The three ??? (Radio play)

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Infobox microphone icon
The three ???
Shipment logo
Radio play from Germany
Year of production 1979–2005,
since 2008
genre Youth series , crime thriller , mystery
consequences 209 books, 206 radio plays + specials
production Heikedine Körting
Publisher / label Europe
Contributors
author Robert Arthur † (Creator).
→ as well as other authors
Machining HG Francis
André Minninger
Director Heikedine Körting
music Carsten Bohn , Manfred Rürup , Jens-Peter Morgenstern , Jan-Friedrich Conrad , Detlef Oels , Constantin Stahlberg , Andris Zeiberts , Michael Berg & Szina Pätzold , Christian Hagitte & Simon Bertling (STIL)
speaker

→ See regular cast

The three ??? (spoken: The three question marks ; original title: The Three Investigators ; subsidiary form: The three detectives ) is a radio play series based on the youth book series of the same name .

The radio plays are produced by Sony Music Entertainment under the Europe label by Heikedine Körting and are based on the books published by Franckh-Kosmos- Verlag.

Due to protracted licensing disputes between Kosmos and the then Sony BMG , no radio plays for the book series were published between 2005 and 2008. That is why Europe created the new series DiE DR3i in 2006 and published eight of its own radio plays with the well-known speakers.

Today are the three ??? With over 50 million records sold and over 150 gold and platinum records, it is the most successful radio play production in the world.

Beginnings

The first six episodes appeared on October 12, 1979 under the Europe label . At this point in time, the book series of the same name had existed for over ten years, so that the team around producer Heikedine Körting already had a wide range of adventures at their disposal. In order to establish the series on the radio play market as long as possible, a different order was chosen than for the book publications. Instead of starting with the first book title ... and the haunted castle, the adventure ... and the super parrot were set to music at the start of the series.

This results in a content-related logic error that affects the role of the narrator and client Alfred Hitchcock . In the original book … and the haunted castle, the three detectives get to know Alfred Hitchcock in the first place and set up their detective agency at the end of the episode. In the radio play series, however , the ghost castle bears the number 11. In order to compensate for the resulting error, the episode for the radio play adaptation was rewritten in such a way that the three detectives already know Alfred Hitchcock from earlier cases. The establishment of the detective agency plays no role in the radio play.

production

Since the first episode in 1979 Heikedine Körting has worked for the radio plays of Die Drei ??? responsible. Together with her husband Andreas E. Beurmann , who died in 2016 , she created the first Die Drei ??? - Radio plays produced and published.

In the first 60 episodes up to 1994, the author Hans Gerhard Franciskowsky, known under the pseudonym HG Francis, was responsible for the dialogue books. From episode 61 (1995) onwards, André Minninger took over this task , who also worked for Franckh-Kosmos-Verlag Die drei ??? - Writes books. Hella von der Osten-Sacken, who is generally known under the pseudonym Wanda Osten , is mainly responsible for the cuts and noises . She has been editing the Europa radio plays since 1968 and also works as a speaker and director. Since the first episode, the radio plays have been recorded in analogue and accompanied by music and noises. An archive with more than 100,000 noises has accumulated.

Together with André Minninger and Hella von der Osten-Sacken, Heikedine Körting forms the production team for Die Drei ??? - audio games. Product manager Corinna Wodrich is responsible for the publications and marketing of the series.

As a rule, six to eight new adventures are recorded and published annually, which reach gold status for more than 100,000 CDs sold no later than three months after publication. Annual sales are over 1.5 million and total sales in 40 years (1979–2019) will be over 50 million records. Of these, 150,000 downloads are sold per episode, around one million per year.

The speakers meet four times a year in the Körting recording studio in Hamburg's Rothenbaumchaussee to speak two new episodes each time. The narrative part is recorded separately beforehand.

Production process

In theory, the production of a radio play could be completed within two to three weeks. Due to time and organizational reasons, this is not possible in practice. In fact, a complete production takes three to six months. During this time, work is not only done on a single radio play, but usually on ten to 15 radio plays from various European series, all in different stages of development. The product manager Corinna Wodrich described the production process of a radio play as follows:

No. stage Effective duration (estimated)
1 Manuscript preparation including post-processing 1 week
2 Recordings with the speakers 1 to 2 days
3 Post-processing (noises, music, cutting, mixing) 1 week
4th Mastering 1 day
5 Production of the CDs / MCs 1 week
6th Creation of the cover (mostly parallel to No. 5) 1 to 2 days

Breaks in production

After the series ended in the USA in 1992 ( → history ), no new radio play episodes were produced between autumn 1992 and autumn 1994 due to restructuring when the series was taken over by Kosmos Verlag.

