Thiel and Boerne
Detective chief inspector Frank Thiel and forensic medical examiner Dr. Karl Friedrich Boerne are the lead protagonists of the German television series, Tatort Münster, part of the German television crime series Tatort, which has been running continuously since 1970.
Furthermore, the character of Nadeshda Krusenstern had to wait more than ten years to finally receive her detective's promotion, which is an unrealistically long period of time.
For example, Detective Thiel does not have a driver's license in the beginning of the series and has to rely on others to give him a ride, but several episodes later he can be seen driving himself.
Detective Chief Inspector Frank Thiel, played by Axel Prahl, grew up in St. Pauli, a working-class district of Hamburg.
The reason for this decision was the declining health of his father who lives in Münster, and the fact that his wife moved to New Zealand with their son.
While Boerne portrays the eloquent and stylish academic, Thiel represents the hardened and unsociable fast-food consumer, who can't seem to find a better use for his free time than to ardently follow his football team.
Professor Dr. Dr. Karl-Friedrich Boerne, played by Jan Josef Liefers, comes from a very famous Westphalian family, many of his relatives being or having been reputable physicians.
The real model for the role of Karl-Friedrich Boerne was the professor Bernd Brinkmann, who was head of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Münster from 1981 to 2007.
Silke Haller, portrayed by actress Christine Urspruch, is the resolute deputy and closest colleague of Professor Boerne at the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Münster.
[4] This record was broken on September 21, 2014, with the episode "Mord ist die beste Medizin" which reached 13.13 million viewers and a 36.7 percent share of the market.
[5] On November 8, 2015, a new record was set with "Schwanensee", which attracted 13.69 million viewers and was the most-watched German television program of 2015.
The episode following "Schwanensee" aired on May 31, 2015, and had more than 13 million viewers; with a 37.2 percent market share, it took third place in the annual television-ranking list.
According to Mechthild Großmann, another star in the series, the regular cast of Tatort Münster plays a big part in its success.
Wotan Wilke Möhring has great regard for the actors playing Thiel and Boerne and praises the humor and levity of Tatort Münster.
Actor Bjarne Mädel, on the other hand, said: "I like watching the good work of my colleagues Jan Josef Liefers and Axel Prahl, but the jokes have become predictable and overused."
In 2011, Liefers and Prahl won the Goldene Kamera in the category of best crime team, based on audience choice.
The trenchant verbal exchanges between Christine Urspruch, who portrays a woman of small stature, and Jan Josef Liefers are considered to contribute greatly to the success of the series.
In 2009, the German television channel Norddeutscher Rundfunk produced a five-episode show called Zwei Kommissare auf Spurensuche (roughly: Two Inspectors Searching For Clues).
Axel Prahl and Jan Josef Liefers performed their roles, Thiel and professor Boerne, but kept their real names.
They wandered through Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (east coast, Kühlungsborn, Usedom, Rügen, Fischland-Darß-Zingst, and Lake Schwerin), interacting with the locals while having their typical quarrels, well known from Tatort Münster.
