Farewell to TV detective Jan Maybach: after almost 25 years, actor Marco Girnth is leaving the Friday evening crime series "SOKO Leipzig" on ZDF. "Passing the age of 50 does something to you," he told the German Press Agency. "You take stock and discover many things that you might have wanted to do in your life. But now I'm already 55 years old and if I want to change something again, it has to happen now."
First East German "SOKO" spin-off
Since the first episode "Flucht nach Fahrplan" in January 2001, Girnth has been part of the permanent ensemble of what was then the first East German "SOKO" spin-off. He appeared in more than 500 episodes as Jan Maybach - initially alongside Andreas Schmidt-Schaller, later with Melanie Marschke, Amy Mußul and Johannes Hendrik Langer. "I'm not leaving with a light heart, but after more than 500 episodes (...) the time had come." This month marks the end of "SOKO" filming for him. He will still be seen in several episodes in the upcoming 26th season.
The series has grown a lot over the two and a half decades, said the 55-year-old. "We switched from the previous evening to the main evening back in 2003/2004, which opened up completely different possibilities in terms of storytelling."
