Since 2016, the SOKO Köln team has been successfully led by Diana Staehly as Chief Detective Anna Maiwald. She leads her team with a steady hand and in a humorously confident manner. She is again assisted in 2018 by Detectives Matti Wagner (Pierre Besson), Jonas Fischer (Lukas Piloty), Vanessa Haas (Kerstin Landsmann), Lilly Funke (Tatjana Kästel) and forensic pathologist Dr. Philip Kraft (Thomas Clemens).
In the 17th season, there are plenty of exciting cases that take place in every imaginable milieu and in some unusual places. The team solves even the most complicated cases with finesse and a precise eye for seemingly insignificant details. But despite all the criminalistic flair, humor and fun are not neglected.
For the start of the new season, Sascha Thiel and Daniel Helfer take over the direction. The first four episodes feature Benjamin Kramme, Gerrit Klein, Robert Dölle, Mira Elisa Goeres, Linn Müller, Levin Liam, Leon Seidel, Morgane Ferru, Héloïse Godet, Karin Lischka, Werner Daehn, Annika Ernst, Karoline Teska, Thomas Niehaus, Peter Benedict and other actors.
The producers are Andrea Rullmann, Florian Strebin and Catrin Kauffmann. SOKO Köln is produced by Network Movie Köln, with Wolfgang Cimera as producer. The editorial staff at ZDF is Peter Jännert, Martin Neumann and Eva Klöcker.