There was a second production stop between 2006 and 2007 because the German licensees Kosmos and Europa led a legal dispute over the licenses and the legacy of the creator Robert Arthur ( → copyright dispute ).

Figures and speakers

The main characters have been spoken by a permanent cast since the first episode. Originally, Jens Wawrczeck was supposed to speak to Bob Andrews for the first recordings, Andreas Fröhlich Peter Shaw, but since both were not satisfied with this line-up, Heikedine Körting suggested that Wawrczeck and Fröhlich swap roles. Prominent guest speakers also appear in many radio drama episodes. A special feature is episode 44 ... and the stolen price , in which all the main speakers of the TKKG competition series ( Sascha Draeger , Niki Nowotny , Manou Lubowski and Veronika Neugebauer †) have a supporting role. An overview of all characters and their speakers can be found in the main article → Characters from the "The three ???" series .

Regular cast

from left to right: Jens Wawrczeck (Peter Shaw), Oliver Rohrbeck (Justus Jonas) and Andreas Fröhlich (Bob Andrews) in October 2011
person speaker consequences
Justus Jonas Oliver Rohrbeck 1-
Peter Shaw Jens Wawrczeck 1-
Bob Andrews Andreas Fröhlich 1-
Chauffeur Morton Andreas von der Meden 1-159
Alfred Hitchcock / narrator Peter Pasetti 1-64
teller Matthias Fuchs 65-103
teller Thomas Fritsch 104-186
teller Axel Milberg 187–
Aunt Mathilda Karin Lieneweg 2–
Chief Superintendent Samuel Reynolds Horst Frank
Wolfgang Draeger
4-39
43-
Uncle titus Andreas E. Beurmann
Rüdiger Schulzki
9–169
183–
Skinny Norris Andreas von der Meden †
Michael Harck
9-157
180
Inspector Cotta Holger Mahlich 57–
Remarks:
  1. Beginning with the first appearance in the radio play. Except for Justus, Peter, Bob and the narrator, the other characters do not appear regularly.
  2. Until episode 46, Hitchcock appears as the narrator and mentor of the three ??? on. Then he was replaced by a normal narrator.
  3. In the first versions of episodes 40 by Ingeborg Kallweit , 44 by Dorothea Kaiser and 45 by Ursula Vogel † represented. Recorded in a later remix by Lieneweg.
  4. Represented by Günther Flesch in episode 40 .
  5. Beurmann always appeared as a speaker under his pseudonym Hans Meinhardt. Represented in the first versions of episodes 33 by Peter Kirchberger and 40 by Gottfried Kramer †. Recorded in a later remix by Beurmann.
  6. In episode 57 by Michael Poelchau and in episodes 61 and 62 by Willem Fricke †, only regularly from episode 63 by Holger Mahlich.

Guest speaker (selection)

Manifestation

Regular publications

The first 30 episodes of the series appeared in parallel on record and as an MC cassette. From episode 31, the episodes were only available on cassette. Since 2001, all episodes have also been published on CD , and since 2008 they have also been offered as MP3 downloads. In the course of the publication of the Mitrate case House of Horrors - House of Fear in 2011, a suitable radio play app for the Apple iPhone was released for the first time . In October 2011, Europe announced that from 2012 all radio plays will only be produced on CD. Only the three ??? will continue to appear on cassette due to the high demand. Since April 1, 2016, the episodes have also been available from all streaming providers in Germany. Since episode 184, new episodes have always appeared in parallel on CD, cassette, record and as a download.

Since 2001, Europe has been publishing fan boxes of Die Drei ??? at irregular intervals . . They each contain three episodes in chronological order in a slipcase and are available for sale as CD and MC.

Special editions

Until 1982, Europe produced its radio plays on vinyl records. There are 30 episodes of the three ??? published. Today, the records are a popular collector's item and since the 100 Toteninsel anniversary event, a limited number of special vinyl editions have been published at irregular intervals. On the follow anniversaries 125 Fire Moon and 150 spirits Bay are vinyl -Sonderauflagen been published. In 2001 a new edition of episode 1 appeared ... and the super parrot in black vinyl, in 2003 the first ten episodes followed as special editions on picture vinyl.

