Last case for Stubbe - TV crime series ends after 30 years

After more than three decades, the professional and private story of TV detective Wilfried Stubbe and his family, popular in East and West, comes to an end. With the fourth special, the 54th episode of the family crime series, actors Wolfgang and Stephanie Stumph also bid farewell as an on-screen father-daughter team. ZDF will broadcast the finale "Family in Danger" on February 22 at 8.15 pm.

In the last film in the series, Helge (Wanja Mues), the father of Stubbe's granddaughter Caro, is arrested on suspicion of murder. Stubbe's partner Marlene (Heike Trinker) is said to have destroyed evidence. The retired investigator, who remains active in his private life, and his daughter Christiane, now an investigative journalist, are doubly challenged.

The 54th film concludes the family crime series

The crime series "Stubbe - Von Fall zu Fall" achieved ratings on a par with "Tatort" between 1995 and 2014. The move of the small film family from Dresden to Hamburg was intended to reflect the development between "here and there", says lead actor Wolfgang Stumph. For him, the final act also means saying goodbye to dedicated colleagues and "a consistently warm-hearted family atmosphere".

Millions of viewers regularly watched Inspector Stubbe, who moved from Dresden to Hamburg in the 1990s, fight for law and justice with Saxon humor. After the 50th episode, it was actually over, but due to viewers' curiosity as to what would happen next with Stubbe, there were "second helpings" in 2018, 2021 and 2022.

Stephanie Stumph was able to try her hand at Stubbe

"I will miss the Stubbes," says Stumph's daughter Stephanie, who grew up in front of the camera as "Chrissy" Stubbe. She was able to try out "my talent". The young actress, nine years old at the time of the first take, has become a successful actress, a TV detective in the crime series "Der Alte" and a sought-after presenter.

She particularly remembers the 1998 episode with the band "Echt" as a guest. "They played a little sequence and that was great for me at the time," says the 40-year-old, who was a fan of the teenage band at the time. She considers working alongside her father "a great privilege", also because she had her real family with her on set.