A dead lord of the castle is found drowned and “Tatort” fans have long known what’s behind it: Today’s episode “Long live the king!” with the Münster duo Boerne and Thiel is a repeat. The premiere was in December 2020. Germany’s most popular crime series is taking a ten-week summer break.
Nobody should worry about the rate at ARD. The repeat “Tatort: Der Pakt” on July 31 in the unusual slot at 10:15 p.m. after the EM final still had 1.8 million viewers, the repeat “Tatort: Anne and Death” was on July 24 , behind the “Tagesschau”, the second most successful show of the day with 5.1 million viewers and a market share of a good 22 percent.
It is possible that a whole year could only be covered with “Tatort” repetitions without the rate falling dramatically. On the other hand, repetitions do not have quite as great a reach as new episodes.
The last June “crime scenes” from Munich (“Flash”) and Mainz (“In his eyes”) had 6.85 million and 7.59 million viewers, respectively, so they ran better than canned crime novels. Fresh blood just lures more people in front of the terminals than old corpses do.
The end of the summer break is in sight: On September 4th, it is guaranteed that nobody in the audience will know before the broadcast who is responsible for the murder. The new episode “Tatort: Das Verhör” from Ludwigshafen is about the horrific death of an investment banker.
The suspect is the Bundeswehr soldier Hajo Kessler (Götz Otto), who initially appears charming in the interrogation – at least until he freaks out repeatedly, which could have something to do with the fact that he hates women. The longest-serving “crime scene” investigator Lena Odenthal (Ulrike Folkerts) is responsible for the survey.
While her colleague Johanna Stern (Lisa Bitter) investigates the suspect’s surroundings, Odenthal and the soldier engage in a psychological duel.
Although you probably don’t have to worry about Odenthal. She has been in the service for more than 30 years and has dealt with all sorts of men in that time.
She made her debut in 1989 in the episode “Die Neue”, when she was assigned to a serial rapist as a young commissioner in the vice department.
Before Ulrike Folkerts takes on Götz Otto, who is also known as the henchman from the James Bond film Der Morgendies nie, there will be more Tatort repeats on the first three Sundays.
Change of scene to Berlin: Following Meret Becker’s tragic farewell as Chief Inspector Nina Rubin, Mark Waschke has to continue solo for the time being. The next new rbb “crime scene” will be entitled “The Victim”. Filming is complete and the show is scheduled to air in late 2022.
The story (no spoilers): Maik Balthasar (Andreas Pietschmann), an acquaintance of Robert Karow (Waschke) from his youth, is found dead in the woods with a headshot wound. Karow does not believe, like the commissioner responsible, that a suicide happened here. His investigations lead him into Berlin’s criminal nightclub scene. Karow goes undercover.
The next Berlin “Tatort” on TV is a repeat. “Tatort: The Good Way” from 2019 runs on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 10 p.m. on NDR.
A routine operation takes a dramatic turn in this, the ninth Berlin “crime scene”. Police candidate Tolja Rubin, Nina Rubin’s eldest son, was shot in an old Berlin apartment after a dealer with records was found there. Tolya survives with severe injuries and is now an important witness.
