Gender and the Youthification of German Television: Zeit der Geheimnisse and Generational Change in High-End TV Drama

The production of high-end television drama is booming in Germany. What is noticeable in these dramas are the representational changes as far as women are concerned: female characters are no longer relegated to the status of best friend or love interest but emerge as in charge of their own destiny. Examining these changes in the socio-political and historical context of Germany’s changing gender relations (for which Angela Merkel’s chancellorship was a turning point) as well as changing industrial practices in Germany, the chapter uses the case study of Zeit der Geheimnisse/ Holiday Secrets (Netflix, 2019) to trace how these representational changes have occurred. It argues that a combination of the interest of young adult German viewers in imported US TV dramas, the increasing transnationalisation of the German television industry, and a production context in which high-end television drama is treated as similar to cinema have encouraged and assisted the development of television drama that not only speaks to younger viewers, both within Germany and internationally, but also imagines women in ways that acknowledges the gender perspectives, aspirations, and increased agency felt by young adult German women today.