Inspecteur Derrick

This is the greatest detective show ever to be sent on norwegian TV. Horst Tappert and Fritz Wepper play Munich KriminalPolizei officers who take their jobs seriously. We never see the two in their homes, the office is the closest we get. The office is spartanly decorated with maybe some curtains and a small flower. Derrick sits by his desk until midnight waiting for a phonecall, and answers Der KriminalPolizei. Many of his "clients" are easteuropean pimps and kriminals, and angstridden upper middle class wifes in their 40s and their families.

These peoples houses have all white walls and tasteful interiors. Oh, Derrick has almost never fired a gun or used other forms of violence , and he only drives a Mercedes. And always in a suit and a coat. His assistant, Harry Klein used to wear a leather jacket. GREAT.

When I was a boy, before cable and satellite TV, we had only five TV stations to choose from. One of the highlights on TV every week was the "Freitagskrimi" - every Friday an episode of one out of four or five different crime series was shown (they were rotating those series), and none of them created the kind of cult following that Derrick did.

Derrick is set in Munich. I live in Munich, and I totally love this town. Watching Stephan and Harry cruising on Maximilianstrasse in their BMW is just cool! There's also this cliche about the rich and famous that lends Munich a certain kind of air and as Derrick is usually investigating in these circles you get to see all the villas, expensive cars and champaign guzzling wives of wealthy manager types. In fact this is sometimes so over the top that it can only be a satirical stab at the Munich "Schicki Micki" society (Munich's "important" people).

Anyway, a lot more sets this series apart from standard murder mystery fare. There is a very distinct cold, claustrophobic atmosphere that make a Derrick episode immediately recognizable when you're zapping through the channels even if none of the two main protagonists are present in the scene. This perfectly matches Derrick's highly analytical method of crime solving.

There's also the great chemistry between Derrick and his sidekick Harry. Many episodes have them sitting face to face in their office, which is then typically only illuminated by a dim desk lamp, replaying the statements of those interrogated, uncovering contradictions and pinning down a possible suspect.

Well, I'm not surprised that 281 murderers failed to get away with their crime before Derrick retired. Now matter how good you think your alibi is or how well you can keep your cool - you won't withstand this man's piercing eyes and sharp mind!

Whenever I catch an episode on German TV (there's almost always some station airing the series) I watch it. The series was sold internationally to stations in more than 100 countries so there's good chance you might be able to see it sometime. Try it if you're in the mood for something slightly different!

A true classic and without doubt one of the best known German 'Krimis'. I like the episodes from the 70's and early 80's best. Not only because of the sometimes hilarious nostalgia, but the episodes were - in relation to to the later episodes, that is! - fast-paced, and much less boring.

In the 90's, almost every episode concluded in philosophical chatter and most killers were obsessed with "the beauty of death". The series moved away from the whodunnit genre, simply because viewers could no longer guess who was the killer. Even the least obvious characters turned out to have a dark side. The nicest, least suspicious people suddenly turned out to be killing lunatics with no motive but some philosophical crap, and Derrick seemed more of a shrink than an "Oberinspektor". Also, the series moved from the people-next-door environment, mostly in the 70's, to the rich people exclusively in the 90's, which made it sometimes repetitive.

Nevertheless, if you like detective series, whodunnits, and last but not least the German "Krimis", I can recommend this, along with "Tatort" and the "Der Alte" series as a close second. These three were the most popular German cop shows in the 80's and early 90's.

I grew up with this series too. I probably started watching this when I was 4 or 5 years old, and watched it up until recently. I normally never watch German series, but this one was something special. Todays kids may find it antiquated and corny, but I like it.

My wife and I watched this show in Melbourne, Australia. We were absolutely hooked by not only the believable plots but by the excellent acting by Derrick and his offsider. We found it an interesting window into Germany, its culture and over time became quite familiar with Munich and its surrounds.

The show was shown in Australia by the quite excellent SBS and was shown without ads. The fact that it was sub-titled didn't matter at all... it was compulsive viewing over many series.

If I was to rate this series, it would have to be 9 out of 10.