The investigator

Television series
Original title	The investigator
Country of production	Germany
original language	German
Year (s)	1983-2001
length	50 minutes
Episodes	201 + 1 long episode
genre	Detective film
Theme music	Stefan Melbinger
idea	Dominik Graf
production	Bavaria Film , Colonia Media
First broadcast	September 14, 1984 on Das Erste , regional program Radio Bremen
occupation
Klaus Wennemann Hannes Faber (episode 1–91) Jörg Schüttauf Thomas Becker (episode 92-137) Michael Lesch Martin Riemann (episode 138-175) Martin Lindow Thomas Wells (episode 157-201) Dietrich Mattausch Norbert Rick (1983-2005) Hans-Jürgen Schatz Max Kühn (1983–1992) Dieter Pfaff Otto Schatzschneider (1983–1996) Norbert Wartha Müller (1983-1993) Barbara Freier Susanne König (Faber's girlfriend) (1983–1992) Jophi Ries Gregor "Solo" Solomon (1993–1995) George Lenz Frank Dennert (1993–1996) Andreas Mannkopff Franz Behrmann (1993–1996) Susann Uplegger Cornelia Seitz (1993–1996) Thomas Balou Martin Karlheinz Mischewski (1997-2000) Sascha Posch Konstantin Broecker (1997-2005) Astrid M. Fünderich Dr. Katharina Winkler (1997-2005) Andreas Windhuis Guido Kroppeck (2000-2005)

The investigator was an early evening crime series by ARD . The series was filmed from 1983 to 2001 in several seasons and with greater interruptions and first aired. In the course of the series, the protagonist changed three times, as well as his minor supporting characters more often.

content

The first title character in the series was the investigator Faber . His first name was largely unmentioned, his girlfriend Susanne only rarely addressed him as Hannes , but mostly just called him Faber . Faber did not wear a uniform and also frequently exceeded official regulations. Faber's company car was a lime green Ford Granada of the first series, the regular bar was his partner's bar, Treff . During Faber's entire time in the series, his most important colleague and colleague was the younger Max Kühn, who was much more observant of service regulations. With the departure of Faber, who, according to the plot, emigrated to Ireland together with his partner, Kühn also disappeared from the series without further explanation. Both superiors were Chief Inspector Norbert Rick, who was the only figure retained in the entire series.

After Faber and Kühn left, the treasure tailor (initially only Otto ), who was initially still in uniform, moved up to number two. The new title figure was Thomas Becker, who was transferred to the area.

Location

Venue was a designated initially unspecified, fictitious West German city with the then non-existent license plate G . After German reunification in 1990 - and with it the award of the G license plate to Gera  - the license plate was changed to GX . The episodes were shot with Klaus Wennemann and Jörg Schüttauf all in Munich , which was made unrecognizable as much as possible. Dialect or language coloring could never be heard, and it was consistently avoided to include well-known Munich buildings in the picture or even to show them in the background. In the background, however, there were often white-and-blue trams or city buses that only existed in the Munich area, and in episode 11 “Phantom Isabelle” a suspect flees on the Munich subway ; Vehicle type A, Implerstraße train station can be clearly read. In addition, cars with Munich license plates were shown in some episodes. Furthermore, manufacturer signs for hotel elevators, for example, indicate Munich origin. Most of the rural locations outside the city were also in southern Bavaria (such as Moosburg an der Isar ). Another reference, at least to Bavaria, were the characteristic green "belly bands" on police vehicles, which were only used in Bavaria. Furthermore, the police uniforms can be assigned to Bavaria because of the slightly different hat shape. In episode 5, when Faber goes out with Susanne, the phone code 0521 is given, which belongs to Bielefeld . Episode 58 shows a police helicopter bearing the Bavarian coat of arms. In episode 72, Max Kühn pulls out his business card with the address “Domagkstr. 50, 9000 G-Burg 12 ". The postcode 9000 was not assigned in the four-digit postcode system and was reserved for a large city in what was then the GDR in the event of a unified Germany . In episode 162, another fictional place called Gleixen can be read on an observation van , which would go with GX. In later episodes too, Gleixen is mentioned from time to time.

From 1998 (when Michael Lesch joined ) the film was shot in the Cologne area, but as before the city was not named or clearly represented. The oversized city ​​map that could be seen in Faber's office in the first season showed the city of Hanover . In the later seasons, however, a city map of Bochum was shown.

