Berlau, October 1995
THE SETTING
Season 1 team
Shot from S01E06
The private Hetvesian TV station FFF (Film, Funk und Fernsehen) created the show “NOTRUF 110 - EINSATZ FÜR DIE AUTOBAHNPOLIZEI” in 1993, portraying the dangerous duties of the young highway cop Frank Batimus and his team, consisting of the strict but fair Polizeioberrat Dietrich Boehme as boss, the experienced and tough partner Rainer Sordel, the young and engaged Sarah Maier, who graduated from Police academy together with Batimus and Dipl.-Psych. Petra Liehr, a clever profiler consulting the police when needed.
Since the TV pilot was successful, two seasons were ordered, and in the dramatic season 2 finale that will be aired aired in early 1996, Sordel and Maier are kidnapped while chasing a psychopathic murderer. While Sordel gives his life for Maier for letting her escape, Batimus got assigned the patrol officer Harald Walkowski, who became his new partner, after Sarah Maier is rejected the promotion since boss Boehme doubts she is up to the task after suffering such a traumatic experience.
Well, for season 3, not only the cast will change, but also the cars!
NEED FOR CARS
Since the Rigel Odiel of Walkowski and the Merit of Batimus are destroyed in the final chase, in which they finally arrest the arson, new cars are in need to run the show. The whole cast should be provided with cars fitting the characters.
What were the protagonist cars in the first and second season?
Season 1 cars: Dark blue Primus Merit 250tds, mostly used by both. Whenever a second car was needed, it was a black Merit 200 with sport package.
Season 2 cars: Dark blue Baumhauer 318t Vier, mostly used by the character Rainer Sordel, grey Primus Merit 300 Avance, mostly used by Frank Batimus
Shot from S02E10, grilling the protagonist cars.
THE CHARACTERS
Kriminaloberkommissar Frank Batimus
What you need to know about him
Frank, a 30 year old Berlau native, is the protagonist of the show, a young cop with a genius mind. While he looks very serious, never seen without suit and tie, his guilty pleasure is hard techno music, dancing all night through Berlau. He is still mourning his first partner, Rainer Sordel, which he could not safe, and escapes into parties when not on duty. He reluctantly accepts Harald Walkowski as his new partner. He prefers unsuspicious cars, but they need to have a certain sportiness and clean, sharp styling. He is a skilled driver, although he rarely uses brute force, instead, he prefers solving the case the smart way. In season 1, he drove a dark blue Primus Merit 250tds, that took quite a beating but arrested a lot of people, so he recieved a Primus Merit 300 Avance for season 2 that was trashed in the dramatic finale.
Frank Batimus in action (Season 3 promo shot)
Kriminalkommissar Harald Walkowski
What you need to know about him
Walkowski, aged 40, is a descentant of factory workers and was raised in a rough environment. Since he became a victim of bullying in school for his poor origins, he developed a strong wish for justice, making him a patrolman. With tough work, he finally made it to an undercover cop assisting the inspectors. Since the local tire factory closed, his twin brother joined the force as Polizeimeister Jakob Walkowski.
Harald Walkowski is a tough cop on the outside with a soft spot on the inside. He is hot-hearted, and will try to follow his instincts at all cost. He dedicated his life to protecting the weaker, powerless victims of crimes. If that means he has to cause a mayhem just to get the baddies to court, so be it… Walkowski prefers tough and reliable cars with enough power for ramming speed, but they need to be nimble enough for pursuits. Since he was promoted at the season 2 finale to inspector, he now can expect something from his boss. In S02E10 he drove a Rigel Odiel that was destroyed.
Harald Walkowski (left) with his brother, season 3 promo shot
Kriminalkommissarin Sarah Maier
What you need to know about her
At age 24, she is now developing from the shy greenhorn to a tough lady. However, the kidnapping, with following torture of her and her boss and boss Sordel, who was brutally killed while saving her life, left painful scars on her body and soul. Haunted with demons constantly trying to break her, she struggles to get back on her feet, but wants to prove that women are as good as men in this male-dominated police force. Her dad was a well-decorated officer killed in action, and she would never want something else than being a cop just to make him look at her from above with pride. She prefers cars with a certain personality, she would never use a vehicle that just blends in anywhere. Something cool might cure her insecurities. Compared to the rather matter-of-fact Batimus and the rock-hard Walkowski, she is the lively person that gives the show some character.
