Derrick, the German crime drama starring Horst Tappert and Fritz Wepper, ran for 281 episodes from 1974 to 1998 on ZDF and aired in over 100 countries. Season 5 (13 one-hour episodes) is now available in France on DVD (All Zone) in the "Inspecteur Derrick - Intégrale saison 5" boxset released by Elephant Films.Derrick was devised by producer Helmut Ringelmann and scriptwriter Herbert Reinecker as an alternative to Der Kommissar, their crime drama launched in 1969 on ZDF. Produced by Ringelmann's Neue Münchner Fernsehproduktion and set in Munich, Der Kommissar starred Erik Ode as Kommissar Herbert Keller (an investigator inspired by Maigret). It stayed in black & white until the end in 1976 and its 97 one-hour episodes were all penned by Reinecker. In April 1977, Der Alte, Helmut Ringelmann's successor to Der Kommissar, premiered on the channel (1). The prolific Reinecker worked on the Edgar Wallace, Jerry Cotton and Winnetou film series. Interested by the psychological and social backgrounds of crime (2), he wrote each of the 281 episodes of Derrick. The main character, Oberinspektor Stephan Derrick of the Munich Mordkommission, made actor Horst Tappert recognizable all over the world.
Tappert's first notable role was the criminal mastermind in the miniseries The Great Train Robbery (Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse, 1966). He played a villain in The Hound of Blackwood Castle (Der Hund von Blackwood Castle, 1967), an Edgar Wallace movie, before switching sides as the detective in the next two: Gorilla Gang (Der Gorilla von Soho, 1968) and The Man with the glass eye (Der Mann mit dem Glasauge, 1969). Helmut Ringelmann offered him the title role in Derrick, a production of his new company Telenova (for ZDF, ORF and SRG) filmed in colour. Horst Tappert described the Oberinspektor as "devoured by the melancholy and cynicism of Humphrey Bogart" (3). An element of Der Kommissar was kept when the Kriminalhauptmeister Harry Klein, one of Keller's men, left his boss to become Inspektor and work for Derrick.
Munich-born actor Fritz Wepper bid farewell to Der Kommissar in an episode where Harry introduced his replacement... his brother Erwin Klein (Fritz Wepper's brother Elmar Wepper). Before Derrick, Wepper shared scenes with Tappert in Der Mann mit dem Glasauge and got noticed in Cabaret (1972). He remained popular long after Derrick thanks to TV series like Zweï Brüder (1994-2000, with Elmar Wepper), Um Himmels Willen (2002-2021) and Mord in bester Geselshaft (2007-2017). The other regulars of Derrick were Willy Schäfer (Berger), Günther Stoll (Schröder, Seasons 2 to 4) and Gerhard Bormann (Echterding, Seasons 2 to 4).
Helmut Ringelmann liked to work with a quasi-repertory company of guest
actors. The filming of the famous series began in summer 1973 and ZDF
presented it with 3 episodes aired during autumn and winter 1974. 12 episodes from the second season followed throughout the year 1975.
Originally, viewers knew the culprit from the start — like in Columbo — though this was dropped for whodunnits. Occasional action
sequences are another feature of these early seasons. The channel aired the first 29 episodes (Seasons 1 to 3) of Derrick out of their production order. The excellent season 5 was shown on ZDF from January to December 1978. The legendary Edgar Wallace director Alfred Vohrer helmed 5 of its 13 episodes (4). The music of composer, singer and hit maker Frank Duval can be heard in 8 episodes of this season. The theme of Derrick was composed by English musician Les Humphries.
- Der Fotograf. A photographer is thrown under a subway train. The impressive season premiere starts with a chase in the Munich U-Bahn. Some scenes were filmed at Trausnitz Castle, Bavaria. Christine Buchegger (Aus dem Leben der Marionetten) and actor, director and scriptwriter Jürgen Goslar (5) are amongst the guest stars. Directed by Helmuth Ashley.
- Tod eines Fans. A masterpiece helmed by Alfred Vohrer. Rockstar Harry Dugan finds a dead girl in the bed of his hotel room. Dugan is played by actor and singer Tommi Piper, who performed two songs in this episode: Born to be wild and Rock'n roll star. Actor Stephan Behrens (Ingo Grasser) played Sgt. Pepper in Der Mann mit dem Glasauge. Also with Wolfgang Wahl (Oskar Heckel), Christian Kohlund (Der Zürich-Krimi, Black Forest Clinic) as Konrad Peiss, Helga Anders (Vera Höfer), etc.
- Abendfrieden. A man comes to visit his great aunt at her retirement home. A superb episode directed by Helmuth Ashley. With Inge Birkmann (Helene Schübel) Alice Treff (Margarete Schübel), Thomas Fritsch (Alfons Ullmann).
