Ein starkes Team

Ein starkes Team (German for: "a strong team") is a German crime television series developed by the German television channel ZDF since March 1994. Up to four new 90-minute episodes are broadcast annually, resulting in a current total of 64 episodes. Each episode usually revolves around an intricate murder case, regularly coinciding with events in the private lives of the main characters.

The Team

The series originally starred detective chief superintendents Verena Berthold (played by Maja Maranow) and Otto Garber (Florian Martens) as the main characters. They became a team following the German reunification, which caused the East-German Volkspolizei, where Otto was working, to be incorporated in the (West-German) Kriminalpolizei. They became partners in a special unit of the Kriminalpolizei of Berlin, led by commissioner Lothar Reddemann (Arnfried Lerche), and also including the detective chief superintendents Yüksel Yüsgüler (Tayfun Bademsoy; until episode 43 in 2009) and Georg Scholz (Leonard Lansink; until episode 29 in 2005). After Georg's departure, detective Ben Kolberg (Kai Lentrodt; since episode 30 in 2005) joined the team, and was later promoted to chief superintendent.