Volker Schlöndorff which cast her as both a terrorist and a prostitute. The newspaper is based upon the real right-wing German tabloid "Bild-Zeitung", whose publisher Axel Springer was the inspiration for the character Werner Tötges. In Schlöndorff's view, West Germany had fallen into political hysteria over the activities of the terrorist group the Red Army Faction. The police and journalistic activities in both Böll's novel and Schlöndorff's film portrayed the Red Army Faction era as reminiscent of McCarthyism in 1950s USA, including illegal police raids, phone tapping and tabloid smears. Alhough Böll was heavily attacked after the publication of the novel, both
The Red Hand Gang "The Red Hand Gang" was cancelled in November 1977 — not even halfway into the television season. The cancellation was partly due to its 12:30PM ET time slot, when many key affiliates tend to preempt NBC programming after 12 Noon ET for their own programming, especially college football. The series has often been broadcast in the United Kingdom, where it is considerably better known than in its home country. "The Red Hand Gang" was initially released on DVD in the U.K. only, on September 30, 2008 in its first ever retail release. A 2-disc DVD set was released on July