- Ein Hinterhalt. A car accident in the forest was provoked because of a tree trunk left on the road. With Ruth Leuwerik (Dr. Marta Schwenn), Hans-Georg Panczak (Bruno Kolpe), Traugott Buhre (Albert Kolpe), Heiner Lauterbach, Helmut Fischer... Directed by Alfred Vohrer.
- Stein's Tochter. A classic helmed by Wolfgang Becker. Alexander Bork brings back his girlfriend Cosima Stein to her house when he's shot dead. With Katerina Jacob (Cosima), Thomas Holtzmann (Oswald Stein), Markus Boysen (Heinz Betzky), etc.
- Klavierkonzert. The housekeeper of renowned pianist Robert van Doom is killed in his wife's bedroom. With Maria Schell (Luisa van Doom), Peter Fricke (Robert van Doom), Jutta Speidel (Helga Kling), Austrian actor Eric Pohlmann (The Return of the Pink Panther, Die Frau in Weiß) as Carol Ostrow, Heinz Ehrenfreund (Walter Schumann), Iris Berben (Isabella), Sky du Mont (Mr. Baum). Conductor Jaroslav Opela served as the musical advisor of this episode. Directed by Helmuth Ashley.
- Kaffee mit Beate. Klein goes undercover in a guesthouse. With Helga Anders (Beate Schill), Agnes Fink (Mrs Pacha), Peter Pasetti (Serball), Christian Quadflieg (Star Maidens) as Herwig. Directed by Alfred Vohrer.
- Solo für Margarete. The police finds the dead body of a young woman. The investigation leads Derrick and Klein to a musician named Alexis. With Horst Buchholz (The Magnificent Seven) as Alexis, Lisa Kreuzer (Margarete/Ursula), Susanne Beck (Celia), Jacques Breuer (Ruff). The end title music is Ataraxia Pt. 1 by Passport, the band of jazz musician and television/film composer Klaus Doldinger (6). Directed by Michael Braun.
- Lissas Vater. Ludwig Heimer is harassing his ex-wife Elsa. Heinz Bennent guest stars as Heimer, his daughter Anne Bennent plays Lissa. Also with Ullrich Haupt (Georg Hassler), Christine Wodetzky (Elsa Hassler). Directed by Alfred Vohrer.
- Der Spitzel. Zbyněk Brynych, a talented Czech director who frequently worked for Helmut Ringelmann's productions, helmed this episode where a cop is killed while on the trail of a mobster. With Götz George (Schimanski) as Georg Lukas, Stefan Behrens, Horst Sachtleben, etc.
- Die verlorenen Sekunden. Mrs Leubel, a seamstress, must deliver a dress to a client at her appartment. A very effective 50th episode directed by Alfred Vohrer. With Elfriede Kuzmany (Mrs Leubel), Louise Martini (Hanna Schenk), Herbert Herrmann (Harro Brückner), Hans Korte (Mr. Kwien).
- Ute und Manuela. A man is shot dead in the parking garage of a disco. A classic helmed by Helmuth Ashley. With Cornelia Froboess (Ute Bilser), Monika Baumgartner (Manuela Stroppe), Gisela Uhlen (Mrs Bilser), etc.
- Abitur. A teacher gives private lessons to a student. With Peter Dirschauer, Agnes Dünneisen, Michael Wittenborn, Hans Quest, Friedrich G. Beckhaus, Volker Eckstein... Directed by Theodor Grädler.
Derrick arrived in France as Inspecteur Derrick in 1986 on Silvio Berlusconi's La Cinq. The 13 episodes of this fifth season from Derrick are in the DVD boxset from Elephant Films in French or German (without
subtitles). Bonus material is comprised of a photo gallery and the
trailers of some of the titles from Elephant Films: The Quest (the 1976 TV series), The Outcasts (1968), Whiplash (1960, starring Peter Graves), Iron Horse (1966-1968), Alias Smith and Jones (1971-1973) and The Virginian (1962-1971). German crime cult dramas Der Alte and Ein Fall für zwei are available from Elephant too and reviewed on this blog.
(1) Der Alte still exists today.
(4) In the 1970s, Alfred Vohrer directed 6 films based on the thrillers by author Johannes Mario Simmel, including Die Antwort kennt nur der Wind (1974).
(5) Jürgen Goslar helmed several episodes of Derrick and Der Alte.
(6) Klaus Doldinger composed the music of classics such as The Neverending Story (Die unendliche Geschichte, 1984) and Das Boot (1981) but also the themes of Tatort and Ein Fall für zwei.
https://www.burg-trausnitz.de/englisch/castle/index.htm (Trausnitz Castle)
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