For the Special 2010 ... and the DreiTag , Europe also brought out a vinyl special edition. On the occasion of the tour ... and the strange alarm clock - LIVE AND TICKING , episode 12 ... and the strange alarm clock and in December 2010 episode 11 ... and the ghost castle were released as picture vinyl. At the beginning of 2012, episode 13 and the laughing shadow appeared on picture disc. The short story volumes … and the ghost lamp and the riddle of the seven were also released as picture vinyl.

In addition to today's sole licensee Europe, the secondary exploitation rights for various episodes were also transferred to various sub-licensees in the 1980s. Well-known publishers of Die Drei ??? - Radio plays were Marcato , Musik-Club and Sonocord . The radio plays were identical to the original recordings from Europe, only the respective covers varied a little. These special publications are very popular and are only available at flea markets and online auction houses.

title Label / publisher medium year
... and the reef of the sharks / ... and the singing snake Marcato MC
... and the haunted castle Sonocord Vol. 1 MC
... and the doppelganger Sonocord Vol. 2 MC
... and the curse of the ruby Sonocord Vol. 1 MC
... and the magic circle Sonocord Vol. 2 MC
... and the monks' treasure / The seven gates Europe CD 2003
... and the strange alarm clock / ... and the invisible enemy Europe MC
... and the strange alarm clock Sonocord MC
... and the talking skull / ... and the silver spider Marcato MC
... and the super parrot / ... and the phantom lake Music club MC
... and the whispering mummy / ... and the scarred face Marcato MC
... and the enigmatic pictures Sonocord MC
... and the auto mafia / skateboard fever Europe CD 2013
Soccer gangster / soccer fever Europe CD 2014
... and the Nebelberg / In the shadow of the giant Europe CD 2015
Remarks:
  1. Was published in a Der Club Bertelsmann special edition.
  2. Appeared as a special offer at the Aral petrol station chain in early 2013.
  3. Appeared as a special offer at the Aral petrol station chain in summer 2014.
  4. Published as a special edition with matching cover magnets by Tchibo in summer 2015.

Episode index of radio plays

Due to fan complaints about too high a proportion of "expressions of violence", episode 117 Der sinstere Rivale as well as the special episode ... and the Super Parrot 2004 were reissued in a defused version.

Regular episodes

For a comparison of the different numbering between radio play and book see main article → List of the three - ??? - episodes .

Special episodes

Foreign language radio plays

Great Britain

In 1984, the British company Rainbow Communications Ltd. published two radio plays under the title The Three Investigators on cassette. Edward Kelsey was responsible for the production, which was discontinued after the two radio plays.

No. German title English title year
1 ... and the haunted castle Secret of Terror Castle 1984
2 ... and the super parrot The Mystery of the Stuttering Parrot 1984

Switzerland

From 1989 to 1992 eight radio plays in Swiss-German dialect were released under the title Die 3 ??? on cassette. Hans Gmür was responsible for the production , the episodes were published by the Swiss label Tudor . These are independent productions that have nothing in common with the dialogue books from Europe. In addition, the name of the first detective Justus was changed to James. The corresponding illustrations from the German-language book edition by Aiga Rasch served as the episode cover . In 2000 a new edition of the episodes appeared. For legal reasons, the series is only available in Switzerland.

Regular cast: Patrique Sieber (James Jonas in episodes 1–6), Stephan Schatzmann (James Jonas in episodes 7–8), Daniel Fehr (Peter Shaw), Manuel Zeberli (Bob Andrews), Nicolai Mylanek (Chauffeur Morton), Hans Gmür ( Narrator), Vincenzo Biagi (Alfred Hitchcock) and Hans Kern (Commissioner Reynolds).

No. German title year
1 ... and the haunted castle 1989
2 ... and the reef of the sharks 1989
3 ... and the raging lion 1991
4th ... and the super parrot 1991
5 ... and the ant-man 1991
6th ... and the creepy dragon 1991
7th ... and the flaming trail 1992
8th ... and the magic circle 1992

Film radio plays

Radio plays have been published on the film adaptations of the novel ... and the Ghost Island and ... and the Haunted Castle . These editions are independent productions and cannot be compared with the European radio plays by Heikedine Körting . The soundtrack of the film, which has been supplemented with a narrator, serves as the basis. Speaker of the three ??? are Jannik Schümann (Justus Jonas), Yoshij Grimm (Peter Shaw) and David Wittmann (Bob Andrews), who are also responsible for the series Die drei ??? Kids talk.

