There has been speculation for a long time, now it is official: the veteran Munich “Tatort” commissioners have announced their retirement. An era in the history of Sunday evening crime dramas is coming to an end.
The Munich “Tatort” commissioners say hello – and don’t want a drama-filled exit: “A dramatic death? Pfffhh… We’ve always tried to characterize Batic and Leitmayr as characters who like to live,” said actor Udo Wachtveitl in an interview with the newspaper group “Münchner Merkur/tz”. “And in that regard, we will certainly remain true to ourselves in the final episode,” added his colleague Miroslav Nemec. “This attitude made us stand out, you could say that.”
Wachtveitl and Nemec have been playing inspectors Franz Leitmayr and Ivo Batic in the ARD “Tatort” from Munich for more than three decades. On Tuesday it was announced that her 100th case would be her last. So far, 93 cases involving them have been broadcast.
“I would be happy if we were a real enrichment for the “Tatort”. And I think it would be nice if the audience remembered that we didn’t fall into this gloom-kitsch, where everything has to be sad and everything like that have a chic bad mood,” said Wachtveitl in the “Merkur/tz” interview.
“No! We, Ivo, Franz, Miro and I, we think: Life is good! And that’s why we protect it by being part of general prevention, so to speak. Anyone who wants to kill someone today should know: Batic and Leitmayr may come around the corner and put the world back in order. Symbolically, at least.”
BR: Films with Batic and Leitmayr until 2025
According to Bayerischer Rundfunk, more films have been scheduled for 2024 and 2025 – “before the commissioners say goodbye to their duties after 35 years and 100 cases.”
Wachtveitl called his “Tatort” involvement “the longest sloppy relationship I’ve ever had.” “But we’re not Keith Richards and Mick Jagger, who still have to work at 80.”
Nemec said: “As crime scene “chief inspectors”, Udo and I have seen off some real police colleagues and a Munich police chief into retirement in recent years. They were all a little younger than us. A good occasion for us, also at some point “Hello” accept.”
In use since 1991
The Munich team is one of the longest-serving “crime scene” detectives ever. In 1991 her first case was broadcast. Only Ulrike Folkerts as Ludwigshafen investigator Lena Odenthal is on duty for two years longer – but has had significantly fewer cases during that time. The Munich team has so far brought it to 93 cases; no investigative team has ever had more cases. “Already a crime scene record,” writes the BR.
Two more episodes have already been filmed, according to BR, five more are to follow, then the 100 will be full. Seven new episodes with Leitmayr and Batic are scheduled to be broadcast over the next two years – the next one entitled “Das Wunderkind” on February 4th.
“From their point of view, there should be 99 crime scenes. We were able to persuade them to complete the 100,” said BR game-film series program manager Bettina Ricklefs.
The story of Nemec and Wachtveitl as Batic and Leitmayr goes back to 1991 and is therefore older than the actor Ferdinand Hofer, born in 1993, who has been playing the assistant Kalli for more than ten years.
Only six episodes were planned – there will be 100
“The wall had just fallen when the BR wanted to sign us up for at least six episodes. That was far too long for us, far too confusing. They agreed on the famous “now let’s take a look”, the practical way of life “Essence of a recently deceased great Munich philosopher, also a Franz,” Wachtveitl now said. “And then we watched, for over thirty years. Luckily, the viewers did too.”
When the inspectors appeared on German screens for the first time in the episode “Animals” on New Year’s Day 1991, Batic read out personal ads in the car and sang “Only You”. Meanwhile, Leitmayr cuddled up in the passenger seat and smooched with his girlfriend.
The film didn’t show them on their first day of work – as is often the case with new “crime scene” detectives – but they were already Munich detectives and colleagues, as if they had always been that way. And that’s probably how it feels for an entire television generation today. The professional young people of that time have long since become the gray “crime scene” eminences par excellence.
Dozens of cases involving “Love, Sex and Death” (1997), “Starkbier” (1999), the “Viktualienmarkt” (2000) and “The Last Wiesn” (2015) followed “Animals”.
Guest appearances by Rio Reiser, Bela B and the Toten Hosen
From the time she took office until her 25th anniversary in service a few years ago, more than 150 people died in the Munich “crime scene”. That’s an average of more than two deaths per episode. The commissioners wore out seven assistants, including Michael Fitz as Carlo Menzinger. And there were also notable guest appearances – including Rio Reiser, Bela B from the Doctors, Rudolph Moshammer, Karl Moik and Die Toten Hosen.
“Enormously professional, but always with the underlying Munich relaxedness,” was how veteran director Dominik Graf assessed the duo in the documentary “30 Years of Leitmayr and Batic,” which was shown by Bayerischer Rundfunk to mark their service anniversary three years ago. Fellow actress Lisa Wagner saw something more general in the way the two of them “ranted and bickered”: “They also represent a bit of a classic German marriage.”
“Both set the tone,” said young colleague Hofer, describing his television bosses in the anniversary documentary. The 31-year-old told the dpa last fall that he could imagine continuing to play his “crime scene” role, Kalli, even if the bosses retired. However, the BR initially left it open as to what would happen after the long era of Nemec and Wachtveitl without the two of them: “Who will join the Tatort Munich team after the end of this era from 2026 will be decided calmly and announced in due course. “