Leaving Croatia behind, we head north-west into Slovenia and Austria, before crossing into Germany. Walter Presents have sourced so many great shows from Germany in the past, and you can now add ’23 Cases’ to that growing list. Coming to our screens this month (September), this is an excellent show about a detective, Tara Schöll, who has doubts about the guilt of Max Rapp (played somewhat spookily by the excellent Franz Dinda), a man imprisoned for a series of murders. He has confessed to all the crimes, but Tara starts to spot gaps in the evidence, including clear alibis for Rapp for some of the murders. When putting this evidence to Rapp, he discloses that a further murder will happen – prompting the detectives to join forces with Rapp to prevent further homicides.
The show was commissioned by German channel, Sat1, back in 2016 – but it didn’t get broadcast at the time. Franz Dinda takes up the story: “Unfortunately the show didn’t match the TV station’s profile at the time. The show was too involved. Since a lot of intensive work goes into such a production, the whole team was obviously disappointed. But it’s like everything in life; be patient and stand your ground!”.
Patience is something the German television industry has had to deal with over the years, but these days audiences across the world are looking outside of the usual Anglo-American sources for their drama. Scandinavia is leading the way, perhaps, but the German industry is also in rude health. Franz agrees: “The success of the individual streaming platforms proves how popular the series format has become. Viewers appreciate more detailed and innovatively told stories and are also willing to spend money on it. TVs are getting bigger – everyone has a mini-cinema in their homes. Furthermore, sales via such platforms are much easier (to monitor) and the costs can therefore be calculated. This development opens up completely new markets. It is like a rejuvenation treatment for the German film industry, because encrusted structures of filmmaking are being broken open. It feels great!”
The show is exciting to watch – there’s plenty of action, including a lot of physical workout for the leading actors. Something Franz confirms: “Let me put it this way: We were all quite exhausted after filming. But that’s exactly what we wanted.”
Franz can also be seen in Sky 1’s ‘Das Boot’, based on Lothar-Günther Buchheim’s 1973 book of the same name, where he plays Oberleutnant Robert Ehrenberg. He’s also been a busy man during lockdown: “I started reading again to make the quarantine more bearable for people. Firstly, via video on social media, and then with “reading concerts” for people who suffered even more from the situation than the rest of us – blind people. Partnering up again with Daimler’s social initiative Be A Mover and being supported by internationally renowned jazz trumpeter Till Brönner, we organised a series of successful reading concerts in two Berlin homes for the elderly blind, bringing culture literally to the doorsteps of the occupants.”
