"Van der Valk Van der Valk is a British television series that was produced by Thames Television for the ITV network. It starred Barry Foster in the title role as Dutch detective Commissaris ""Piet"" (real name Simon) van der Valk. Based on the characters and atmosphere (but not the plots) of the novels of Nicolas Freeling, the first series was shown in 1972. The stories are mostly based in and around Amsterdam, where Commissaris van der Valk is a cynical yet intuitive detective. Drugs, sex and murder are among the gritty themes of the casework, contrasted against picturesque Amsterdam locations."
"Nicolas Freeling Nicolas Freeling (born Nicolas Davidson; 3 March 1927 – 20 July 2003), was a British crime novelist, best known as the author of the Van der Valk series of detective novels. A television series based on the character was produced for the British ITV network by Thames Television during the 1970s, and revived in the 1990s. Freeling was born in London, but travelled widely, and ended his life at his long-standing home at Grandfontaine to the west of Strasbourg. He had followed a variety of occupations, including the armed services and the catering profession. He began writing during"
"Mary van der Valk Maria Elisabeth van der Valk (born July 13, 1958) is a Dutch Children's literature and spirituality writer. She has written a series of children books for the 9-13 age group- In 2009, her book ""Dolfijnenmysterie in Mexico!"" (""Dolphin Mystery in Mexico!""), was the recipient of the Berlicum Children's Jury Award as the best children's book of the year. In 2016 she released her first thriller, 'De Lotsbestemming'. Van der Valk was born in Bloemendaal, Netherlands. Her formal training is in psychology and natural health care, receiving a degree. In 2005, she was approached by Uitgeverij De"
"their fingerprints via what is called a HAVANK number. Havank Havank, pseudonym of Hendrikus Frederikus (Hans) van der Kallen (February 19, 1904 – June 22, 1964), was a Dutch writer, journalist, and translator. He published over 30 crime novels and is considered one of the founding fathers of the Dutch detective genre. Van der Kallen was born in Leeuwarden and, under the pen-name of Havank, published over 30 crime-novels and stories, with as principal characters French police officers Bruno Silvère and Charles C.M. Carlier (the latter better known as ""De Schaduw"", ""the Shadow""). During World War II, Havank worked as"
"Havank Havank, pseudonym of Hendrikus Frederikus (Hans) van der Kallen (February 19, 1904 – June 22, 1964), was a Dutch writer, journalist, and translator. He published over 30 crime novels and is considered one of the founding fathers of the Dutch detective genre. Van der Kallen was born in Leeuwarden and, under the pen-name of Havank, published over 30 crime-novels and stories, with as principal characters French police officers Bruno Silvère and Charles C.M. Carlier (the latter better known as ""De Schaduw"", ""the Shadow""). During World War II, Havank worked as an editor, and occasionally as a war correspondent, for"
"was the spiritual tome ""Antwoorden Uit Het Licht"" (""Answers From The Light""), published in 2006. Since 2009, Ms. van der Valk has been writing a blog entitled ""Find Real Love"" about relationships. In December 2016 her first novel with paranormal thriller elements called : ""De Lotsbestemming"" was published. It is the first book of a series. Van der Valk has 3 children. She travels between the Netherlands and the United States. Currently Mary van der Valk is writing on a USA project for television. Mary van der Valk Maria Elisabeth van der Valk (born July 13, 1958) is a Dutch"
"a three-week prison sentence, after being convicted of taking home some veal from a restaurant where he worked, though this was common practice in the restaurant trade. Freeling got bored with writing Amsterdam detective, Van der Valk and killed him off in 1972 when he was shot whilst following up a rather unpromising lead. He refused to bring the detective back to life and wrote two novels where his widow Arlette was the detective. Then he started his second detective series, French Inspector, Henri Castang to revive his failing income, and some considered Castang superior to Van der Valk. Freeling's"
"A. C. Baantjer Albert Cornelis ""Appie"" Baantjer (16 September 1923 – 29 August 2010) was a Dutch author of detective fiction and police officer. He is mainly known for his large series of detective novels revolving around police inspector De Cock (also translated as DeKok) and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. The name of the protagonist simply means ""cook"" in Dutch, but has an unusual spelling which is at the heart of a running gag that involves De Cock spelling out his name every time he introduces himself to someone. The novels have spin-offs in the form of a motion picture"
