''Es muss nicht immer Kaviar sein'' ("It Can’t Always Be Caviar") is a TV adaption of a novel of the same name by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

Johannes Mario Simmel Johannes Mario Simmel (7 April 1924 – 1 January 2009), also known as J. M. Simmel, was an Austrian writer. He was born in Vienna and grew up in Austria and England. He was trained as a chemical engineer and worked in research from 1943 to ...

. Directed by

Thomas Engel Thomas Carl Engel (19 November 1927 – 6 December 1979) was a New Zealand rower who won a silver medal at the 1950 British Empire Games. Biography Born in the Auckland suburb of Grey Lynn on 19 November 1927, Engel was the son of Ernest Car ...

Siegfried Rauch walks in the footsteps of O. W. Fischer who played the protagonist "Thomas Lieven" already in 1961, just one year after the

bestseller A bestseller is a book or other media noted for its top selling status, with bestseller lists published by newspapers, magazines, and book store chains. Some lists are broken down into classifications and specialties (novel, nonfiction book, cookb ...

had been released. The series is unique for providing a little cooking show at the end of each episode. The book also includes

recipe A recipe is a set of instructions that describes how to prepare or make something, especially a dish of prepared food. A sub-recipe or subrecipe is a recipe for an ingredient that will be called for in the instructions for the main recipe. His ...

s because "Thomas Lieven" is an accomplished amateur cook.

Plot

Thomas Lieven works as employee of an International bank in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. Occasionally he is the bank's courier for he is fluent in three languages: English of course, but also German and French. In 1939 he is again sent to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

but this time it is different because the

Gestapo The (), abbreviated Gestapo (; ), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe. The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of Prussia into one organi ...

arrests him. Thomas Lieven, a

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition or resistance to war, militarism (including conscription and mandatory military service) or violence. Pacifists generally reject theories of Just War. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaign ...

through and through, has no interest whatsoever to even toy with the thought to get entangled in spy business but the German

secret service A secret service is a government agency, intelligence agency, or the activities of a government agency, concerned with the gathering of intelligence data. The tasks and powers of a secret service can vary greatly from one country to another. For ...

doesn't take no for an answer. So he has to pretend compliance for the time being, just to be able to get home to England. But when he returns to London he gets arrested again, this time by English secret service. It is explained to him that it was his duty to become a double agent. Thomas Lieven is no

Eddie Chapman Edward Arnold Chapman (16 November 1914 – 11 December 1997) was an English criminal and wartime spy. During the Second World War he offered his services to Nazi Germany as a spy and subsequently became a British double agent. His British Sec ...

and the mere idea of having to go to

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

Germany another time seems to be unbearable. So he escapes to France, but is picked up by French secret service. Like German "

Major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

Loos" (

Herbert Fleischmann Herbert Fleischmann (1925–1984) was a German film and television actor.Goble p.429 He was married several times including to the actress Ruth Leuwerik. Partial filmography * '' Barbara'' (1961) as Gabriel * ' (1963) as Dr. Konetzki * ''Der Ka ...

) and British "Mr. Lovejoy" ( Rainer Penkert) also French "Captain Simeon" ( Erik Schumann) attempts to persuade Lieven that he ought to serve him. In the course of a mission in

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

he meets the small-time criminal "Bastian Fabre" (

Heinz Reincke Karl-Heinz Reincke (28 May 1925 – 13 July 2011) was a German-born actor, long-based in Vienna. Selected filmography Films *'' A Heart Returns Home'' (1956) - Besselmann *''Confessions of Felix Krull'' (1957) - Stanko *''Tolle Nacht'' (1957) ...

) who introduces him to his boss, an attractive lady called Chantal (

Marisa Mell Marisa Mell (born Marlies Theres Moitzi; 24 February 1939 – 16 May 1992) was an Austrian actress. Typecast as a femme fatale in European arthouse and genre films, she is best regarded for her performances as Eva Kant in Mario Bava's critically ...

). She falls for his

gentleman A gentleman (Old French: ''gentilz hom'', gentle + man) is any man of good and courteous conduct. Originally, ''gentleman'' was the lowest rank of the landed gentry of England, ranking below an esquire and above a yeoman; by definition, the ra ...

-like manners and his exquisite meals. That he she has in common with other ladies he will also acquaint during the adventures about to come: "Estrella" (

Nadja Tiller Nadja Tiller (born 16 March 1929 in Vienna, Austria) is an Austrian actress. She was one of the most popular German-speaking actresses of international films of the 1950s and 1960s. Biography Nadja Tiller, daughter of actor Anton Tiller of Vie ...

), "Yvonne" (Heidrun Kussin), "Jeanne" (Louise Martini) and eventually "Helen" (

Christiane Krüger Christiane Krüger (born 8 September 1945 in Hamburg, Germany) is a German actress. She is the daughter of actor Hardy Krüger. Selected filmography Cinema * '' Forty Eight Hours to Acapulco'' (1967) * ''The Man with the Glass Eye'' (1969) *'' ...

) who wants to recruit him for the American secret service. The series covers only the first half of the novel. The second half was never filmed.

Episode overview

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1977 German television series debuts 1977 German television series endings German-language television shows Films directed by Thomas Engel Espionage television series Cooking television series Television shows based on German novels Television remakes of films World War II television series ZDF original programming German spy television series