TV thriller
Why “Polizeiruf 110” is the better “crime scene”
© NDR / Stefan Erhard
The Sunday “crime scene” is sacred, but when the “police call” many people switch off. Do people actually know what they are missing out on? A conversion.
For half my life I’ve had a fixed appointment on Sundays at 8.15 p.m., which I am extremely reluctant to cancel. No matter where I am and who is with me, I sit in front of the TV (or the laptop) and watch the crime thriller in the first. Maybe I should just leave it this Sunday and move from door to door instead, on behalf of good taste:
“Good evening, you look like a friend of the well-kept Sunday evening entertainment. May I ask why your television is not on?” “But there is a police call, I never watch it.”
How often have I heard this sentence – also from friends and colleagues, to whom I would normally attest a certain degree of sanity. The “police call” is the Hanover of television thrillers – it has an image problem. He is underestimated as the little, snoring-nosed brother of the “crime scene”. And if you take a closer look, it has long since surpassed it.
On the one hand there are the actors: While the investigator carousel at “Tatort” is turning hysterically fast, outstanding teams have been found at “Police Call” over the last two or three years – and as pleasantly calm as it actually is heard for public broadcasters.
Whether in Rostock, Munich, Magdeburg or Frankfurt (Oder), “Polizeiruf” determines the finest selection of German acting: I would go straight to the cinema for Charly Hübner, Anneke Kim Sarnau, Claudia Michelsen or Maria Simon. So it’s all the more great that I now see them regularly on television.
© rbb / Oliver Feist, MDR / Julia Terjung, BR / Geißendörfer Pictures / Hendrik Heiden
The characters are also often more complex, more broken and therefore more personable than in “Tatort”. Forget about jewelry and tailors – the leisurely “police call” duo from Halle has fortunately long since retired. In Rostock, a thug with a cowboy gang, big heart and criminal past is now investigating together with a traumatized profiler. The asphalt cowboy, alias Charly Huebner, just announced his exit at police call 110, which will tear a big hole in the team of investigators. But the other teams are just as worth seeing. In Magdeburg, a former punk is investigating whose son is a neo-Nazi, and the fact makes the figure even more interesting. And in Frankfurt (Oder) and the surrounding area, Maria Simon, a tough young mother, solves the cases together with her Polish colleague Raczek. You look for dumb pathologists or woodcut-like sidekicks in vain, instead you get figures with depth.
Many of the stories told in the “Police Call” resonate for a long time. It is no coincidence that the “Polizeiruf” is regularly nominated for the Grimme Prize. The current case from Halle is also worth seeing – not only because of the new investigator duo Commissioner Henry Koitzsch and Commissioner Michael Lehmann, but also because of the bizarre lying swamp in which the suspects get entangled. But I don’t want to reveal more: Just see for yourself! You will quickly notice: the only thing that the “crime scene” can really do better than the “police call” is the opening credits.
On May 30th at 8:15 pm the first shows the anniversary episode “An der Saale hellem Strande” for the 50th birthday of Police Call 110 with the new team of investigators from Halle with Chief Detective Henry Koitzsch (Peter Kurth) and Detective Inspector Michael Lehmann (Peter Schneider).