ZDF series
15 years in the same role: Hans Sigl still enjoys the “Bergdoktor”
Actor Hans Sigl in 2019 filming “Der Bergdoktor”
© Kerstin Joensson / Picture Alliance
In 2008 the Austrian actor Hans Sigl took on the leading role in the ZDF series “Der Bergdoktor”. Now the 15th season starts and the 52-year-old is still burning for the format.
The Austrian actor Hans Sigl has been the “Bergdoktor” on ZDF for 15 years. The series regularly achieved top ratings. The new “Bergdoktor” season begins on January 13th (8:15 pm) with the traditional winter special. In the interview, the 52-year-old looks back on the development of the series and explains why the “Bergdoktor” is a corona-free zone.
You have been playing this role for 15 years now and you don’t seem to feel in the “Bergdoktor” drawer.
Yes absolutely. And this year I also shot the second part of “Escape through Höllental” and I also have other fields of activity such as readings, live programs and maybe something completely different soon. We haven’t always had the same stories in these 15 years, so it didn’t get boring. The nice thing was that I was able to develop my character further with the editorial team and with production. That’s the difference to a crime series.
The entire Gruber series family continues to develop.
Yes, so that we can tell these family stories and that there is a new situation every year. We don’t have to arrest anyone like in a crime thriller, but we have a different setting for the characters. The daughter is getting older, there are other problems that Dr. Gruber has gotten older. Everything has changed. And that’s what’s exciting about a family in series.
It’s the second season that you shot during the corona pandemic. The virus still does not appear in the series?
No. At the beginning, you didn’t know how the pandemic would develop and what the situation would be like when the series was broadcast. Is it over then? What kind of solution would we then have to offer? In addition, true to our Feelgood Movie motto, we wanted to simply offer people entertainment and relaxation from the whole Corona issue. We’re not starting as a critical documentary format, but as a family series. And we want to stay that way.