Angela Merkel crime series to be broadcast in Italy – DW – 12.07.2024

Italian viewers seemed to be filled with excitement and surprise as they awaited the broadcast of a two-part television series in which Angela Merkel is portrayed as an Agatha Christie-style detective.

In the show, German actress Katharina Thalbach plays the former Chancellor who has taken on the post-political role of a modern-day Miss Marple.

What do we know about the show?

“Miss Merkel and the Murder in the Castle” will broadcast the first of two episodes on Friday evening on the Italian television channel Rai2.

This is not an Italian creation, but a production by a Hamburg film production company, which was first broadcast on the German channel RTL in March last year.

After leaving political life, the alternative reality “Miss Merkel” settled in the East German Uckermark, where the real ex-chancellor grew up and later bought a holiday home.

She lives with her husband Joachim Sauer and her bodyguard Mike, but she finds retirement boring and begins to investigate criminal cases – much to the chagrin of both men.

Actually, the criminal cases should be solved by the local detective Hannemann, but out of laziness he doesn’t even want to notice the most obvious inconsistencies.

The second episode, “Murder in the Cemetery,” will air in Italy next week.

Italy’s The Daily Mail The newspaper noted that there was “some excitement and surprise on social media” after a clip was posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.

Whose idea was that?

The thriller’s author, David Safier, told the same newspaper that the idea was born in 2019.

“I had met with my agent that morning and we talked about Angela Merkel. At that point it was already clear that she would not run for re-election,” he said.

Later that day, the author saw “Columbo” on television: “It was immediately clear to me that I had found the idea for the next book.”

The other major source of inspiration is Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple, whose name is reflected in the title.

So far, Safier has published three books based on this idea. The first two have already been adapted for television, but the third, Murder on the High Seas, has not yet made it to the cinema.

A fourth volume in the series is due to be published in November, the same month Merkel’s autobiography “Freedom” will hit bookstores.

In real life, Merkel – who celebrates her 70th birthday next Wednesday – has actually shown a great interest in solving murder cases since leaving the Chancellery.

In December 2022, she was a guest on the Christmas special of the true crime podcast Sprechen Wir Über Mord?.

Edited by: Sean Sinico

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