The Junior detective series
TKKG is a series of
radio dramas and novels created by
Stefan Wolf.
The characters and their creator
In all German-speaking countries they are the most commercially
successful series of novels of their type, apart from
The Three Investigators. They call
themselves
TKKG, after the initials of their
names: Tarzan (later renamed in Tim, because "Tarzan" is a
trademark), Karl, Dumpling (in German , in Australia called
"Klumpling") and Gab(b)y; an unofficial fifth member is Gaby's
Cocker Spaniel, called Oskar. Since
1979 they continually solve all sorts of crimes, from thefts and
robberies to kidnappings and terrorism.
The books were written by
Rolf
Kalmuczak, under his nom de plume Stefan Wolf. In June 2004
TKKG changed their publisher from Pelican to CBJ - They published
volumes 07, 14, 54, 77 and 84 in January 2005 as a new edition with
the CBJ brand name.
Tim
Peter Timotheus Carsten, which is his full name (just called Tim,
which is short for Timotheus, after Tarzan had to be replaced) is
the leader of the TKKG gang, who are named after the initial
letters of their names or nicknames. Tim is 14, but mentally and
physically far ahead. A tanned athlete, he particularly enjoys
judo (he has a brown belt) and
volleyball. For two years (at the beginning of
the series) he's been living in a famous boarding school, and is
pupil of class 9b. His father, an engineer, had a fatal accident
when Tim was only 6 years old. Tim's mother, a book-keeper, works
hard to earn enough money for the expensive school money for their
son. Tim loves adventure and hates injustice, and has a big crush
on Gaby, of whom he is
very protective.
Previously, Tim was originally called Tarzan by his friends because
of his athletic prowess, but he did not want to be compared with
this 'half-finished bodybuilder' after he had seen a
very
bad movie about him (the change actually came about because the
name Tarzan is trademarked).
Karl
The smartest of the quartet, Karl Vierstein is sometimes nicknamed
Computer because he has an eidetic memory; whatever he's read he
never forgets - perhaps because his father is a professor for Maths
at the local university.
He goes into the same class as Tim, but he does not live at the
boarding school. He is tall and lanky, but not athletic. He is
nearsighted and is virtually helpless without his glasses, which he
polishes whenever he's nervous.
Dumpling
(German nickname: " ", which means "dumpling". Doughnut is called
Klumpling in Australian audio book editions and in the official
English translation of the movies. Mostly this is because the K is
needed to form the TKKG brand.)
His actual name is Willi Sauerlich. He lives together with Tim at
the boarding school, where they share a room. His parents are rich
- his father owns a chocolate ware company - but Willi likes to
spend more time with his friends.
His nickname is derived from his passion for chocolate; he never
can keep his fingers off anything sweet. Therefore, he grows
steadily bigger around the hips. Nevertheless, he is a reliable
comrade, and having a rich father as an asset has proven useful
time and again. Doughnut secretly wishes to be as athletic and
sprightly as his friend Tim.
Willi is actually also quite close with his father, mainly because
of their common desire to eat well; Mrs. Sauerlich is a
very strict vegetarian who makes them eat anything
vegetable - and
only vegetable. So the two keep a secret
stash of the good things in the cellar, where they help themselves
whenever they have the chance.
Gaby
Gabriele Glockner (in Australian audio book editions she is called
Gabby, with double b) is affectionately nicknamed " " ("Paw") by
her friends because she loves animals and makes every animal -
particularly dogs - shake paws with her. She is the daughter of
police commissioner Emil Glockner and his wife Margot, who runs a
small grocery store. Like Karl, she lives with her parents in town
and attends Tim's boarding school only for lessons. She is very
good at English and backstroking.
With her blonde hair and long eyelashes, she is quite pretty and
some times flashes her underwear - an attribute which makes Tim go
red when he looks too closely. Actually, she is also quite close to
Tim, although she rarely shows it as much as he does.
Oskar
The mascot of the group is Gaby's black and white
cocker spaniel. He accompanies the group
practically anywhere, and while he's blind on one eye, his nose is
the more keener; he likes to smell out fried chicken in
particular.
The town with millions of inhabitants / "town of millions"
The homeland of the TKKG gang is a fictitious town with millions of
inhabitants somewhere in Germany. There the TKKG gang live and go
to school. Tim, however, comes from a city which is a four hour
drive away.
If you consider that as well as, in the novels, the city can only
be Munich. There are only three cities with more than a million
inhabitants in Germany (Hamburg, Berlin and Munich), the mountains
and Austria are near (where the stories often play) and the novels
and plays include certain words that belong to Southern German
usage, such as " " (kiss) or " " (roll or bun). Also, in one TKKG
book the city is described as: " " ("In the distance you could see
the skyscrapers of the far capital, the city of millions where Tim
went to school"). The only city with more than a million
inhabitants that is a capital of a German
Bundesland is Munich, if you do not count the
City-State of Hamburg, which is addressed later. Some people
protest because a large port sometimes takes place in the
TKKG-City, but this port only appears in two
radio dramas but not in the original books,
where the stories with the port plays outside of the TKKG-City. It
also cannot be Hamburg as in the episode "Bei Anruf Angst" ("panic
by phone call") a girl who is kidnapped and searched for by TKKG is
said to come from Hamburg -referring to this Tim says that they
could not go there as this city "would be too far away" ("...und
die Hansestadt ist weit").
However, the author has stated in numerous interviews that the
"town of millions" is in fact fictitious.
Criticism
TKKG stories are criticized mainly because of the attitude with
which they relate to racial minorities. Additionally Tarzan/Tim is
considered a violent character, and also women in society are
portrayed in an outdated manner. For instance, Tim never allows
Gaby to join in dangerous activities, but sends her home instead.
