L'Ispettore Derrick

Chief Inspector Derrick solves crimes in Germany in an hour each. I remember enjoying this series greatly growing up in India, most because the series always brought closure each episode, and never dragged out like most other Indian detective series. Often focusing on social, psychological, or 'why did he do it' kind of themes rather than your typical whodunnit, I have fond memories of Derrick. Horst Tappert has a commanding presence as Derrick, and together with Harry and Berger (I've always thought three was too small a team) gets the criminal in all the episodes I saw. 'Harry, Get the car.' is a line that comes immediately to mind when I think about the series.

Derrick remains my favorite long running detective series, one of the several out of Germany we had a chance to see on Indian Television.

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.

This fantastic German 'Krimi' is unique because of its sterile depiction of murder investigation. Derrick's only weapon is his reasoning. He needs no gun to arrest suspects, he fires his arguments one by one at them, so that the murderer (often a neat & rich person) simply has to surrender. The settings are always great: cool, white villas, sleazy nightclubs and, as another commenter said, an absolutely spartan office. As far as I know there are no references to the families and friends of the protagonist and his introvert sidekick Harry, and you need a magnifying glass to find frivolities like humor. The sterility and formality of the series may be repulsive to some viewers, but I think it's a haven for people that are fed up with them Hollywood-influenced police series on steroids.

There are rumors that Derrick is back on Dutch television, so: "Harry, hol' den Wagen!"

This was one of our favorite TV shows as a kid in South Africa where it was dubbed into Afrikaans. Alas I cannot find these on the internet but are there any version of Derrick with English subtitles available anywhere. Please point me in the right direction. Thanks

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.