There has been no new “Tatort” for almost four months, a third of the year. Fans of the most popular crime series are noticeably undersupplied with new material this time.
It hasn’t been away for this long in a long time: “Tatort” is taking its longest summer break ever this year. According to current planning from the ARD program directorate in Munich, the break in 2024 will last a full 17 weeks – a record. Until now, the years 2020 and 2012, with their 13-week summer breaks, were considered record years for the popular ARD Sunday crime series “Tatort”. Last year the summer break lasted eleven weeks, two years ago it lasted ten weeks.
According to current information, there will only have been 32 new “Tatort” crime thrillers at the end of the year – fewer than in a long time. Last year there were 35, before that 36, in 2021 there were 33, before that always around 36 to 37, in 2015 even 40.
New Sunday crime thrillers will not be released until mid-September
There has been no first broadcast of “Tatort” since Whit Monday (May 20). The first new “Tatort” crime thriller is currently scheduled for September 15. Until then, repeats will still be shown on Sundays at prime time or there will be a sports broadcast, such as on August 4, when athletics from the Summer Olympics in Paris will be shown live on Das Erste.
Repeats on Sundays in the coming weeks include the NDR “Tatort: Borowski and the sky over Kiel” from 2014 (July 28), the MDR “Tatort: Level X” from Dresden from 2017 (August 11), the WDR “Tatort: A friend, a good friend” from Münster from 2022 (August 18) and the Stuttgart SWR “Tatort: Videobeweis” from 2022 (August 25).
The “Tatort” summer break, during which “Tatort” repeats are shown on Sundays at 8:15 p.m. on Das Erste instead of new crime dramas, has only gradually become established. Repeats in the summer have been a regular occurrence since 1996. Since 2003, the number of repeats in the summer has increased, but was often interrupted by first broadcasts (including “Polizeiruf 110”). The first continuous “Tatort” summer break on Das Erste was in 2007 and then again from 2010.
Repeats on Sunday evenings or Olympia for weeks
The ARD cites the two major sporting events in 2024 as the reason for the long summer break this year. The European Football Championship in Germany ran from June 14 to July 14, the Olympic Games in Paris are from July 26 to August 11. After that there are the Paralympics (August 28 to September 8).
After the last “Tatort” before the summer break (May 20), there was a new Munich “Polizeiruf 110” on May 26. Since then, however, no new Sunday crime drama has been shown on ARD television.
The ARD series “Tatort” has been around for almost 54 years (in the Federal Republic) and the crime series “Polizeiruf 110” for around 53 years (initially as a production of GDR television).
The “Tatort” with around 20 different teams from the various ARD broadcasters as well as from Swiss and Austrian television is by far Germany’s most popular TV series. Since 1970, 1271 films have been labelled and broadcast.
Tatort.de
Source: Stern
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
