The three question marks Justus, Peter and Bob have been inspiring amateur detectives big and small for over 40 years. During this time, some special episodes were published that made fans' hearts beat faster.
The three question marks: special episodes of the radio play series
The radio play world around “The Three ???” has accompanied puzzle lovers through life for many years. Due to the extensive success of the detective gang, a number of special publications have emerged over time that feature new, exciting concepts.
- Anniversary episodes: Every time the three sleuths reach a milestone, audio book publisher Europa releases particularly long episodes that last up to 5 hours. In the 100th episode, the focus is on the Island of the Dead, the 125th episode revolves around the fire moon and in the 150th episode the detectives go to Ghost Bay. In “Schatttenwelt”, number 175, the group faces a complicated case and in the latest anniversary episode number 200, “Fiery Eye”, the friends meet old acquaintances.
- Collector’s Edition: Not only the listeners have favorite episodes, but also the speakers. With the collector's edition, Oliver Rohrbeck, Jens Wawraczeck and Andreas Fröhlich present their core pieces. At the end of “The Carpathian Dog”, “Night in Fear” and “Voices from Nothing”, the voice actors talk about what they heard and give extraordinary insights into the world of radio plays. There is also a radio play version of “The Ghost Island” with a poster for the film and an interview with all three detectives.
- Live recordings: With their talent, the voice actors of the three question marks shouldn't just be banished to one studio. The radio play crew has been on tour regularly for some time and plays live in front of an audience. The programs so far have included “Master of Chess”, “Phonobia – Symphony of Fear”, “The Three ??? and the Strange Alarm Clock”, “The Three ??? and the Super Parrot” and most recently “The Three ?? ? and the dark Taipan”, of which no recordings are yet available.
- Short stories: For little time and exciting to amusing adventures, there are three short story episodes among the radio plays. In “The Three ??? and the Ghost Lamp” Juster, Peter and Bob quickly come up with the solution to the 12 cases. With “The Three ??? and the Zeitgeist” and “The Three ??? and the Black Day” two further short radio play episodes with 6 stories each are available. Finally, in “The Riddle of the Seven,” the professionals guess, well, how many riddles?
- Participation case: Although there are some stories in the written format that make you a detective accomplice, there is only one recorded guessing case in which you visit the “House of Horrors” together with the three question marks.
- Top Secret Edition: The Mitrate case about the House of Fear is the second part of the Top Secret cases, which were written by American authors around 1990, but were only published on the German and English-speaking markets in 2011. These are joined by “High Strung – Under High Voltage” and “Brain Wash – Captive Thoughts”.
- New recordings: There are two versions of the black cat, as well as the super parrot. Not only have recording techniques improved over the years, but errors have also emerged, some of which have been corrected in the revised episodes.
- Specials:“The Tomb of the Inca Mummy” was designed for 90-minute planetarium performances, as were “The Three ??? and the Tornado Chaser” and “The Three ??? and the Cold Eye.” These are joined by “The Three ??? and the Sunken Ship” and “The Three-Eyed Skull”. The new version about the “Black Cat” was also intended as an immersive radio play, while the “three day” stands on its own.
- Rocky Beach Radio Show: A rather short special episode musically accompanies the three detectives into the past for 18 minutes. Justus finds a box with old memories in the scrapyard and, along with pictures, finds some interesting pieces of music.
- Endless audio play: There is very special fan service for the record release parties, because there Oliver Rohrbeck speaks “The Three ??? and the Secret Stones” with spontaneously selected crime fans. Justus is looking for his friends and so far there seems to be no end to the mystery journey in sight. The episodes are available to download free of charge in the “Lauscherlounge”.
- Advent calendar: Even though Advent calendars are not normally common in America and therefore in Rocky Beach, listeners can enjoy audio adventures that can be heard within 24 days. “The Three ??? and the 5th Advent” as well as “Silent Night, Gloomy Night” turn Christmas into a crime scene.
