Does this phrase sound familiar? "Harry, bring the car 'round."

And you know exactly which detective series is meant by it.

Detective Chief Inspector Stephan Derrick (played by Horst Tappert) was the hero of a detective series, broadcast in over 100 countries across the globe.

This huge success was not at all predictable from the start. On the contrary, the initial reactions of the audience were not such a fall into euphoria. Derrick was originally conceived as a classic "howcatchem" thriller. Indeed, the perpetrators were known right from the beginning and the audience watched how the inspector tracked down the perpetrator, explaining the motives for the crime, and convicting him towards the end of the episode. In the U.S., this new concept had worked very well with Columbo. In Germany, this concept was not completely new anymore during the summer of 1973, as Columbo had also been aired here since 1971 with great success. Derrick was not that well-liked by the German thriller audience and not even the critics were too excited about the series.

Gradually, the concept of the series was changed so that the perpetrators remained more in the background and more police work was shown. A good part of each episode was thus spent portraying the friends and family of the yet unconfirmed victim, so sometimes 20-30 minutes passed before Stephan Derrick and his colleague, Harry Klein (played by Fritz Wepper) came into play. Contrary to him, Derrick’s colleagues from other shows sat at their desks, waiting until the murder was reported.

After this revamp, the series gained more popularity and its first broadcast was watched by 31 million viewers in the final time slot on Friday at 20.15 clock, eager to see Stephan Derrick and his colleague, Harry Klein, engage in their investigative activities. 31 million viewers for a single episode, during the times of private television (which did not yet exist) was an incredible audience.

The crime series Derrick emerged in a co-production of ZDF, ORF and SF as the most successful detective series in the German television, with a total of 281 episodes broadcast on ZDF from 1974 to 1998. The locations of the series were mostly selected in the Munich area. Derrick is the bestselling series in recent television history, broadcast over the years in 108 countries in 12 languages ??. In Italy, Stephan Derrick became a superstar and in China 500 (!) Million people watched the German Inspector conduct his investigation on their TV screens. The series centred on Stephen Derrick was even aired in Japan, Kenya and the Fiji Islands.

Stephen Derrik, the series’ inspector, was always properly dressed and wore only tailored suits. The series’ inspector wore dark leather shoes and (if the weather required) a light trench coat. Even his watch matched the rest of his outfit - a gold Rolex or an IWC. The series’ inspector only carried a gun in extreme cases. The weapon of his choice was initially a Walther PPK 7.65 and later a Smith & Wesson 38 special.

Little is known about Stephan Derrick’s private life. In the first episodes, Derrick still smokes, but in the later episodes he is depicted as a non-smoker. He is always gentleman and his behaviour is polite on every occasion. He drinks only rarely beer, which doesn’t really fir him. Rather a glass of wine or water and coffee in the office. Stephan Derrick is not married. He inhabits his condominium alone and a moderate interest in women can only be seen in 4 of over 280 episodes. It is known that nothing was permanent, because Stephan Derrick lived for his work.

Together with his assistant, Harry Klein, Stephan Derrick investigates for the Munich Homicide Division. These murders are often located in the high society, so that Derrick visits his wealthy suspects and interrogates them in their villas. He does not solve his cases with weapons or threats, but with care and, above all, no violence.

Throughout the many years of broadcast time, Stephan Derrick was never promoted. Only in the last episode The Farewell Gift he retires from Munich to his current position at Europol. His departure from the series was explained by the fact that Derrick now takes a top job in the Europol investigating authority Europol. The investigator from Munich then becomes an administrative official in the Europol administration in The Hague.

Other Characters

Harry Klein, Detective Inspector

Harry Klein also lives exclusively for his work. Detective Inspector Klein has always been in the shadow of Stephan Derrick, which was part of what the authors wanted. The role of Harry Klein was nothing new for Fritz Wepper, since he had also starred in the series The Inspector. He did not have a private life - and if he did, it was never documented.

Little or nothing is known even about he superintendent colleagues Harder, Schroder, Franz Berger, Echterding and Lippert. Everything revolved solely around the deed, and, of course, Stephan Derrick.

You may find all episodes of Derrick here.