Butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantry. Some a ...

Parker is a fictitious British character who was, despite his ostentatious

Britishness British national identity is a term referring to the sense of national identity, as embodied in the shared and characteristic culture, languages and traditions, of the British people. It comprises the claimed qualities that bind and disting ...

, created by a German

pulp fiction ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Ving Rhame ...

author and became eventually the protagonist of a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

Author

Butler Parker was the brainchild of the very successful and productive author Günther Dönges (1923–August 2001) who often used Anglo-Saxon aliases due to the in Germany widespread opinion that only Anglo-Saxons could write entertaining good crime stories.

Protagonist

Butler Joshua Parker worked for different employers who would leave him a lot of freedom. However, Butler Parker would always be the main character who cracked the cases and sometimes protected or even rescued his employers. He had a steel-strengthened

bowler hat The bowler hat, also known as a billycock, bob hat, bombín (Spanish) or derby (United States), is a hard felt hat with a rounded crown, originally created by the London hat-makers Thomas and William Bowler in 1849. It has traditionally been worn ...

and his

umbrella An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is usually mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is designed to protect a person against rain or sunlight. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used ...

could be used to shoot arrows. Moreover, he drove a classic London taxi which was equipped with a variety of stunning

gadget A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develo ...

Novels

Jerry Cotton Jerry Cotton is the fictional character in a series of pulp magazine-type crime novels. The novels have been written by many different writers in German-speaking countries and in Finland over the course of several decades. Overview The novels ...

Joshua Parker had an obviously English name and drove an English car. (Although Parker had a traditional London taxi, jam-packed with amazing

gadgets A gadget is a mechanical device or any ingenious article. Gadgets are sometimes referred to as '' gizmos''. History The etymology of the word is disputed. The word first appears as reference to an 18th-century tool in glassmaking that was develo ...

instead of a

Jaguar E-Type The Jaguar E-Type, or the Jaguar XK-E for the North American market, is a British sports car that was manufactured by Jaguar Cars Ltd between 1961 and 1974. Its combination of beauty, high performance, and competitive pricing established the m ...

) Both heroes had their first appearances in publications of the publishing house

Bastei The Bastei is a rock formation rising 194 metres above the Elbe River in the Elbe Sandstone Mountains of Germany. Reaching a height of 305 metres above sea level, the jagged rocks of the Bastei were formed by water erosion over one million years ...

. But eventually Günter Dönges changed the publisher and took "Butler Parker" with him. Between 1953 and 1992 more than 600 novels were released by Bastei, Pabel and later on by Zauberkreis. In the beginning Butler Parker was in the service of an old lady but later on he had an American boss called Mike Rander. The TV shows him working for Mike Rander (Eckart Dux).

TV show

Since the novels about Butler Parker were very successful and another fictitious British pulp fiction hero (

Percy Stuart Percy Stuart is a German TV series (1969–1972). Synopsis Percy Stuart tried to fulfill his father's last wish by becoming a member of his father's English club and in order to get accepted he has to prove that he is worthy. Since some of the ...

) had already been adapted for the TV screen with huge success, the idea of a TV series about Butler Parker seemed to suggest itself. But it lasted only for 26 shows. Still the short life of his TV presence didn't diminish the ongoing success of the novels.

Home media

The TV series was digitally remastered and released on DVD in 2010, and some of Butler Parker's adventures have been released as

audiobook An audiobook (or a talking book) is a recording of a book or other work being read out loud. A reading of the complete text is described as "unabridged", while readings of shorter versions are abridgements. Spoken audio has been available in sc ...

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0068055, title=Butler Parker
Website dedicated to Butler Parker
(German only)
Website on audio books featuring Butler Parker
(German only) Crime fiction Detective fiction Television shows based on German novels German drama television series 1972 German television series debuts 1973 German television series endings Television shows set in the United Kingdom German-language television shows Das Erste original programming