The five-episode documentary series explores the pivotal period in Greek history from July 1974 to the present, covering the 50 years since the fall of the dictatorship and the establishment of new political institutions. The series uses the extensive audiovisual archives of ERT to showcase significant events and provide a unique interpretation of the post-dictatorship era, which is often referred to as the "Metapolitefsi" (transition to democracy).

The series does not aim to provide an exhaustive or encyclopedic account of these complex 50 years but instead focuses on how the major political, social, and cultural shifts of the period were experienced at the time and how they are understood today. It explores how ordinary people lived through and interpreted these events in real time, how those events influenced their daily lives and cultural developments, and how we interpret them in hindsight, with the benefit of historical perspective.

The collaboration between political scientist Stathis Kalyvas and sociologist Panagiotis Panayiotopoulos is central to this approach. Their narrative, based on exhaustive research in ERT's archives, delves into the political, social, economic, and value-based transformations triggered by the Metapolitefsi. Through original images and the words of the people—both famous figures and ordinary citizens—the documentary aims to spark intergenerational dialogue about the meaning and impact of the last five decades in Greece.

Each episode offers a vibrant, experiential, and often unexpected portrait of the period, encouraging reflection and discussion among both older generations who lived through these changes and younger ones who are discovering them for the first time.

The electoral victory of PASOK and Andreas Papandreou in 1981 inaugurated a new period during the 'Metapolitefsi'. Both the victory of a party with a radical, at least until then, political profile, and the impeccable alternation of parties in power is a great political test and proof that the Metapolitefsi institutions work. Democracy in Greece is consolidating. PASOK is embarking on a broad programme of social reforms. Some will succeed and contribute to the strengthening of the party and others will lead to serious economic problems that will peak at the end of the decade. At the same time, the relationship between PASOK and the state, the clientelism and the aggressive policy will contribute to an explosion of political mobilization and an intensification of political competition, which will culminate in a major political-economic crisis at the end of the decade. These are The Years of Socialism.