To view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a webbrowser that supports HTML5video 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 base.