Right out of the gate, The Baantjer Mysteries met with tremendous success when it premiered on Dutch TV in 1995. Audiences in the Netherlands swooned. Finally, a cop show that wasn’t an import, spoken in Dutch and filmed in Amsterdam – totally home grown. Deregulation had created an opportunity for original programming, and given the wild success of A.C. Baantjers’s detective novels, it must have seemed a sure bet. Turned out it was, staying on the air for 12 seasons and a total of 123 episodes. Restrained language and its treatment of the criminal content kept it in the category of family entertainment, so it aired during prime time. Like so many cop shows from the ’90s, however, it’s formulaic. But in that predictability lays a lot of its charm – it’s like an old, well-known friend.

Detective Jurriaan de Cock heads up an investigative team located on the infamous Warmoesstraat in the center of Amsterdam and its red light district. He’s as unflashy as it gets, with a low-key manner, disheveled raincoat and a non-reactive way of thinking.  Competence has earned him the respect of his team, which consists of his assistant, Vledder, the computer wiz, Keizer, and level-headed detective, Vera Prins. The coroner is snooty and the boss appears oblivious to the quality of the work that de Cock and his team do on a daily basis. What more could you want in a cop show? It’s the perfect setup. Most episodes end with a flashback showing what happened at the scene of the crime, followed by a rehashing of the case by de Cock, his team and his wife around a roomy kitchen table.

The series is based on the bestselling books written by a A.C. Baantjer, who worked as a detective in Amsterdam for 27 years at the same police station depicted in The Baantjer Mysteries. His first de Cock novel came out in 1965, and he published 60 de Cock titles before his death in 2010. Approximately 23 of these are available in English from Speck Press. Reportedly, the books are very different from the television episodes in that they’re much more in-depth.

As different as the books are from the TV series, A.C. Baantjer spoke well of the program, and said he was extremely flattered when the idea for the show was presented to him. All he asked was that the de Cock character would remain unchanged from the books – no swearing, no shooting of guns (by de Cock) and no beating of suspects.  And Baantjer expressed great appreciation for Piet Römer in the role of de Cock. “Without him, the success of the show would not have been as great. Piet Römer is de Cock, just as I had him in mind when he first stepped foot in the Amsterdam City Center. He deserved the television awards that he has received for this role.” ~ https://www.baantjer.org/televisie/appieovertv.htm

The MHz Choice audience has taken to The Baantjer Mysteries, and if you want a break from blood, guts and edgy realism, check it out. Season 3 premieres May 2nd on MHz Choice.