- The Dr3i: When a legal dispute arose, the three friends were briefly called Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw and Bob Andrews. The 8 episodes that were created in this way can be seen as special episodes in themselves. However, there was also the guessing case in the “Hotel Luxury End” and a free mini radio play “Jupiter vs. Justus – The Dr3i give up”, in which Oliver Rohrbeck says goodbye to his character of Jupiter Jones.
- Audio books: Since the radio plays are based on books, it makes sense to read them out in full length. Not only the voice actors of the main characters made themselves available for this, but also well-known personalities such as Bastian Pastewka (“The Three ??? and the Green Ghost”) and Anna Thalbach (“The Three ??? and the Ghost Island”). The spokesman for Justus from the film series about the three detectives, Jannik Schümann, was allowed to introduce “The Three ??? and the Phantom Lake”.
The Three Question Mark Kids: Extraordinary radio play episodes
As the younger of the European publications, the recorded stories about the young detectives Justus, Peter and Bob are still limited in number. That's why there are hardly any special cases among the radio plays.
- Theater concept:“The Singing Spirit” was made into a play by the Hamburger Kammerspiele, among others. While you listen to the episode, you can think about how you would design such a play. Let your imagination run wild.
- Advent calendar: Similar to the original series, the kids want to take part in the magic of Christmas and investigate 24 days in Christmas land or the Christmas circus, face a Christmas thief during Advent and solve a puzzle in 24 days. The first of the Advent cases to listen to is simply called “Advent Calendar” and contains 24 guess cases.
Specially stored special volumes
In addition to special episodes, numerous authors created special volumes in the book series about the three question marks. Almost every special episode that appeared as a radio play was initially turned into a crime novel.
- Graphic Novel: Very few people know that the three question marks also investigate in comic format. In the “Village of the Devils” Justus, Peter and Bob are looking for a missing friend of the chauffeur Morton, while in “The Three ??? and the Three-Eyed Skull” they are on the trail of a mysterious tattoo. “The Ritual of the Serpents” also contains eerie and beautiful puzzles. “The Three ??? and the Ghost Castle” is also being retold as a graphic novel.
- Kids-Comics: The kids' volumes “Beach Pirates”, “Diamond Robbery”, “The Vikings are Coming” and “Beware, Criminals!” have also been published in picture format.
- Mitratefälle: If you want to get to work yourself, there is a lot to do in Rocky Beach. Cases like “Deadly Twist”, “Desert Fever” or “The Mystery of the Smart City” want you to read and of course solve them. There are even over 20 other hands-on books in the kids universe; including “The Secret Islands”, “Rocky Beach in Distress” and “The Secret Galaxy”.
- In Ratekrim: The kids' guessing crime novels are a little shorter than the guessing cases and have a slightly different structure. Instead of having to make a decision at the end of a chapter, these stories are short stories with a mystery at the end. The publications include volumes such as “The Horror Labyrinth”, “Wilde Crooks” and “Ghost Traces”.
- Advent calendar: Further stories for the Advent season were published for both the originals and the kids. “O du finstere” was created for the big ones, while works like “24 Days in the Ice”, “24 Days Among Pirates” and “24 Days King of Rocky Beach” were published for the little ones. Every year a new Advent volume is published in the Kids Universe.
- Bob's Archive: Anyone who is familiar with the three question marks knows that the detectives' cases must be recorded. The third detective is responsible for research and archives and presents the Marty Fielding case in a file system – including evidence.
- Top Secret Editions: We have already introduced you to the first of the top secret editions during the radio plays. A second Top Secret Edition contains other titles that have just been made public, such as “Shoot the Works – In the Visor” and “Savage Statue – Cruel Goddess”.
- Secret pages: With a little more effort, the closed works “The Three ??? and the Tomb of the Maya” and “The Three ??? and the Skull Bay” can be read. Each page must first be separated before it can be deciphered. This also brings to light maps and images that would otherwise remain hidden.
- Volumes in Latin: It is a bit of a challenge when another language comes into play. “The Curse of the Dragon” and the “Curse of Sheldon Street” were published in Latin and provided with sufficient vocabulary explanations so that they can be understood from the 3rd year of teaching.
- Manuals: In order to learn the craft of detectives, Kosmos-Verlag has put together some helpful tips for young sleuths. Over the years…