Movie title Novel template year Label
The secret of the ghost island ... and the ghost island 2007 USM
The cursed castle ... and the haunted castle 2009 Europe

Radio play music

Composers

Years Composer / band
1978 Manfred Rürup / Release Music Orchestra
1979-1983 Carsten Bohn / Carsten Bohn's band stand
1979-1987 Wilford L. Holcombe / The London Philharmonic Orchestra
1985-1990 Manuel Backert
1985-1990 Detlef Kuntke
1986-1989 Ilka spit
1989-1995 | since 2014 Jan-Friedrich Conrad
1990-1996 Uwe Carstens
1994-2002 Andris Zeiberts
1996 Constantin Stahlberg
since 1997 Jens-Peter Morgenstern
2008 Simon Bertling & Christian Hagitte (STIL)
2010 Michael Berg & Szina Pätzold

The classics

The classics refer to episodes 1–39, which enjoy a special cult status. At the beginning, the series did not have a uniform theme song. The composer Carsten Bohn produced synthesizer sounds that served as an introductory melody (in particular the pieces Perry Rhodan , Part 1” and “The Arnoldskinder tear out, Part 1” ).

Most of Bohn's music was published under the pseudonym Bert Brac created by Miller International . This also included Manfred Rürup , who in 1978 recorded some radio play music for Europe with members of the Release Music Orchestra and Carsten Bohn's Bandstand . Since these are mostly intermediate pieces, they had no title and could only be assigned to Rürup late. Other collective pseudonyms created by Die Drei ??? - Radio plays are Ralph Bonda , Phil Moss , Betty George , Tonstudio Europa and BMG Ariola-Miller studios . In the mid-1990s, Europe decided to stop using pseudonyms and instead use the correct names for musicians in radio plays. However, the pseudonym Betty George is still used.

Another characteristic is the classical music, the orchestral music . Around 1977, the co-founder of the Europa label, Andreas Beurmann, had music recorded especially for the European radio play productions. In addition to music recordings by Chris Evans, compositions by the London Philharmonic Orchestra have been recorded with Ernst Bötticher, among others. Well-known models have been found for some pieces, for example from the Grand Canyon Suite by Grofé or from Le sacre du printemps by Igor Stravinsky . The musician Peter Heidrich also contributed his own pieces and arrangements of traditionals with his chamber music ensemble .

Due to a legal dispute between the composer Carsten Bohn and the then production company Miller International (see below) (see below) about royalty payments, Bohn's music had to be replaced by new ones. Until 1991, transitional pieces of music by various composers not known by name were used. The compositions by Manfred Rürup are not part of the legal dispute and will continue to be used under a pseudonym.

In 1996, episodes 1–39 were reissued and accompanied by the music of the composers Andris Zeiberts, Jan-Friedrich Conrad and Constantin Stahlberg. In addition, the compositions of the musicians Detlef Oels , Manuel Backert, Gerd Besseler, Ernst Bötticher, Peter Heidrich and Ilona Spiess are still used in the radio play productions that have been active in Europe since the 1980s.

In addition to the new background music, some text passages in the first 45 episodes were shortened or re-recorded by other speakers, and additional sound effects were added. The radio plays of the old mixes have a certain lover value despite the high number of copies .

Litigation

With a partial judgment of 1991, the Hamburg Regional Court , confirmed by the Higher Regional Court in 1995, affirmed GEMA's claim against BMG Ariola Miller for the omission of the use of Carsten Bohn's music and for information to be given. Thereupon BMG Ariola Miller sued Bohn in 1992 for exemption from any payment claims by GEMA because Bohn had contractually agreed to deliver only GEMA-free music. In the GEMA proceedings, the regional court sentenced BMG Ariola Miller with a final judgment of 1998, also confirmed by the higher regional court in 2004, to pay GEMA almost DM 10 million. In the proceedings against Bohn, he was finally sentenced in 2008 by the Higher Regional Court to pay BMG Ariola Miller over 6 million euros.

