"Hi, guys! Look what a wobbly thing I'm standing on," Tobias Krell greets the viewers of "Checker Tobi". He himself is standing on a "Stand Up Paddling" board, a kind of surfboard on which you stand and move around with a paddle. He then says that this is the white water check and steers towards a current.
What is "Checker Tobi"?
"Checker Tobi" is one of three "Checker" series on BR and KiKa. Like Willi Weitzel on "Willi will's wissen" in the 2000s, the checkers go on a discovery tour in a wide variety of areas. For example, there are checks on technology and work, such as the train check, on scientific topics, such as the AI or intelligence check, on hobbies and leisure, such as the above-mentioned white-water check or the camping check, and on social topics, such as the prison check and the family check. Besides Tobi, there is also "Checker Can" and the new Checker "Checker Julian".
In addition, there are the formats "cheXperiment" for experiments, "cheXpedition" on the topic of climate change and environmental pollution and once a week "CHEX! Die Checker Web-Show" with child-friendly explanations of current topics. In 2019, the series even got a cinema film with "Checker Tobi and the Secret of our Planet".
The programme as well as the supplementary formats can be watched on the YouTube channel "CHECKER WELT".
How does an episode go?
An episode always has three central questions on the respective topic, which are clarified in more detail during the programme, the so-called "checker questions". In the case of the white water check, these are: "What is an eskimo roll?", "When does water become wild?" and "What is Stand Up Paddling?".
As soon as one of these questions has been answered, it is mentioned again and the answer is summarised in a few sentences.
The topics are usually explained by experts to whom Tobi goes and asks them questions. Sometimes, however, Tobi explains things himself. This is done either by discussing what an expert is showing or demonstrating to him or Tobi is in the studio and uses graphics there.
In addition, there is the participation question. This question comes in the course of the programme and serves as a kind of additional learning objective. The answer to this question occurs in the course of the programme, but is not then explicitly marked as the answer that is being sought. This only happens at the end of the programme when the answer is given.
Why is "Checker Tobi" recommendable?
"Checker Tobi" is a knowledge programme recommended for children as well as for interested adults. The topics are selected in a way that is suitable for children, but are explained at a level that is also appealing to adults.
Tobias Krell plays the role of an interested adult. He is neither too unknowing and childish for adults, nor too all-knowing and serious for children.
