A new TV show airing now on RAI has made headlines across the world as it has reimagined the former German chancellor, Angela Merkel, as a sleuth living in Italy.
Aptly titled Miss Merkel, the show is a take on the many TV adaptations of Agatha Christie’s iconic Miss Marple. It kicked off with the episode called Death at the Castle, with the general premise of the show revolving around the fact that the retired politician, bored with her new life, chooses to move to Italy and take on crime detection as her new career of choice.
While this may seem like a random leap for a person who was once one of the world’s most powerful politicians, Merkel actually holds a doctorate in chemistry, which certainly comes in handy when she’s solving crime.
The character of Ms Merkel is played by Katharina Thalbach, a celebrated German actress. In the show, she flaunts Merkel’s signature cropped hair and collarless jackets, and, much like the actual Angela Merkel, she tends to roll her eyes a lot, especially in the face of silliness. Unlike the real-life Merkel, however, who is deathly afraid of dogs, the fictional one also has a pug called Helmut for a companion.
In an even weirder series of events, the trailer generated so much discussion that Amanda Knox, who was wrongly convicted of the death of Meredith Kercher, actually posted on X asking, “Where were you when I needed you, Angela?”
It is uncertain how many episodes the show will have or when it will air in other parts of the world, including in Malta. Even so, we’re sure it will be quite the event once it does land on our shores!
