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In a sentence you never thought you’d read, Angela Merkel has swapped retirement for a life as a crime-solving detective.
Well, almost. The former German Chancellor, who served in office between 2005 and 2021, has been reimagined in a TV show with an entirely new career after politics.
In a bizarre plot twist that we never saw coming, she’s taken over from Miss Marple, in murder mystery series Miss Merkel.
Played by Katharina Thalbach, the show, which has been brought to life by German channel RTL, sees the on-screen Merkel follow her passion for solving crimes and murders after becoming bored of retirement.
The trailer teases the politician using a comical magnifying glass to look for clues, being chased in a forest and being targeted by arrows, all as she attempts to solve a mysterious death.
According to The Irish Times, the series also has ‘Merkel’ peeing behind a tree when nature calls, before she’s almost run over by a knight on a horse.
As if that didn’t sound enough like a fever dream, the fictionalised ex-chancellor is full of political jibes, with one said to be about cleaning up dog faeces: ‘I’ve cleaned up others’ mess for long enough, I can manage this.’
She also jokes about her style, reportedly saying: ‘I have 50 such blazers in my wardrobe and I have to use them up,’ and has a side-kick pug who, in the novel the series is based on, is called Putin.
Viewers around the world can’t get enough of it, with the trailer having gone viral on social media.
‘Please tell me it’s available in English subtitles. We cannot be deprived of this,’ @civilagain wrote on X.
‘Magnificently bonkers,’ @GandonAmy added.
‘I would watch the s**t out of this,’ @antenacactus said, as @EenaRuffini said: ‘I’m sorry what!!? And how do I watch this immediately.’
‘This sounds like it could be the greatest TV show in history,’ @stuarthazeldine said.
@poooshiesty also wrote: ‘I can’t explain it, but this is otherworldly genius.’
‘I genuinely think there’d be mileage in a cosy crime series where Theresa May solves murders,’ @DrFrancisYoung joked, to which @colin_boyle_ agreed: ‘Maysomer Murders.’
Please tell me itâs available in English subtitles. We cannot be deprived of this.
— Ange (@civilagain) July 10, 2024
Maysomer Murders
— Colin Boyle (@colin_boyle_) July 9, 2024
The TV show is based on David Safier’s book of the same name, in which he portrayed Merkel as a hobby detective.
‘The great thing for me is that Merkel is both omnipresent – we’ve known her for decades – yet we know almost nothing of her life apart from the crumbs her press office gives out, like how she likes to bake,’ the author said in a 2021 interview.
‘That gave me great freedom to write a friendly book with her as the heroine. In her political career she’s often been underestimated, just like Miss Marple in the Agatha Christie novels, so it seemed a good fit.’
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At the time, he joked about a copy being sent to the real Merkel, saying: ‘If it ever gets on to her desk she’ll either smirk briefly or roll her eyes, saying “This is all I need”.’
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