User Reviews

Coming from neighboring Poland I had two German episodes in my life, both spanning for a couple of years. The first one was in the 80-ties. I remember "Derrick" from that period, watching it regularly together with "One Case for Two" and "Tatort" productions. It was a good entertainment and helped me to learn German. Additional attraction of "Derrick" at that time was the fact that I remembered Fritz Wepper (playing Harry Klein) from famous "Cabaret" and very exciting WW-2 drama "The River Line". After leaving Germany I always tried to remember that period of my life by regularly reading German books and watching some German productions in the original language. That way I came across the episodes from "Derrick" from the 70-ties, that simply captivated me. I started to understand why this series became popular in several countries. It offered a new approach by showing who has done it (like "Columbo"), but the most original for me was a combination of crime genre with that of social drama. Some of the episodes could have been made by famous directors of Italian, French or Czech school, but "Derrick" never got over-sentimental or boring. Those early episodes have almost the power of watching documentaries about the 70-ties. So I put "Derrick" alongside my other favorite crime TV series like "Columbo", "Taggart" or "Wallander".

Two years ago I discovered this German TV series and I enjoy to see every day a new episode. Derrick is first this chief inspector of Munich , Stephan Derrick,who with his colleague Harry Klein solves crimes using their hability to observe, talking with the people,looking for the motive of a crime, investigating the past, the friendships of a suspect or of a victim.Rarely they have to use their weapons for arresting a suspect. Derrick is also Munich, this town with nices neighbourhoods , great monuments, the English Garden, the banks of the Isar River,but also dangerous neighbourhoods and also the nice surroundings (lakes, countryside,etc). Derrick is a very consistent TV series, a pleasant size (57-59 minutes), Derrick and Klein have to act quickly (there is not time for their personal problems). The same writer for all the episodes, Herbert Reinecker !! The episodes have the touch of Herbert Reinecker, a man who has some favorite themes: through his episodes Herbert Reinecker shows his indignation, his anger or his aversion when people are forcing women to prostitution (white slavery), when men are abusing and raping women, when rackets are destroying honest businesses. Also the description of the bourgeoise and high society with their problems of inheritance, fight for power o infidelity may be quite acid. As I mention the private life of Stephan Derrick and Harry Klein doesn't have a great importance in these episodes.

These episodes had a large following and even now decades later they have withstood the test of time well. The script and storyline are well done. Apart from their quality as detective fiction, these episodes are interesting as they provide a step back in time for those who remember the 70's and the 80's. They provide an interesting mirror of those days. Tens of thousands of people watch this today on a regular basis. When I look back to that time life was more simple, no internet, only house telephones and color TV was a new luxury. Most people were even happy with radio and a b/w television. Many episodes are exciting with a good plot, and a few even outstanding.

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!

It is a well-known fact that police-investigators, in movies, never have to use the restroom. However, if one compares the episodes of the last then years of "Tatort" with the first ones, almost forty years ago, the newer films have become closer to real life. Nevertheless, Oberinspektor (Superintendent) Stephan Derrick (whose name was only broadcast after a winner in Wim Thoelke's famous Quiz did not know it and lost the most gigantic sum of money anybody ever had gathered by steadily correct guessing)is free from any "virtual" attitudes that would prove him to be a member of humankind. He is pure functionality: His hair is always oiled perfectly, he always wears the same coat, his glasses never change, even certain of his sentences have become stereotypical (and often quoted). Derrick does not have the aura of the fatherly Marek, nor the brilliance of the university professor and pathologist Von Boerne, but he is also neither the ruffian Schimansky nor his colleague, the persnickety Thanner. Unlike Veigl or his early Bavarian colleague Wanninger, he is not the type people thrust, so sneaking into a restaurant and pricking up his ears, that is not him. He looks what he is, and that makes things clear, but not always easy. Derrick is not a moralist either, and this renders him finally sympathetic. When we see him clothed tastefully and expensively going to theater, in company of a flagship-lady like Johanna Von Koczian, we start to doubt how much Derrick would understand of crimes committed out of need. Derrick is a chess-player who has a whole scenario in his mind before he indubitably torments a suspect until this one admits that he is the murderer whom Derrick had assumed already long before his assistant or his superintendent even had a ghost of an idea. So, best we can consider Derrick a salon-detective, and it is not by mere chance that most of the hundreds of episodes are settled in the "better society" of industrials, academics, doctors, large landowners, but seldomly in what is called in German the "milieu". However, when this should happen, the neat Derrick appears as dislocated as the grubby Colombo is when entering one of the splendid Californian villas.

With a dearth of anything else to watch late night on ITV in the early 1980's UK, I would watch this show occasionally. It does draw you in but not exactly a feel-good show. The direction is flat as a pancake, with depressing urban postwar Germany concrete landscapes, it's sometimes hard to determine whether this was East or West German. Horst Tappert and his sidekick fill the rolls acceptably, the perfunctory sound dubbing and low use of incidental music adds to the complete disconnect. Somewhat depressing.

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.

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!"

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.

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.

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 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