"Herman van Veen Hermannus ""Herman"" Jantinus van Veen (born 14 March 1945) is a Dutch stage performer, actor, author, singer/songwriter and musician. In addition to performing internationally, he is famous as the creator of Alfred J. Kwak. The original one-man theatre show was adapted as a Dutch German Japanese cartoon, which was broadcast internationally. In addition to creating the show's story, Herman van Veen also wrote, as well as composed and performed, most of the show's music. He also performed the voice-overs for the characters Johan Sebastian Kwak, Krabnagel de Kater and Professor Paljas (""Professor Buffon"") in the Dutch and"
"Walter van den Broeck Walter Stefaan Karel van den Broeck (born 28 March 1941 in Olen) is a Belgian writer and playwright. He graduated as a teacher in Dutch and History (Lier), and he started his career as a teacher. In 1965, he founded the magazine ""Heibel"" with and . In 1974 he resigned as a teacher and became chief editor of ""Turnhout Ekspres"", and since 1979 he is a member of the editorial team of the ""Nieuw Vlaams Tijdschrift"". He became well known with his play ""Groenten uit Balen"" and the novel ""Brief aan Boudewijn"", which was succeeded by"
"large series of detective novels revolving around police inspector De Cock and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. Writer Jef Last lived on Urk for several years from 1932 onwards. He wrote several articles about Urk for one of the most progressive Dutch magazines, 'De Groene Amsterdammer'. While living here, he fell in love with a fisherman, and was inspired to write Zuiderzee. This novel deals with the love between two fishermen living on Urk and was one of the first, if not the first novel in Dutch literature to openly deal with homosexuality. The Dutch writer, painter and resistance hero Willem"
"Speck Press. De Cock's name has been translated as DeKok. There are approximately 23 of the 60 published Baantjer titles available in English. His books have also been translated into Spanish, French, Russian and Korean and Estonian. A. C. Baantjer Albert Cornelis ""Appie"" Baantjer (16 September 1923 – 29 August 2010) was a Dutch author of detective fiction and police officer. He is mainly known for his large series of detective novels revolving around police inspector De Cock (also translated as DeKok) and his side-kick, sergeant Vledder. The name of the protagonist simply means ""cook"" in Dutch, but has an"
"German versions of Alfred J. Kwak. Herman van Veen Hermannus ""Herman"" Jantinus van Veen (born 14 March 1945) is a Dutch stage performer, actor, author, singer/songwriter and musician. In addition to performing internationally, he is famous as the creator of Alfred J. Kwak. The original one-man theatre show was adapted as a Dutch German Japanese cartoon, which was broadcast internationally. In addition to creating the show's story, Herman van Veen also wrote, as well as composed and performed, most of the show's music. He also performed the voice-overs for the characters Johan Sebastian Kwak, Krabnagel de Kater and Professor Paljas"
"Hanco Kolk Hanco Kolk (born 11 March 1957, Den Helder) is a Dutch cartoonist and comics artist. He is best known for his collaborations with Peter de Wit, with whom he made ""Gilles de Geus"" and ""S1NGLE"". Kolk made his debut in the Dutch underground comics magazine ""Tante Leny presenteert!"". In 1980 he was one of the founders of ""Studio Arnhem"", a collective of comics artists and writers. After working anonymous for the magazine ""Donald Duck"" for several years he went to the magazine ""Eppo"", where he made the humoristic historical adventure comics series ""Gilles de Geus"" together with Peter"
"notable. The novel won the first prize at the European Science Fiction Convention in the Italian city Trieste. Paul van Herck Paul van Herck (19 May 1938 in Berchem – 19 June 1989) was a Belgian writer of science fiction novels and radio plays. Van Herck was a Dutch and French language teacher. He debuted with radio plays for the BRT but became most well known for making plays for the Dutch TROS of which his series about space reporter and NASA astronaut ""Matt Meldon"" was the most famous. Apart from his radio plays he wrote many science fiction novels"
