

"I was around 26 years old and I really remember it, like everyone who was in Sweden when it happened, and it was actually more terrifying than we knew at the time," he says, adding that the real-life character he portrays in the drama was a rather unique politician.

"I don’t think we will see another prime minister who, at the same time, was working as a farmer," he says of Swedish premier Fälldin. "This is a person who was really grounded."

But while a hawkish general pushes him to take a hard line with the Soviets, it’s Fälldin’s measured approach that ultimately saves the day, instructing his forces to ‘hold the border’ until the Soviets withdraw.

"When the Soviet ships were coming closer to the Swedish border to take the sub away, Fälldin had only 10 minutes to decide what to do," says Lassgård. "He described it as the loneliest moment in his life."