Derrick (1974–1998)

Stephan Derrick is "Oberinspektor" at the Munich police. Together with his assistant Harry Klein he has to solve murder cases. This series is more based on psychological methods to find out... See full summary »

Stars:

Horst Tappert, Fritz Wepper, Willy Schäfer

9 wins.

Cast

Series cast summary:
Horst Tappert	...	Stephan Derrick (281 episodes, 1974-1998)
Fritz Wepper	...	Harry Klein (281 episodes, 1974-1998)
Willy Schäfer	...	Willi Berger (195 episodes, 1975-1998)

Storyline

Stephan Derrick is "Oberinspektor" at the Munich police. Together with his assistant Harry Klein he has to solve murder cases. This series is more based on psychological methods to find out who was the murderer, than on action scenes and car chases. Derrick prefers to talk to people and learn more about their personalities. Therefor the telephone is a very important instrument to him.

---

Plot Keywords:

police | munich germany | morale | german culture | cult tv | 

---

Genres:

Crime

---

Details

Official Sites:

ZDF [de]

Country:

West Germany

Language:

German

Release Date:

20 October 1974 (West Germany)

Also Known As:

Inspecteur Derrick

Filming Locations:

Bavaria Filmstudios, Geiselgasteig, Grünwald, Bavaria, Germany

Company Credits

Production Co:

Telenova Film und Fernsehgesellschaft, Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (281 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono (1974-1995) Stereo (1995-1998)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of the most successful German TV exports, having been broadcast in 102 countries.

---

Connections

Referenced in Buhera mátrix (2007)

User Reviews

Started out good, but ended up boring

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.