The coats of arms shown on sleeve badges and vehicles do not correspond to any state.

Charisma

The 13 episodes of the last season were shot in 2001 and banned for years to the archive because the series broadcast slot was abolished the evening before. They were only broadcast from May to August 2005, but on Mondays during prime time .

The episode Baal (directed by Dominik Graf ), in which Faber beats up a criminal as a kind of preventive self-protection, ran for the first time on December 28, 1992 - and only on WDR .

Remarks

• The investigator (Wennemann) always had a tin can with peppermint drops with him. He gladly and often offered people around him.
• Otto had something to sell in almost every episode.
• Max Kühn's "private archive" (a wooden box with all kinds of pictures and documents on his desk) was often searched through by crooks (for example during interrogation) or otherwise ridiculed. He was often approached by criminals or colleagues about swinging his chair.
• The scenes in Faber's partner's pub regularly took place in a different location. It is not known whether a running gag or due to the schedule.
• The investigation department, in which the protagonists work, consists of living containers (as is common on construction sites, for example) and is called the "aquarium". In episode 93 it is explained where the nickname "Aquarium" comes from: There were three police officers, each with a species of fish as a surname, from which the name "Aquarium" arose.
• Many well-known actors can be seen at the investigator at a young age, e.g. E.g .: Uwe Ochsenknecht , Udo Kier , Ingolf Lück , Jürgen Vogel , Heinz Hoenig , Ernst Hannawald , Eberhard Feik , Ben Becker , Meret Becker , Katja Riemann , Martina Gedeck , Charles M. Huber , Peter Lohmeyer , Martin Semmelrogge , Ralf Richter , Jan Fedder , Wilfried Baasner , Claus-Dieter Reents , Gedeon Burkhard , Campino , Gabrielle Odinis , Michael Mendl , Diether Krebs , Edgar Selge , Susanne Lothar , Monica Bleibtreu u. v. a.
• In episode 4 A booty gets legs a child plays in the living room. On the floor is a video cassette with the film Das Boot , in which Klaus Wennemann also played. Excerpts from this film can also be seen in a later scene on a television in the background.
• Also in episode 4, the actor Benno Hoffmann in the role of the scrap yard owner Plaschke gives his own dates of birth during interrogation: Born on May 30, 1919 in Süderbrarup .
• Usually, the episodes do not refer to events from other episodes. One of the few exceptions is episode 21 Theo's Last Chance , in which “Theo” addresses events that play A King without a Kingdom in episode 28 - an episode that was broadcast after episode 21, but actually should have come “chronologically” earlier. (Explanation: "A King Without a Reich" was produced in 1983 and should actually have been broadcast after episode 9 ("In Our Circles") to maintain continuity.)
• In episode 70 Hello Paula , Faber asks Paula for the area code of Oer-Erkenschwick . This is the actual place of birth of Klaus Wennemann.
• In episode 84, A Country Party , Faber does not play, he is on vacation. During the filming of this episode and two other episodes, Klaus Wennemann fell out with the director. To complete the shoot, Faber was written out of the episode and sent on “vacation”. Shortly thereafter, Wennemann left the series.
• Klaus Wennemann is referred to as Klaus Hennemann in the credits of some episodes.

Publications

The authors Willi Voss , Wolfgang Schweiger and Wolfgang Hohlbein wrote novels for the series . These works are only available in antiquarian versions.

The series has been released on DVD since 2006. The seasons with Klaus Wennemann as Faber have appeared in stores as follows:

• The first season: December 14, 2006
• The second season: November 29, 2007
• The third season: June 26, 2008
• The fourth season: March 5, 2009
• The fifth season: April 9, 2009

The seasons with Jörg Schüttauf as Thomas Becker have appeared in stores as follows:

• The sixth season: available at Pidax (March 1, 2020) and in stores from August 7, 2020.

List of episodes

Awards

• 1989 Adolf Grimme Prize with bronze for Georg Feil (on behalf of the team of authors) and Klaus Wennemann (on behalf of the team of actors)
• 1989 Telegatto (Italian series title Faber l'investigatore )

nomination

• 2001 German Television Award for Best Actor Series Martin Lindow

Web links

• The investigators in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• The investigator at Fernsehserien.de
• Info page