Flikken (Belgian Dutch for "Cops") was a popular Flemish-Belgian TV series about a police-department located in Ghent. The show started in 1999 and ended on 19 April 2009. In the series, a team of six police officers solved various crimes, petty crimes as well as organised crime. The series always aimed at showing the policework in a realistic way—though a little personal drama was never far off. Of all the actors that came along during the ten seasons, only Mark Tijsmans (playing Wilfried Pasmans) and Ludo Hellinx (playing Raymond Jacobs) appeared throughout the entire series.

Flikken
DVD box cover of season 1
Also known asFlikken Gent
GenreDrama
Police
Created byPierre De Clercq
Erwin Provoost
Written byPierre De Clercq
Charles De Weerdt
Rik D'Hiet
Carl Joos
Kees Vroege
Directed byDirk Corthout
Rik Daniëls
Tom Goris
Peter Rondou
Etienne Vervoort
Country of originBelgium
Original languageDutch
No. of seasons10
No. of episodes127
Production
ProducerLudo Busschots
Production locationGhent
Original release
NetworkEén (VRT)
Nederland 1 (TROS)
Release17 October 1999 (1999-10-17) –
19 April 2009 (2009-04-19)
Related
Flikken Maastricht
Flikken Rotterdam

Flikken was produced by the VRT and broadcast on Belgian public channel Eén and TROS in the Netherlands. Flikken is very popular in Belgium and the Netherlands. The show has had very high ratings of up to 1.8 million viewers during the last (10th) season.[1]

Every year the VRT organises the Flikkendag, a family day where the public can meet the actors of the show. There are many games, demonstrations of the real police and other safety organisations and performances of singers (including some of the actors on the show). On 18 April 2009, a special farewell party was organised in Ghent, in which the actors and crew said goodbye to their fans - thousands had assembled to watch the show on stage.

In the Netherlands a spin-off Flikken Maastricht runs from 2007. A second spin-off, called Flikken Rotterdam, was first broadcast in 2016. Both series are still running to this day.[2]

Media adaptations

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In 2005 a video game came out based on the series, Flikken game - De Achtervolging. It received bad reviews for its "unflashy" style.[3]

A second video game, Flikken Game 2: Moord in Hotel Ganda, was released in 2007. The game is a localised version of the 2006 Swedish game Dollar, written by crime writer Liza Marklund.[4]

In 2010 the TV series was adapted into an action comic, written by Zaki Dewaele and drawn by Michaël Vincent.[5]

Episode

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Season No. of
episodes
Runtime Belgium Runtime Netherlands Script
1 13 1999 - 2000 2001 Pierre De Clercq
2 13 2000 - 2001 2002 Pierre De Clercq
3 13 2001 2003 Pierre De Clercq (episode 32 Wim Danckaert)
4 13 2002 2004 Pierre De Clercq (episode 43, 47, 49 Hilde Pallen)
5 13 2003 2005 Rik D'hiet & Hilde Pallen & Carl Joos
6 13 2004 2006 Rik D'hiet & Hilde Pallen & Carl Joos & Geert Bouckaert & Frank de Bruyn
7 13 2005 - 2006 2007 Charles De Weerdt & Rik D'hiet & Carl Joos & Johan Heselmans & Geert Bouckaert
8 13 2007 2008 Rik D'hiet
9 13 2008 2011 Carl Joos (episode 105 Pierre De Clercq, episode 112 & 113 Charles De Weerdt)
10 10 2009 2011 Pierre De Clercq & Carl Joos & Charles De Weerdt & Kees Vroege & Rik D'hiet

Cast

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The cast of Flikken in 2009
  Main
  Guest
  Recurring
  Other person
  Not in series

Main

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Actor Personage Season
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ludo Hellinx Raymond Jacobs Main
Mark Tijsmans Wilfried Pasmans Main
Andrea Croonenberghs Britt Michiels Main 5 1
Axel Daeseleire Ben Vanneste Main 4 1
Joke Devynck Tony Dierickx Main 1
Cahit Ölmez Selattin Ateş Main
Hubert Damen Daniël Deprez Main
Wim Danckaert Kris Geysen 6 Main 3 1 5
Katelijne Verbeke Nadine Vanbruane Main 5 4
Maarten Bosmans Bruno Soetaert Gerrit Main 2
Werner De Smedt Nick Debbaut † Main
Ann Ceurvels Sofie Beeckman † Main 5
Jo De Meyere John Nauwelaerts Main
Rebecca Huys Merel Vanneste 35 Main 2
Tine Van den Brande Lieselot Winter 18
Boudewijn de Groot Robert Nieuwman Main
Tania Kloek Tina Demeester 3
Ianka Fleerackers Emma Boon Nathalie Mouton 12 Main
Pascale Michiels Cat Reyniers Roos Diepenbeek 12 Main
Roel Vanderstukken Michiel Dewaele 8 Main

Recurring

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Actor Personage Season
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Kadèr Gürbüz Mihriban Ates 27
Margot de Ridder Dorien De Bondt 20  
Hugo van den Berghe Taverniers 7  
Veerle Malschaert Carla Desseyn   45
Wim van der Grijn Sam de Groot   6  
Bert Cosemans Johan Van Lancker Patrick Levie   16  
Rik Geuns Simon Van Lancker   13  
Danny Timmermans Dominique De Leeuw   14
Pierre Callens Anthony Van Reeth   3   3  
Bart Slegers Tommy De Smit   9  
Karin Tanghe Marianne Van Dijck   Lieve Mertens 25
Jonathan Raman Rik Jacobs   7  
Michael De Cock Jan Beele   Olivier Cools   11
Mathias Sercu Staf Demotte Dany De Volder   19

References

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  1. ^ "20 jaar na 'Flikken': zo gaat het nu met de acteurs uit de reeks". hln.be/ (in Dutch). 17 October 2019.
  2. ^ "Flikken Rotterdam: zevende seizoen gaat in september van start bij de NPO". bnnvara.nl/ (in Dutch). 17 August 2023.
  3. ^ "Computerspel Flikken is minder flitsend dan de serie". Het Nieuwsblad (in Dutch). Retrieved Jun 27, 2021.
  4. ^ Graeve, Frank De (2007-11-29). "Tweede Flikken-game is voer voor puzzelaars". TechPulse Business (in Dutch). Retrieved 2022-06-09.
  5. ^ "Michael Vincent". lambiek.net. Retrieved Jun 27, 2021.
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