New beginnings and (almost) farewells await Susi Stach when she appears online first on ORF ON on Friday, October 4th (episodes 1 to 3) and October 11th, 2024 (episodes 4 to 6), starting at 3 p.m. and on ORF 1 series Monday from October 7th at 8:15 p.m. and 9:05 p.m. in double episodes attempts to solve “The Cases of Gerti B.” Passed over for promotion and with a new, young boss in front of her, the idea of retiring seems quite tempting to her. But only for a short time, because it would be laughable if she didn’t manage to come to terms with the situation between old acquaintances and new cases – after all, she has been dealing with challenges of a professional and private nature since the 1980s. “Quickly determined” on October 7th at 10 p.m. on ORF 1 also includes a dacapo about “Heidi Hofreiter” and large-scale wage fraud.
Director Sascha Bigler: “My most personal project to date”
“I wanted to tell the story of a strong woman with rough edges. A story that is fun, generates emotion and entertains for six 45 minutes. The fact that two other, self-confident characters have been added to the main character Gerti B. – Gerti’s new boss and her younger version in the 80s – is certainly also because strong women have shaped and inspired me and still do. Seen in this way, Gerti is my most personal project to date,” says director Sascha Bigler. And further about the style of the series: “Our characters exist in an Austrian crime biotope, but their motivations, backgrounds, past and mental life are more important than the classic ‘whodunit’. The dramaturgical detours to the 80s allow the audience to experience the youth of our main character. Those of us who experienced this decade live and in neon color know: the 80s were terrible and at the same time still fun.” On the structure of the story: “The individual episodes do not follow a continuous, dramaturgical pattern, non-linear storytelling is the same Part of the narrative form such as dream sequences, photo montages and one or two sloppy music videos or 80s commercials. It was 50 great days of filming with friends in front of and behind the camera – and the end result reflects the creative collaboration of everyone involved.”
More about the content of the first two episodes
Episode 1: “The One with the Letter” (Friday, October 4th, 3:00 p.m., ORF ON; Monday, October 7th, 8:15 p.m., ORF 1)
Gerti (Susi Stach) is given the young Heidi (Mariam Hage) as boss. Years of humping didn’t pay off for Gerti, on the contrary. She is advised to take early retirement. After their first case together, Gerti isn’t at all reluctant. Heidi’s newfangled methods really annoy her. Gerti, who started as a district inspector trainee in 1982, knows very well how her job works. Even her best friend Elli (Doris Hindinger) thinks that maybe it’s time to say “Baba” and leave everything behind. Gerti’s husband Bertl (Johannes Silberschneider) would be happy because he no longer has to enjoy his retirement alone. An era is also coming to an end in another part of the district: women lover and red light legend Franco (Karl Fischer) closes his brothel club, the “Séparée”. But what should he do with the rest of his life now?
Episode 2: “The One with the Dog” (Friday, October 4th, 3:00 p.m., ORF ON; Monday, October 7th, 9:05 p.m., ORF 1)
The death of band keyboardist Toni (Emem Augendopler) throws Bertl off track. So that Toni’s dog Rex doesn’t end up in the animal shelter, Bertl takes him home – somehow he’ll be able to explain that to Gerti. In 1982, Gerti (Alice Prosser) is looking forward to her first field service, but it doesn’t go quite as successfully as planned. She meets the petty criminal Mario “Crash” Krachner (Nils Arztmann). Even though all her alarm bells are going off, she is somehow attracted to him. Today, Franco’s spirits awaken – his old friend Crash (Harald Windisch) comes from the port and now the party is on. But unfortunately he did the math without a crash. He now wants to lead a regular life and win back his old flame Elli. While Crash celebrates his return with half the Grätzl, Gerti spends the night with Heidi on an observation. And neither Crash’s welcome party nor the observation ends the way everyone involved would have wanted.
“The Cases of Gerti B.” is a co-production by ORF and Lotus Filmproduktion with support from FISA+, Fernsehenfonds Austria and Filmfonds Wien.
Further information about the series is available at presse.ORF.at.