Homeless people are treated poorly by the four friends and TKKG
constantly stress their disgust for them, calling them " " ("bums")
(for this, see the radio play sequence 37 - "the last shot"). It is
also for "Mafia", a kidnapped baby was to become sold "to gypsies"
if the ransom is not paid (episode 20 - "the mystery of the Chinese
vase"), etc. pp. Otherwise they often defend minorities and
minority groups. In several episodes positive characters (e.g.
ethnic minorities) get introduced who contradict clichés of other
episodes. TKKG's inconsistent behavior is quite eye-catching. On
the one hand they act as do-gooders and on the other hand as
moralizers. Another example is the characterization of women.
Although Stefan Wolf describes characters of strong women and TKKG
favors sexual equality, the boys of TKKG regularly exclude Gaby
when there are dangerous situations foreseeable or during dangerous
undertakings at a late hour: Tarzan/Tim: "At this time girls at
this age have to go to bed. " (" ").
On the other hand, TKKG frequently act at the border of
probability, and Kalmuczak is forced to create genuine role models
for the readers in TKKG, and in doing so, by course, makes the
storyline absurd; TKKG become caricatures.
Radio dramas
The series has appeared since 1981 with the radio play label
Europa154 audio books were
recorded (since 1979) and released (since 1981).
Actors
Episode list
Meanwhile 147 radio plays, in a series have appeared, as well as
several special series:
TKKG in the television and cinema
Between
1985 and 1987 TKKG was developed for ZDF
a twelve
episode TV cartoon serial. The first six episodes were shown
between
7 November 1985 and
12 December
1985 on ZDF. Episodes 7 - 12 had also been
broadcast on ZDF two years later between
22
October 1987 and
26
November 1987 for the first time.
Afterwards all episodes in irregular order were broadcast on ZDF
and on
KI.KA. (There. among other things. in
the context of the broadcast "TKKG - Der Club der Detektive"). In
the main roles, Fabian Harloff started from episode 7 as Tim,
Christian Pfaff as Karl, Kai Maahs as Doughnut and Jessica Gast as
Gaby.
- Das leere Grab im Moor
- Angst in der 9 A
- Die Jagd nach den Millionendieben
- Der Schlangenmensch
- Das Geheimnis der chinesischen Vase
- Der blinde Hellseher
- Überfall im Hafen
- Bestien in der Finternis
- Spion auf der Flucht
- Gangster auf der Gartenparty
- Haie an Bord
- Todesfracht im Jaguar
- Das Geheimnis um TKKG
- Die Schatzinsel mit den 7 Rätseln
Movies in Cinema
- Drachenauge (The Dragon's Eye) (1992)
- TKKG- The Mysterious Mind-Machine (German title: TKKG und das
Geheimnis um die rätselhafte Mind Machine) (2006)
double episodes (appeared for the 10th anniversary of the series of
books)
- Die Jagd nach den Millionendieben / Das Paket mit dem
Totenkopf
- Das leere Grab im Moor / Auf der Spur der Vogeljäger
- Rätsel um die alte Villa / Das Phantom auf dem Feuerstuhl
- Alarm im Zirkus Sarani / Die Mafia kommt zur Geisterstunde
- Nachts, wenn der Feuerteufel kommt / Angst in der 9a
- Hexenjagd in Lerchenbach / Wer raubte das Millionenpferd?
- Der Schatz in der Drachenhöhle / Das Geschenk des Bösen
- In den Klauen des Tigers / Die Nacht des Überfalls
- Die Entführung in der Mondscheingasse / Vampir der
Autobahn
- Duell im Morgengrauen / Wilddiebe im Teufelsmoor
A live action film with the title "Ein Fall für TKKG: Drachenauge"
was also made, with Toni Renjak as Tim, Max Sittel as Karl, Steffen
Raddatz as Doghnuts, Sanny van Heteren as Gaby and
Wolfgang Stumph as Inspector Glockner. It
was directed by Ulrich König.
The 2006 movie about the mysterious mind machine was produced by
Constantin Film and was directed by Tomy Wigand.
Comics
1987–1989 appeared in
Ehapa publishing house
of 17 booklets with TKKG
Comics (expenditure
1-2/1987, 1-12/1988 and 1-3/1989). The Comics was produced by the
studio
Comicon, a draughtsman was
Josep Marti, who also among other things for
YPS drew.
TKKG in other countries
TKKG novels had been translated in almost 100 countries around the
world.
In
Indonesia
, TKKG's books were translated to Indonesian and some of the characters'
names were changed to make it easier to pronounce and fit the
translation storylines.
TKKG was changed to
STOP; from the names of the
characters:
- Tim's name was change to Sporty, alias Peter
Carsten.
- Karl's name was change to Thomas, alias
Computer. His real name was Thomas Vierstein.
- Doughnut's name was change to Oskar, alias
Fatso. His real name was Oskar Sauerlich.
- Gaby's name was change to Petra, alias Paw.
Her real name was Petra Glockner.
- Oskar's name was change to Bello, Petra's
spaniel dog and the mascot of STOP.
The first 9 games were translated into English (the first 3 were
sold in English-speaking countries; the last 6 were not and were
translated for educational reasons). TKKG was kept as the names,
but changed;
- Tim became Tiger, or Peter Carsten.
- Karl became Kevin Forestone or the
Computer.
- Gaby became Katy Crocker, or the Paw.
- Klößchen became Grunter, or Basil
Sowerby.
Websites (in German)
Wikis
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