"Mystery Magazine"" and ""The Humanist"". Robert van Scoyk Robert van Scoyk (January 13, 1928 – August 23, 2002) was a television writer, producer and story editor active during the Golden Age of Television from the late 1940s until the late 1990s. Beginning in New York and moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s, his credits included ""The Virginian"", ""Banacek"", ""Young Maverick"", ""Flying High"", ""Rafferty"", ""Ellery Queen"" and ""Murder, She Wrote"". In 1979 Robert van Scoyk received an Edgar Allan Poe Award for the Columbo episode ""Murder Under Glass"". Born in Dayton, Ohio, to Robert Van Scoyk and Gertrude Wardlow, he"
"and the commissaris first appeared in the novel ""Outsider in Amsterdam"". The novels (in internal chronological order) are as follows: A complete anthology of short stories, ""The Amsterdam Cops: Collected Stories"", was published in 1999, replacing the earlier anthology ""The Sergeant's Cat and Other Stories"". Janwillem van de Wetering Jan Willem Lincoln ""Janwillem"" van de Wetering (February 12, 1931 in Rotterdam – July 4, 2008 in Blue Hill, Maine) was the author of a number of works in English and Dutch. Van de Wetering was born and raised in Rotterdam, but in later years he lived in South Africa, Japan,"
"Jan Stoeckart Jan Stoeckart (3 November 1927, Amsterdam – 13 January 2017) was a Dutch composer, conductor, trombonist and former radio producer, who often worked under various pseudonyms such as Willy Faust, Peter Milray, Julius Steffaro and Jack Trombey. In the UK he is best known for his composition ""Eye Level"", the theme tune to the ITV series ""Van der Valk"", which was a number one on the UK singles chart in 1973. He also composed ""Homeward Bound"", a theme from the film ""Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975)"", under the pseudonym Jack Trombey. Jan Stoeckart took piano and"
"range of TV series and made-for-television movies, equally at home with comedy, Western, musical comedy, melodrama, medical drama, mystery and detective genres. In 1979 van Scoyk received an Edgar Allan Poe Award from the Mystery Writers of America for the Columbo episode ""Murder Under Glass"", starring Peter Falk and Louis Jourdan. He is perhaps best remembered for his involvement as writer, producer, executive producer and/or story editor for such shows as ""The Virginian"", ""Banacek"", ""Young Maverick"", ""Flying High"", ""Rafferty"", ""Ellery Queen"" and, for the 12 years of its 1984-96 run and after, ""Murder, She Wrote"". In fact for his work"
"phrased it in his introduction to ""Outsider in Amsterdam"") lent authenticity to his works of fiction and nonfiction. Van de Wetering was awarded the French Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in 1984, for his novel ""Maine Massacre"". Janwillem van de Wetering was particularly noted for his detective fiction, his most popular creations being Grijpstra and de Gier, a pair of Amsterdam police officers who figure in a lengthy series of novels and short stories. Most of the mysteries are rich with images from Amsterdam, where most of them take place; some also feature a cat: in earlier novels, one named"
"the tetralogy ""Het beleg van Laken"". In 2010 he wrote the script for a comic book by Reinhart. Walter van den Broeck Walter Stefaan Karel van den Broeck (born 28 March 1941 in Olen) is a Belgian writer and playwright. He graduated as a teacher in Dutch and History (Lier), and he started his career as a teacher. In 1965, he founded the magazine ""Heibel"" with and . In 1974 he resigned as a teacher and became chief editor of ""Turnhout Ekspres"", and since 1979 he is a member of the editorial team of the ""Nieuw Vlaams Tijdschrift"". He became"
"Oliver; in later novels, a female named Tabriz. He also wrote stories for children and nonfiction works. He usually wrote in Dutch and then in English; the two versions often differ considerably. Adjutant-Detective Henk Grijpstra and Detective-Sergeant Rinus de Gier, along with their never-named elderly superior, the commissaris, are the most popular creations of Janwillem van de Wetering. They are police detectives in the Murder Brigade of the Amsterdam Municipal Police, and are featured in more than a dozen detective novels and several short stories published in ""Ellery Queen's Mystery Magazine"" and ""Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine"". Grijpstra, heavy, middle-aged, and"
"Willem van den Hout Wilhelmus Henricus Maria van den Hout ('s-Hertogenbosch, June 3, 1915 – Den Haag, February 24, 1985) was a Dutch writer and publicist, best known as the writer (under the pseudonym Willy van der Heide) of the Bob Evers series of children's books. Van den Hout lost his credentials as a journalist after World War II for having collaborated with the Nazi propaganda machine, but gained commercial success with the Bob Evers series. He also used the pseudonyms Willy Waterman, Willem W. Waterman, Sylvia Sillevis, Victor Valstar, Victor H. Huitink, Joke Raviera, Zsa Zsa Ferguson and C.B."