The Modern Age

Since episode 50, the music has largely been contributed by the composers Jan-Friedrich Conrad, Constantin Stahlberg and Andris Zeiberts. From episode 77 Pistenteufel , Jens-Peter Morgenstern joined as a new radio play music composer. In addition, Conrad and Morgenstern offer the soundtracks for sale on their homepage.

The episodes 40–49, which initially attracted attention due to a different title melody, have also been remixed so that all episodes from 1 to 124 now have the identical title melody penned by Jan-Friedrich Conrad.

With episode 125 Feuermond , a new title melody was introduced, composed and produced by Christian Hagitte and Simon Bertling , who are also known under the name STIL . The Berlin film orchestra (violins) and the band Radiopilot played the melodies.

In episodes 139 The Secret of the Diva and 141 ... and the Football Trap , compositions by the artists Michael Berg & Szina, who were once responsible for the music for the discontinued series Die Dr3i , were used.

Since episode 170, the theme song has not been played in some episodes, but faded out. In episode 180 and the whispering puppets , the theme song was not played again at the end for the first time. A new closing melody was introduced from episode 181, the title melody remained the same.

Guest music

  • In episode 79 Under the Spell of Voodoo , the musicians of the Hamburg hip-hop band Fettes Brot were involved with guest speaker roles and also contributed the one-minute song Mehr Schein als Sein . Previously, in the episode 76 voices out of nowhere , they had a brief guest appearance as the speaker of an answering machine. On their album Fettes Brot lets greetings , which was released in 1998, they have a mini radio play with the three ??? - Have the speakers recorded as an intro.
  • For episode 106 Der Mann ohne Kopf , the band Echt contributed the song The Beat Is For You . In the same sequence and the piece was Devil Dancer by Amanda Lear used.

Live events

Overview

Stage shows
year title Script / novel Director Appearances / cities
2002 - 2003 Master of Chess - Live & Unplugged Stefanie Burkart Holger Mahlich 60/40
2004 ... and the Super Parrot 2004 - Live André Minninger /
Robert Arthur
Holger Mahlich 1/1
2009-2010 ... and the strange alarm clock - Live and Ticking Kai Schwind /
Robert Arthur
Kai Schwind 20/18
2014-2015 Phonophobia - Symphony of Fear Kai Schwind /
Kari Erlhoff
Kai Schwind 35/23
2019-2021 ... and the dark Taipan Andreas Fröhlich /
Hendrik Buchna
Kai Schwind 38/19

Master of Chess - Live & Unplugged

The touring production Master of Chess - Live & Unplugged (MOC), which toured Germany in autumn / winter 2002 , was created in response to numerous requests from listeners to watch a radio play production . The story was written by Stefanie Burkart , the dialogue was handled by Andreas Fröhlich. In contrast to the radio plays, Master of Chess is not based on a book story. The stage direction was carried out by Holger Mahlich, who regularly gives the character of Inspector Cotta his voice in the radio plays. Most of the noises during the performance were created live on stage by the sound maker Peter Klinkenberg . In contrast to the radio play, Helmut Krauss took over the narrative role from Thomas Fritsch. The production tends to be a parody of the makers of their own series, as the character traits of Justus, Peter and Bob are greatly exaggerated and brought to the point. As the performances were very well received, the tour continued in the spring of 2003.

The great response from the audience to the first live tour of the three ??? With Master of Chess - Live & Unplugged , speaker Oliver Rohrbeck came up with the idea of founding the Berlin-based Lauscherlounge in 2003 . Live readings and radio plays with well-known actors, voice actors, composers, musicians and sound makers are held nationwide at regular intervals, who always speak several roles in the stories or are responsible for the complete acoustic background.

... and the Super Parrot 2004 - Live

To mark the 25th anniversary of the radio play series, the debut episode … and the Super Parrot were performed once in front of over 12,000 spectators in the Color Line Arena in Hamburg in 2004 in an extended stage version. André Minninger wrote the script, while Holger Mahlich took over the direction again. Peter Klinkenberg returned to the stage as a noisemaker. As in the radio play, Thomas Fritsch also took part as a narrator in this production. The stage version differs slightly from the original version 1979 as well as from the studio production 2004, for example the character Skinny Norris was introduced, which did not appear in the original episode.

