Sisi S1
Nicknamed Sisi, Bavarian Princess Elisabeth fell in love with the Emperor of Austria, thrusting her into the Habsburg court and a life in Vienna that was nothing like she expected. It was the end of the 19th century, and Sisi knew who she was, and had influence and ideals of her own. But she had to fight against the strict and even cruel regime to live on her own terms. Fans of period drama will enjoy this German-language series and watching Sisi, at the time considered a ‘tomboy’, come of age.
Season 1 is now streaming.
Das Boot S1&2
If it’s more WWII drama you are after, then you can’t go past 2 seasons of Das Boot. In season one, it’s autumn of 1942 in occupied France, and the submarine U-612 is now ready for its maiden voyage, preparing to head into the increasingly brutal warfare with its young crewmen, including the new captain, Klaus Hoffmann. As the 40 men take on their first mission, they struggle with the cramped and claustrophobic conditions of life underwater. Meanwhile, at the port of La Rochelle, Simone Strasser, sister of one of the crew, is engulfed in a dangerous liaison. And in season 2 of the critically acclaimed drama, it’s December, and U-boat ace Johannes von Reinhartz (Clemens Schick) is handed a new secret mission to transport three saboteurs to the US East Coast on board U-822. When his loyalty is questioned, U-612 is sent in pursuit.
A box set of seasons 1 and 2 is available to stream, as we wait for season 3.
Pagan Peak S1&2
When a frozen body is found on a snow-covered mountain on the German-Austrian border, you know it’s time for some international crime-solving. But this is no straightforward killing, as the killer taunts the police with a recording made of the killing. Soon the bodies start to pile up, and the mismatched cops on the case have to figure out how to work together before the Krampus Killer strikes again.
Seasons 1 and 2 are now streaming.
Dark Woods S1
A missing woman, a 30-year-old mystery, and a cop who refuses to give in. The story behind German crime mystery Dark Woods ticks all the boxes for an epic thriller, but there is one important box that gives it that something extra: it’s based on a true story. Real-life chief of the state criminal police Wolfgang Sielaff’s onscreen counterpart is Thomas Bethge (Matthias Brandt), a police officer who has spent 30 years pushing for the 1989 murder of two couples in the forests of Northern Germany to be solved.
Beneath The Surface S1
Not to be confused with Below the Surface, this Danish–German co-production is a densely plotted family thriller. Set on one of Denmark’s Oxen Islands, two couples, Sabine and Bernd, and Jakob and Charlie, live a carefree life with their teenage children, Karl and Kjell, and Emile and Cecile respectively. But when Jakob’s brother Jonas returns after he disappeared 15 years ago, the kids fall under his spell. With the parents increasingly worried over Jonas’ influence, the unthinkable happens – Kjell falls overboard while on a sailing trip with Jakob and Charlie and disappears without a trace. You’ll be consumed by this mystery, and the ensemble cast will have you hooked in no time.
Season 1 is now streaming.
Ku'damm S1-3
What happens when the daughter of a prestigious dance school proprietor discovers American rock 'n' roll? You get the wonderfully stylish German mini-series Ku’Damm 56. Caterina Schöllack (Claudia Michelsen) runs Berlin dance school Gallant and wants nothing more than to see her three daughters married and secure. Two seem happy to follow their mother’s wishes, but Monika (Sonja Gerhardt) rejects the given path and discovers rock 'n' roll. The women of this generation were searching for a new identity, and were inspired by the burgeoning demand for equal rights.
In the second series Ku’Damm 59 it is three years later and we are back with Caterina and her now very different daughters, who are searching for their identity on the brink of a new era of female empowerment. The latest season Ku’Damm 63 continues the Schöllack family history along with the social pressures and romantic dramas, marriages, affairs, homosexuality, power, powerlessness, fashion, design and lifestyle of the 1960s, rock 'n' roll and the Grand Prix d’Eurovision de la Chanson.