Shot from S02E10
season 3 promo shot
Kriminalrat Bernd Schneider
What you need to know about him
Feeling responsible for the death of Rainer Sordel due to a poorly organized arrest, Dietrich Boehme takes full responsibility and goes into retirement, leaving the chair for a new boss. Bernd Schneider, aged 50, was promoted from the uniformed police force to this desk job, but refuses to take off his uniform he wears with pride. He stands behind his team and seems very competent at his job, but he does not step back from arguments and puts some pressure on the team when things get rough, however, he would never leave behind anybody.
He is rule-obedient and does not let slide a lot, but will despite this always keep his hand over Batimus and Walkowski when they cause trouble, since he trusts them a 100 %.
He prefers a prestigious and fast car, but in police livery. He will use it in a pursuit when his team needs his help, and unlike his predecessor, he hates being stuck at the desk, so it will be used to pursuit baddies from time to time.
Season 3 promo shot
SEASON 3 EPISODE GUIDE
If you like the setting and want to find out in which stories your car might be used, I provided a summary of all 10 episodes that have a dark humor and sometimes even absurdly sarcastic writing. TRIGGER WARNING: COPS DEAL WITH SOME MESSY STUFF, READ AT OWN RISK
Episode guide Season 3
S03E01 “You Need a Hand? - Part 1”
A van crashed after a tire burst, the driver fled the scene after trying to put the van on fire, but Jakob Walkowski watches this on patrol and came just in time. Frank Batimus and Harry Walkowski find a lot dead bodies inside - with missing organs that were taken for trade, obviously, sometimes even when the victims were alive. When Sarah Maier tries to arrest the owner of the vehicle, she was pushed off the rooftop, but survives by breaking both arms to catch the fall, other than that, she was very lucky.
S03E02 “You Need a Hand? - Part 2”
It was clear that the organ traders had help from a doctor. In hospital, Maier notices something suspicious and tries to collect proof against Dr. Joseph Heiter who seems to be the brain behind the organization.
Batimus and Walkowski finally managed to arrest the traders, and in a dramatic finale they saved Maier which was locked in an ambulance that was put in the car crusher…
S03E03 “Between Heaven and Heller”
The reverend Paulus Heller, working at the highway church near Berlau, was nailed on a cross, to let him pay for the sins. It turns out that Heller was a pimp - but treated his girls well and gave them a fair slice, which made the prostitutes rather working for him than for others. Walkowski investigates undercover as doorman, while Batimus tries to reveal the truth in clever interrogations. The pimp Rüdiger Fritsche finally loses control as he made a mistake in the interrogation, manages to captivate Batimus and escapes with a patrol car. But Kriminalrat Schneider follows them with a helicopter and alarms Walkowski, causing a giant mayhem in the city of Berlau.
S03E04 “Hasta la Pasta”
The restaurant owner Vittorio Morini is shot on the highway near Berlau, causing his Globus Grand Cruiser to crash into the center barrier and into oncoming traffic, killing many innocent people. Even the tough Walkowski is shocked by the scene, and Batimus, who speaks fluently Frunian, intrudes the Mafia undercover. Of course, this ends with a dramatic final chase.
S03E05 “Another One Bites the Bus”
Sarah Maier is back in duty and whitnesses the kidnapping of a bus that planned to go on a coffee tour. Inside the bus are seniors - while Maier follows the bus, Batimus finds out that all the seniors inside belonged to the SS and commited war crimes - so this is an act for revenge. This is a question of conscience - should they try to save the seniors or not?
In the end, they are police officers after all, and have to, but killing a grandchild of the many victims and letting the seniors go away leaves a sour taste.