... and the strange alarm clock - Live and Ticking

Due to the high acceptance of the audience, the new tour production started in autumn 2009 ... and the strange alarm clock - Live and Ticking . Kai Schwind adapted the original story by Robert Arthur and took over the direction, Peter Klinkenberg acted again as noise maker and Helmut Krauss as narrator. The stage version differs in part from the original radio play version and the book and has ironic self-references to the radio play productions. In contrast to the previous live readings, more visual effects and digitally generated sound effects were used on this tour. All appearances were recorded, sold on site on USB sticks and can also be ordered via the Internet. The complete recording of the show in Hamburg's Color Line Arena has been released on DVD and Blu-ray with bonus material.

In a total of 19 shows, around 120,000 viewers made the tour the world's most successful implementation of a live radio play.

Due to the great success of this tour, the live radio play … and the strange alarm clock - Live and Ticking was performed one last time on August 21, 2010, open-air on the Waldbühne in Berlin, making it the greatest live radio play of all time. With 15,211 spectators, the ensemble set a Guinness world record.

Phonophobia - Symphony of Fear

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the novel series, a live tour through various cities in Germany was organized in March and April 2014. This time a separate stage story was written again. The basic concept of the story was designed by Corinna Wodrich, Kai Schwind and Kari Erlhoff. Kai Schwind and Andreas Fröhlich developed the stage script and the dialogues. The original plan was for the same story to be told on stage and in the novel. During the development process, however, it turned out that this would not work due to the different forms of presentation and narrative elements. Ultimately, two independent stories emerged from the basic idea. The book by Kari Erlhoff was published parallel to the tour and was included in the regular episode count of the books. After each event, a live recording of the respective show could be purchased on USB stick and as an MP3 download. In contrast to the other tours, this time there was no narrator, as the plot was told in real time and in order to give more space to the central themes of music and synaesthesia . Helmut Krauss was only used as off-speaker for a brief announcement .

The show on March 27, 2014 in the Lanxess Arena in Cologne was recorded by Endemol on behalf of RTL for a TV broadcast and DVD release in October 2014.

With the appearance on the Berlin Waldbühne on August 9, 2014, the own world record for the live radio play with the most viewers from 2010 was exceeded. Around 20,000 people attended the 2014 tour.

The previous 24 shows have been followed by around 170,000 viewers. Due to the great demand, the tour was continued on eleven additional dates in 2015.

... and the dark Taipan

On the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the radio play series, a live tour through various cities in Germany, Austria and Switzerland will be organized from October 2019. For this, a new stage story was written. The idea for the story and the novel version came from Hendrik Buchna, the stage script from Andreas Fröhlich. Kai Schwind is again directing the production.

The tour premiered on October 25, 2019 in the Verti Music Hall in Berlin and was originally supposed to end again with the tour finale on August 29, 2020 in the Waldbühne in Berlin. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the tour had to be interrupted in March 2020. All outstanding appointments have been postponed to 2021.

Similar to the previous tours, all appearances are also available as recordings afterwards. On this tour, however, they were not published on USB sticks; instead, the recordings are available 24 hours after the date on Apple Music for streaming and on iTunes for download.

The three ??? Parties

Record release party

Fröhlich, Wawrczeck and Rohrbeck during the RRP in Hamburg 2011

Since 2008, the Lauscherlounge has been presenting the latest episode of the three ??? at nationwide Record Release Parties (RRPs), one week before the official start of sales. The fans can hear the new case together with Oliver Rohrbeck , a limited number of the new episode will also be sold and some copies will be raffled off. After the radio play there is also an ongoing interactive radio play, in which guests are selected from the audience and speak a short radio play sequence with Oliver Rohrbeck. The radio play parts will later be available as a free download in the online shop of the Lauscherlounge, the never-ending story will be written by Katrin Wiegand (co-author of the radio play series Die Ferienbande ).

On the occasion of the 150th case, a record release anniversary celebration was held on October 30, 2011 in front of 500 spectators in Hamburg's Edelfettwerk. In addition to a joint review of the last 149 cases moderated by the three main speakers, the evening included interviews with the director Heikedine Körting, the product manager Corinna Wodrich and the speakers Holger Mahlich and Andreas von der Meden . At the end of the event, Mahlich and the three main speakers played a summary of the 150th case in protocol style on the stage. For the first time, such an event was broadcast as a live stream on the Internet, followed by more than 15,000 spectators.

