Der letzte Bulle | |
---|---|
Written by | Robert Dannenberg Stefan Scheich |
Starring |
Henning Baum Maximilian Grill Proschat Madani Helmfried von Lüttichau Robert Lohr |
Opening theme |
"Real Wild Child (Wild One)" by Iggy Pop (seasons 1–4) Vertigo by U2 (season 5) |
Composer(s) | Thomas Klemm |
Country of origin | Germany |
Original language(s) | German |
No. of seasons | 5 |
No. of episodes | 60 () |
Production | |
Location(s) | Essen, Germany |
Running time | 42 minutes |
Production company(s) |
ITV Studios Germany greenskyfilms |
Release | |
Original network | Sat.1 |
Picture format |
480i (SDTV) 1080i (HDTV) |
Original release | 12 April 2010 | – 2 June 2014
External links | |
Official website | |
Production website |
Der letzte Bulle (The Last Cop) is a German television series that was first aired in 2010. The series is about a policeman from the 1980s put into a modern police department in Essen.
The plot revolves around German homicide detective Mick Brisgau, who was shot in the head on duty in the late 1980s. As a result of this head shot, he was in a coma for 20 years. The show starts when he awakes suddenly from said coma. Being a star for the media he is allowed to return to his old job at the homicide department.
As an old-school macho-cop, he doesn't know about modern technology (e.g., cellphones, computers, modern investigation methods) and deals with modern world homicide cases in his 1980s-style manner, thus making him a unique officer in Essen police headquarters in the center of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region.
While spectators might find resemblances with Life on Mars, it is actually doing the inverse; the rough style of the main character (portrayed by Henning Baum) is complemented by his prudent partner Andreas Kringge (portrayed by Maximilian Grill). The series presents a number of 1980s music and items, such as the main character driving an old Opel Diplomat V8.
The setting includes his old partner from the 1980s, Martin Ferchert, who is now the chief of department, and his former wife, who has married the coroner Roland Meisner, who both serve in the same department. In some episodes his adult daughter, Isabelle, appears, whom he had known only as a baby. Amongst the social problems, police psychologist Tanja Haffner tries to conciliate.
The series ran first on 12 April 2010 on Sat.1 Television with 2.99 million viewers (or 9.2 percent) somewhat below the average of the TV channel. However viewer share increased especially among younger viewers. With the start of the second season, the viewer share almost doubled and Sat.1 ordered a third season. The fourth season aired in Germany beginning 21 January 2013.
The show has been aired in combination with the Sat.1 production Danni Lowinski from the start, but while the latter scored better in the beginning it is now The Last Cop that shows better results. With a viewer share of 15% for The Last Cop and with the two series being the best-running productions of Sat.1, it was announced on 9 April 2013 that a fifth season was being planned for both shows.
The series has been sold to neighbouring countries; it has run on Austrian ÖRF since 31 May 2011. The French Direct 8 has run a dubbed version since March 2012 under the title of Mick Brisgau, le come-back d’un super flic. It is also dubbed for Italian Rai 1 where it runs under the title of Last Cop - L'ultimo sbirro during the summer. In Bulgaria, the series runs as Ченге от миналото on Diema in a dubbed version. In Brazil the show is being aired on cable channel Globosat+ under the name O Último Policial, in German language with Portuguese subtitles. In Spain the series is dubbed and runs as El último poli duro on Canal+ Spain and Cuatro.