Ku’Damm 56, Ku’Damm 59 and Ku’Damm 63 feature 3 episodes each and all are now streaming at . Start with Ku’Damm 56:
Wild Republic S1
Eight-part German series Wild Republic also puts young people at the front and centre, but this group are serious offenders. Left to their own devices to undergo an experiential education program in the Alps, one of the youths dies a violent death. What happened is a mystery, leaving them to face a difficult decision – to wait for authorities to arrive or escape and take their fate into their own hands?
The Witnesses S1
From the Emmy Award-winning producers of the Deutschland trilogy, eight-part German crime drama The Witnesses centres around the chase for a child who’s kidnapped in Berlin’s crowded Natural History museum. Eight key witnesses house the only clues. Exploring the power of memories and how tenuous they can be, this tense emotional drama follows Dr Jasmin Braun as she evaluates the witnesses’ memories in a desperate attempt to reconstruct the event and find the child, the daughter of a prominent politician, before it’s too late. Alexandra Maria Lara is outstanding as Dr Braun, who must confront difficult memories of her own as the case unfolds.
Season 1 s now streaming.
Echos S1
An illegal dance party held in the catacombs below Munich’s Central Railway Station is the catalyst for a sequence of events that traumatically change the lives of many in the German-language thriller Echos. A group of hedonistic, privileged 20-somethings – including Nellie (Lilly Dreesen) and her best friend Janosch (Yasin Boynuince) – get wind of the rave and turn up, excited for the fun, drug-fuelled night ahead. But the evening goes awry when a fire breaks out, causing mass panic as hundreds of partygoers flee from the smoke choking the tunnels. After the chaos has settled down and the injured carted off to hospital, it takes a darker turn when a body is discovered in the river the next day.
Season 1 is now streaming.
Dignity S1
Dignity is a fictionalised account of the battle to bring to justice the leader of a Germanic cult that flourished for decades in a quiet Chilean town. Established in 1961 by former Nazi and self-styled preacher Paul Schaefer, ‘Colonia Dignidad’ hid child abuse, torture and murder behind a façade of productivity and order. Inspired in part by the efforts of Hernán Fernández, the lawyer who pursued Paul Schaefer for ten years, Dignity sees young prosecutor Leo Ramírez (Marcel Rodriguez) assigned to the team that is finally, with a new government in power, ready to bring Schaefer down. But Ramírez has his own history with the compound: as children he and his brother attended Colonia Dignidad. But after his younger brother died there in mysterious circumstances, his mother sent him to Germany, where he spent the rest of his childhood, and then studied law before returning to Chile.
Season 1 is now streaming.
The Team S1&2
This cross-country multi-lingual co-production (*30% German) marks another entry into Nordic noir. Made up of three investigators – Harald Bjorn (Lars Mikkelsen) from Denmark, Alicia Verbeeck (Veerle Baetens) from Belgium and Jackie Mueller (Jasmine Gerat) from Germany – The Team have joined forces to solve a series of murders across borders. Season 1 brought the team together to solve the mystery of a sex worker being killed the same way in each of their countries. Season 2 finds us in the marshlands of Denmark where seven people have been brutally killed in a shootout which appears to be racially motivated.
Shadowplay S1
If there was ever a setting that lent itself to desperation, and the lies and deceit it fuels, it’s post-World War II Berlin. The year is 1946, crime is an epidemic in the city, and the growing instability means that survival is now the name of the game. Whatever it takes. It’s here that compelling spy drama Shadowplay unfolds, with NYPD cop Max McLaughlin (Taylor Kitsch) on a secondment mission to set up a civilian police force. There’s a level of self-interest to the operation for McLaughlin; his brother Moritz (Logan Marshall-Green) is missing, and he is determined to find out why. Does it matter if you have an ulterior motive when your ultimate goal is the truth? And could the tragic death of their German mother when they were children have a part to play?
Shadowplay is now streaming . It is also available with subtitles in and .
Monogamish S1&2
Married for 10 years, Nele and Gianni still love each other, but their love life seems to have died a slow, sexless death. When Nele begins flirting with a stranger on a dating site and it turns out to be none other than Gianni, the pair end up in therapy with a plan to start spicing up their sex life. Challenging the fairy-tale premise of ‘happily ever after’, this Swiss series is darkly funny and not afraid to face a few taboos.
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