Rocky Beach Party

In addition to the record release parties for each new episode of the three ??? Rocky Beach parties have been celebrated regularly in summer at beach bars in Germany since 2010 . Together with Oliver Rohrbeck, the guests can listen to an episode coordinated over the Internet. In addition, competitions are organized and guests can become part of an endless interactive radio play as speakers.

Audience and Success

Many listeners know the three detectives from their childhood and rediscovered them in adolescence or adulthood. While the series was originally intended for 8 to 14 year old children, the audience is shared with the speakers of the three ??? aged. This was only realized through a telephone survey in Europe in 1997, in which listeners were asked about purchasing behavior, gender and age. A new target audience has emerged. Today around 50 percent of listeners are between 20 and 40 years old - a novelty for a youth radio play series. The proportion of genders recorded is roughly the same.

Andreas Fröhlich, spokesman for Bob Andrews, described the reasons for the success in an interview:

“You know the three question marks from your childhood. If they used to be sick, their mother brought them the latest episode, hot milk with honey, and the world was all right. At 14 or 15 most of them didn't care much about the three question marks , and the tapes ended up in the trash or in the attic. But then you grow into the adult world, the stress begins, and you may long for childhood where there were no obligations, no responsibility. In order to come down in the evening, some then start with aids, with weed, alcohol, valerian, and others hear the three question marks , the voices from their childhood, and dream back to this time. That is the ideal world factor. "

- Andreas Fröhlich : Interview in Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin , issue 38/2012

Jens Wawrczeck, who gives Peter Shaw his voice, described the phenomenon of the series as follows in an interview on the live tour Phonophobia :

“I have been a bit speechless before the phenomenon for 30 years. On the one hand, I find it an incredible privilege to be there, but I believe that the success of the 'Three Question Marks' is a combination of many ingredients that we don't really have under control. First of all this longevity, which makes the 'three question marks' incredibly attractive because we are still the same line-up as we were over 30 years ago. And I think that the stories when we came out on the market were different from what was otherwise to be found on the German radio play market for children. We solved our cases in America, in this somewhat fabled California. A forgotten film star is walking around the corner, there is the enchanted castle and all sorts of things that we don't have on site. "

- Jens Wawrczeck : Interview with the Saarbrücker Zeitung

Oliver Rohrbeck, spokesman for Justus Jonas, sees the series as a stable brand in which the three speakers act as an important link:

“We just give something that actually only takes place in the head of the listener and reader a face and a place. But I don't think the audience imagines our faces when they listen to their tape at home. Justus certainly doesn't look like me, he probably has as many faces as fans. We are more of the connecting link, what makes the brand tangible for you. There is also something else: we are all getting older together. The three of us have been doing this for over 30 years now, and people have been hearing this for just as long. This connects us. The brand, on the other hand, is not really getting older - it deliberately always remains approximate when the stories take place. ,The three ???' play in their own timeless cosmos. [...] Our voices get people out of their stressful everyday life. In the evenings they say to each other: I was stressed at work, the relationship is possibly exhausting, so I go to bed earlier today, as I used to do as a child, when my mum brought me a glass of milk to bed, and then I am fell asleep. That's why the "three ???" are such a grown and stable brand. As long as you don't annoy the fans or attack them with 1,000 things, it stays that way. "

- Oliver Rohrbeck : Interview with Wirtschaftswoche

License dispute

Due to expiring licenses, a legal dispute between the German licensees Franckh-Kosmos and Sony BMG over the legacy of Die Drei ??? -Creator Robert Arthur . Due to an injunction from Franckh-Kosmos-Verlag, the radio play episodes 57 to 72 were gradually taken off the market between December 2006 and October 2007 and production was completely discontinued.

After a long break, new radio play adventures from Rocky Beach were released on October 13, 2006. These new episodes under the title Die Dr3i were not based on the book templates from Franckh-Kosmos Verlag. Between 2006 and 2007 The Dr3i solved new cases again. The last episode of Die Dr3i was released on November 30, 2007, and the radio plays have not been available since 2009.

The license dispute was settled with the agreement between Franckh-Kosmos Verlag and Sony BMG in February 2008. Episodes 57–72 have been available in stores again since April 4, 2008 and new radio plays are again being released under the name Die Drei ??? released. → Further information on the legal dispute

Awards

On October 30, 2011, at the Record Release Party for the 150th anniversary episode, the main people in charge and speakers of the series were awarded 100 times gold.

