In the late 1950s , Tappert started taking part in movie and television productions . His big breakthrough was in 1966 with the three-part television show '' Die Gentlemen bitten zur Kasse '' , in which he played train robber Michael Donegan . In 1968 , he changed sides by playing Scotland Yard detective Perkins in Edgar Wallace movies . When the second public television station in Germany , the ZDF , started planning a new mystery series with a different type of investigator in 1973 , he was chosen for the character of detective Stephan Derrick , with sidekick assistant Harry Klein ( played by Fritz Wepper )
train robber
Great Train Robbery (1963)
Horst Tappert