S03E06 “Need for Feed”
A series of explosions at highway restaurants makes it obvious that blackmailing is in progress. Batimus, a passionate cook, works undercover, while Walkowski and Maier stir up the local suspects - after Batimus provided them with the results of his observations - and since they all have to disguise something, some wild chases are happening.
S03E07 “Tar and Feather”
Highway construction workers repair a road surface - and find bones in the tar. Examinations prove that the two victims were Tristan Zahn and Oliver Rolle, two crooks that disappeared in 1981, when this section of the highway was built. In this 15 year old case, Batimus and Walkowski run against a wall of silence, but when the two victims were hiding drugs in the woods near the A-2 highway, they must have withnessed something…
In the end, Batimus and Walkowski arrest two high-ranked members of the “Bald Eagles”, a drug-dealing motorbike club who executed their “Diablos” counterparts in 1981 and were withnessed by Rolle and Zahn.
S03E08 “Guns ´n´ Horses”
Bernd Schneider is upset: Young crash kids listening to loud rock music are going berserk on the highway with stolen luxury and sports cars, sometimes even firing guns at windows while almost running over half of Berlaus pedestrians with their 200 horsepower cars. Batimus gets the case as number one priority, and it seems suspicious that the kids are chosing to 75 percent a brand new and rather expensive Primus model.
In the end, it comes to the daylight that the Primus car dealer Waldemar Piontek hired the kids to sell more cars, since the insurance always pays…
S03E09 “Love Bites”
Batimus and Walkowski are alarmed - in one week, two truck drivers died after, eeh, being un-manned…
While absurd rumors of a “v…na dentata” circulate among frightenend truckers, prostitutes complain about severe loss of revenue, since the truckers are preferring their socks until the case is solved.
Psychologist Petra Liehr, known from former seasons, helps the team once again to find a woman going on a bloody vendetta after being harrassed by truckers when tramping through Hetvesia.
S03E10 “Give Me a Brake!”
Batimus visits a huge techno party, but a Rhania Hunter crashes into the building, ending fatal for the driver and three young people dancing where the car smashed in - the brakes were manipulated. The loner Traugott Scheuerlein lost his wife due to a bad surgeon, after she crashed her old Saarland after a lousy repair, after being scammed by the used car vendor. Scheuerlein is on a revenge tour - punishing everbody scamming others. The whole police force is at red alert - since more or less every business in Berlau is ran by scammers…
RULES
This is a challenge with a strong focus on design. Your cars need to represent the characters!!!
VERY HIGH
Design and fitting the character
HIGH
Value for money - the cars need to be credible as police cars. However, Kriminalrat Schneider can have something more expensive than a regular officer. Keep it sane.
MEDIUM
Reliability - the cars are driven very hard in the show, and since they need to last a whole season, they should better be tough.
Performance figures and sportiness - For a chase, having a chain with pedals linked to the axle might be a disadvantage. Among 1996 vehicles, the cars should not be low-performers.
LOW
Comfort - The highway patrol spends a lot of time in the car - don´t make it a prison cell!
Drivability - Highway patrolmen and women are highly trained professionals - and so are the stunt drivers, but they don´t want something handling like a hot potato.
RULES
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Naming convention:
Model and Family: CSCS1 - [your username and the character this car is for]
Trim and Variant: Free -
MODEL AND FAMILY: 1990-1996 model year, family year unrestricted
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TRIM AND VARIANT: 1996
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THREE WAY CONVERTER REQUIRED (as it was in the 90s)
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FUEL 95 RON PREMIUM (since this was the standard for higher performance German cars in the mid-90s).
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CARS MUST AT LEAST DRIVE 200 KPH TOP SPEED
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YOU ARE ALLOWED TO PRIOVIDE A CAR FOR EVERY CHARACTER, NOT ONLY ONE, IF YOU WANT - they can be different models
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AT LEAST FOUR (full) SEATS (I mean, dragging the arrested baddies with a rope attached to the rear bumper might be tempting, but illegal to human rights)
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Please no convertibles unless it REALLY fits the character.
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The techpool will be the regular +5.
Submissions are OPEN until 04.09.2023, 20:00 GMT+1
