Actor Carlo Ljubek becomes Munich “Tatort” detective

The actor Carlo Ljubek will be the new Munich “Tatort” commissioner: from 2026 he will be investigating as Chief Detective Nikola Buvak in the ARD series. This was announced by Bayerischer Rundfunk in the evening in Munich. Ferdinand Hofer will therefore remain on the Munich Homicide Squad as Chief Detective Kalli Hammermann. The first case is expected to be filmed at the end of 2025.

Ljubek follows in the footsteps of Miroslav Nemec and Udo Wachtveitl, who ran the Munich homicide squad as a duo for decades, as Commissioners Ivo Batic and Franz Leitmayr. According to BR, the two will be seen in “Tatort” five more times and then say goodbye to duty after exactly 100 cases together in the 2025/2026 “Tatort” season. The pair’s impending retirement had already been announced at the beginning of the year – a turning point in the history of the Sunday evening crime thriller.

Carlo Ljubek received his acting training at the Otto Falckenberg School in Munich. He then worked at the Cologne Theater and later at the Hamburg Schauspielhaus and at the same time began shooting for film and television. According to BR, he most recently played leading roles in the Netflix series “Sleeping Dogs” by Stephan Lacant and Francis Meletzky, in Caroline Link’s ZDF series “Safe” and in the film “Alle die du sind” by Michael Fetter Nathansky. He was also in the Munich crime scene once – in the 2024 episode “The Wunderkind”.

“Crime scene inspector in Munich, that is a great honor and a great challenge,” said Ljubek. He is also returning to one of his “so many homes”. When he was 16, he moved to Munich to live with his father, played football for TSV 1860 and later studied acting here. “I’m really looking forward to the city and this exciting journey.”

The responsible BR program area manager Bettina Ricklefs said: “We are very pleased to have won such an experienced and charismatic actor like Carlo for the role of the new chief inspector Nikola Buvak.” It is equally great that Ferdinand Hofer is ensuring continuity in the state capital. She is happy that the tradition of Croatian and Bavarian roots is being continued among the investigators.