On the evening of 17 April, the winners for Germany’s biggest audience award for cinema and TV were announced in Hamburg. Awarded annually by Cinema magazine and TV Spielfilm in eleven categories, the awards celebrate audiences’ favourites from cinema, TV and streaming.

he creators of prime-time crime series Soko Leipzig, an UFA Fiction production for ZDF, had reason to celebrate. Producer Katharina Rietz, ZDF editor Kirsten Schönig and actors Melanie Marschke, Marco Girnth, Amy Mußul and Johannes Hendrik Langer accepted the award in the ‘Best national series’ category.

Katharina Rietz, Producer at UFA Fiction, says: “We are immensely proud and happy about the Jupiter Award! What could be better than receiving an award from your own audience! We would like to thank all viewers for their trust, their loyalty and the attention they give our series in such a unique way. The fact that Soko Leipzig appeals to and moves so many people motivates us and ZDF enormously for the coming season and is the greatest reward for all our colleagues in our fantastic team in front of and behind the camera.”

Soko Leipzig first aired 23 years ago under the title Soko 5113 and quickly became part of the prime-time evening slot due its great success. With an average audience share of 18.4 per cent, the latest season of the series set the highest record since the start of its broadcast. Every Friday evening, the 24th season of Soko Leipzig attracted 4.66 million viewers on average.

Ahead of the release of the 24th season, Producer Tanya Momella Mallory, commented on the two-decade success of the series: “Soko Leipzig makes it clear that the series dares to tackle political topics, which reflect the fate of humans and are always told in an emotional way. It is important for us to tell honest stories.”

Just a few days before the Jupiter Awards, filming for the 25th season began in Leipzig and the surrounding area. In the new season, the Soko investigative team once again has to deal with a variety of cases from kidnapping to break-ins and a series of murders.

The 25th season of Soko Leipzig is scheduled to air on ZDF from autumn 2024 to spring 2025.