"Siegfried Woldhek Siegfried Woldhek (born May 14, 1951) is a Dutch artist and illustrator. He was the CEO of the Dutch branch of World Wildlife Fund. And he is the founder of the non-profit organization Nabuur. In a 2008 four-minute Ted Talk he explains how he - as an experienced portraitist himself - discovered the true face of Leonardo da Vinci. Woldhek is mostly known for the numerous portraits and caricatures of writers and politicians he made since 1976 for books, magazines, newspapers and museum collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York City and The New York"
"Paul van Herck Paul van Herck (19 May 1938 in Berchem – 19 June 1989) was a Belgian writer of science fiction novels and radio plays. Van Herck was a Dutch and French language teacher. He debuted with radio plays for the BRT but became most well known for making plays for the Dutch TROS of which his series about space reporter and NASA astronaut ""Matt Meldon"" was the most famous. Apart from his radio plays he wrote many science fiction novels of which ""Sam, of de Pluterdag"" (translated in English as ""Where were you last Pluterday?"") was the most"
"Smiled"". In the final TV series, the theme was played at a slightly faster tempo than previously. ""Amsterdam Affair"", a less-known British film featuring the character, was made in 1968; it features German actor Wolfgang Kieling in the main role. ""Because of the Cats"" (1973) is a Dutch/Belgian co-production, starring British actor Bryan Marshall as Van der Valk. There was also a Franco-German co-production series of made-for-TV movies starring Frank Finlay in the title role. The French series title was ""Pas de frontière pour l'inspecteur"". ""Van der Valk und das Mädchen"" (""Le milieu n'est pas tendre"") (based on the novel"
"Robert van Scoyk Robert van Scoyk (January 13, 1928 – August 23, 2002) was a television writer, producer and story editor active during the Golden Age of Television from the late 1940s until the late 1990s. Beginning in New York and moving to Los Angeles in the 1960s, his credits included ""The Virginian"", ""Banacek"", ""Young Maverick"", ""Flying High"", ""Rafferty"", ""Ellery Queen"" and ""Murder, She Wrote"". In 1979 Robert van Scoyk received an Edgar Allan Poe Award for the Columbo episode ""Murder Under Glass"". Born in Dayton, Ohio, to Robert Van Scoyk and Gertrude Wardlow, he wrote for local radio before"
"Brian Jacques James Brian Jacques (, as in ""Jakes""; 15 June 1939 – 5 February 2011) was an English writer, best known for his ""Redwall"" series of novels and ""Castaways of the Flying Dutchman"" series. He also completed two collections of short stories entitled ""The Ribbajack & Other Curious Yarns"" and ""Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales"". Brian Jacques was born in Liverpool on 15 June 1939. His parents were James Alfred Jacques, a haulage contractor, and Ellen Ryan. Jacques' father, James, was born in Liverpool in 1907. His parents, Thomas Jacques and Ada Smith, moved to Liverpool from the St"
"Hercule Poirot Hercule Poirot (, ; ) is a fictional Belgian detective, created by Agatha Christie. Poirot is one of Christie's most famous and long-lived characters, appearing in 42 novels, one play (""Black Coffee""), and more than 50 short stories published between 1920 and 1975. Poirot has been portrayed on radio, in film and on television by various actors, including Austin Trevor, John Moffatt, Albert Finney, Peter Ustinov, Ian Holm, Tony Randall, Alfred Molina, Orson Welles, David Suchet, Kenneth Branagh and John Malkovich. Poirot's name was derived from two other fictional detectives of the time: Marie Belloc Lowndes' Hercule Popeau"
"Jan van Aken (writer) Jan van Aken (Herwen en Aerdt, August 9, 1961) is a Dutch writer, who worked in the cultural sector and in automation. He is currently a professor at the Schrijversvakschool in Amsterdam. He has written the following historical novels: This writer's first three books take place before the Early Modern Period. ""Het oog van de basilisk""'s protagonist is Epiphanius Rusticus in the aftermath of the Roman Empire, while ""De valse dageraar"" is about Hroswith van Wikala in the Middle Ages, during the first millennium. The third novel ""De dwaas van Palmyra"" takes place in the 1st"
"Simon de Waal Simon de Waal (born in Amsterdam in 1961) is a Dutch writer. He has specialized in television and film scripts, he won the ""Golden Calf"" in 2000 (grand prize for the Netherlands Film), for best screenplay for the film ""Leak"".""Leak"" also won best film, best director and best actor, and several international awards, making it one of the most successful Dutch films. Several of the series he wrote, were either nominated or awarded with prizes for best television series in the Netherlands, for instance Unit 13, Bureau Kruislaan and Baantjer. Baantjer won the 'Golden Televizier Ring' for"
"Eye Level Eye Level is a 1972 single by the Simon Park Orchestra. It was produced originally for the De Wolfe Music Library and selected by Thames Television to be the theme tune for their Netherlands based detective series, ""Van der Valk"". The work was originally intended as library music, and was loosely based on a German/Dutch nursery rhyme called ""Jan Hinnerk"" (in German) or ""Catootje"" (in Dutch), which in its turn took a melody line from Mozart's ""Le Nozze di Figaro"". Dutch composer Jan Stoeckart adapted the original tune and wrote a new top line under the name of"
"Hendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel Hendrik Laurenszoon Spiegel (11 March 1549 – 4 January 1612) was one of the most important writers and thinkers from Amsterdam in the second half of the sixteenth century. Spiegel was born in Amsterdam and is seen as a forerunner to the Golden Age of Vondel, Hooft and Huygens. He is the strongest candidate for the unknown author of the first book on Dutch grammar, the Twe-spraack (""Twe-spraack vande Nederduitsche letterkunst""), which appeared in 1584. (In the past it was thought to be by his friend, Dirck Volckertszoon Coornhert.) He was a rederijker and founding member of"