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Close to Home: Murder in the Coalfield

Maik Briegand had turned his back on his home in the center of Lower Lusatia, where his police career began before the fall of the Berlin Wall. But the LKA investigator returns to solve the murder of a young girl - and is once again confronted with colleagues from his former precinct, his failed marriage, his family and his past. Inspector Annalena Gottknecht does not want to be drawn into Briegand's old addictions. But the more the energetic investigator opens up to the local people and the brittle beauty of Lusatia, the greater her understanding for her colleague becomes. Like the huge shovels of the mining excavators that patiently remove layer after layer to extract the lignite from the earth, the two investigators dig themselves into the case, which ultimately leads them decades into the past - back to Maik Briegand's youth and a traumatic experience.

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Cast & Crew See All

Mišel Matičević
Maik Briegand
Odine Johne
Annalena Gottknecht
Marc Hosemann
André Pötschke

Season 1 Episode Guide See All

Episode 1

Tückische Erde

Wed, Mar 22, 202346 mins

A case calls LKA investigator Maik Briegand to Lauchhammer, the place of his childhood and youth in the Lusatia lignite mining area. Here he meets his new colleague Annalena Gottknecht. A mysterious girl murder was committed. The first traces point to a sexual offense. Briegand and Gottknecht find out that the victim, Ramona Schinschke, was involved in drugs and had contacts with the local gang that officially sells magazines. Annalena Gottknecht, who meticulously types every detail into her computer, to Briegand's initial amusement, is confronted with the secrecy and stubbornness of her colleague during the investigation. Briegand determines intuitively. Again and again he meets acquaintances from his past. He started out as a young police officer at the Lauchhammer police station. For some, he is still "Maiki", the younger son of the police officer Karl Briegand, who was dismissed early from the service after reunification. While researching the victim's environment, Annalena comes across catastrophic conditions: Ramona Schinschke's mother has become addicted to drugs, her little brother Dustin is neglected and left to his own devices after Ramona's death. Only police officer André Pötschke takes care of the family... Juri Schavadenov, the victim's friend and member of the gang of crooks, is increasingly becoming the focus of investigations. When Maik and Annalena want to question him, he withdraws in a spectacular way.

Where to Watch

Awards

  • 2023 - German Television Academy Award - Best Producer (Bester Produzent) - nominated
  • 2023 - German Television Academy Award - Best Cinematography (Beste Bildgestaltung) - nominated
  • 2023 - German Television Award - Best Cinematography Fiction (Beste Kamera Fiktion) - nominated
  • 2023 - German Television Award - Best Miniseries (Bester Mehrteiler) - nominated

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