  • Golden record
    • 29 × in gold for episodes 2–5, 7–10, 12–28, 30–33
    • 2 × in platinum for episodes 6, 11
  • Kids Award
    • 103 × in gold for episodes 34–36, 38–42, 63, 76, 78, 80, 87–99, 102–106, 121–124, 126–134, 137–149, 151–153, 155–164 , 166–195, 200 and the specials ... and the three day , special 2011 - Brainwash - prisoner thoughts , the 5th Advent
    • 22 × in platinum for episodes 100, 101, 107–120, 125, 135, 136, 150, 154, 165
    • 1 × in 3 × gold for the series 1
  • World record for most viewers of a live radio play
    • Around 20,000 viewers saw the live radio play The three ???: Phonophobia - Symphony of Fear on August 9, 2014 on the Berlin Waldbühne .

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. a b Sony Music and Europe give numbers for the anniversary year of "Die Drei ???" Music Week , July 8, 2019
  2. a b "The three ???" from now on all streaming services ( memento from April 12, 2016 in the Internet Archive ), Katja Albrecht, Musikmarkt, April 1, 2016
  3. a b c The three ??? in the gold / platinum database of the Bundesverband Musikindustrie (Germany)
  4. Björn Akstinat: The ABC of the three question marks . 1st edition. Humboldt, Hannover 2008, ISBN 978-3-89994-127-2 , pp. 91, 159 .
  5. Elmar Krekeler: The magical mystery bus of the baby boomers. Die Welt , August 26, 2014, accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  6. 40 years the three question marks. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  7. EUROPA says goodbye to the MC. Europe , October 12, 2011; archived from the original on September 4, 2012 ; accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  8. All good things come in threes . Europe, November 21, 2017, accessed July 9, 2017 .
  9. André Minninger : question box with André Minninger. rocky-beach.com, 2005, accessed August 27, 2014 (entry 281).
  10. The three ??? in the planetarium. ( PDF ) Kühl PR, June 11, 2014, archived from the original on December 13, 2014 ; accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  11. ^ Alfred Hitchcock - The 3 ??? and ... tudor.ch, accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  12. a b Henrik Piegler: Hörspielmusik in Europe. miller.phantomlake.de, 2011, archived from the original on February 13, 2014 ; accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  13. Andreas Beurmann : The three ??? The radio play queen and much more . 1st edition. Olms , Hildesheim 2011, ISBN 978-3-487-08507-4 , p. 156-159 .
  14. OLG Hamburg , ECLI : DE: OLGHH: 2008: 0529.3U108.98.0A
  15. The three ??? - "Phonophobia" - Tour 2014. (PDF) Kühl PR, 2014, archived from the original on September 3, 2014 ; accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  16. Largest audience to a live audio play / radio play. Guinness World Records, 2014, accessed August 29, 2014 .
  17. Interview with Kari Erlhoff and Kai Schwind. dreifragezeichen.de, accessed on March 9, 2014 .
  18. Lucy Fricke: The "Drei ???" set a world record in Berlin's Waldbühne. Berliner Morgenpost , August 10, 2014, accessed on August 11, 2014 .
  19. https://www.tonight.de/events/iss-dome-duesseldorf/die-drei-phonophobia-sinfonie-der-angst.428757.html
  20. Information and dates on dreifragezeichen.de
  21. The three ??? and the dark Taipan anniversary tour on semmel.de
  22. Recordings on dreifragezeichen.de
  23. a b Series info about The Three ??? (DOC) Kühl PR, 2014, archived from the original on March 25, 2014 ; accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  24. Anne Lotte Vaupel: The children's radio play series “The three ???” as an integral part of everyday media life for young adults. (PDF) rocky-beach.com, March 1, 2010, p. 30 , accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  25. Christoph Cadenbach: The third question mark. Süddeutsche Zeitung Magazin , 2012, accessed on August 27, 2014 .
  26. ^ "Three question marks" speakers about the success of the children's radio play and the current live tour. Saarbrücker Zeitung , March 3, 2014, archived from the original on March 4, 2014 ; accessed on March 4, 2014 .
  27. Peter Steinkirchner: We don't want to overturn the thing. In: Wirtschaftswoche . December 5, 2013, accessed March 26, 2014 .