From Joe Belanger of the London Free Press:
Link: Ex-Londoner Chris Potter has forged a long, successful career in TV
Almost 30 years later and Chris Potter still doesn’t know for certain where he’ll find his next gig.
That’s a simple truth about the entertainment business — but one the former Londoner hasn’t had much to worry about since quitting his job as an insurance salesman to take an acting job. Continue reading.Â
Last Monday, we got our first look at Frankie Drake Mysteries on CBC. In a word: we loved it. It really is the perfect companion to Murdoch Mysteries though lighter in tone and featuring—count ’em—four kick-butt ladies doing the crime solving.
Last week’s “Mother of Pearl,” was spent giving us a bit of Frankie’s backstory, so we were hoping to get some info on Flo, Trudy and Mary in Monday’s new instalment. Here’s what the CBC has revealed about the storyline for “Ladies in Red,” written by Cal Coons and directed by Ruba Nadda:
Frankie and Trudy are hired by a factory owner to root out communists at his plant, but things soon take an explosive turn.
And here are some additional tidbits after watching a screener.
Flo is fabulous
We’re already in love with Sharron Matthews’ portrayal of Flo. She’s saucy, smart and unapologetic and is a hit with the menfolk. When Frankie and Trudy catch up with her on Monday, she’s in the middle of chatting up a passing fellow and has some laugh-out-loud evidence on Frankie and Trudy’s latest case.
It’s the 1920s so…
… Frankie and Trudy carry guns. That’s a major change from fellow Monday night partner Det. William Murdoch, though at least the coppers at Station No. 4 get to carry billy clubs. Good thing too, because Frankie’s major case involves the Bolsheviks, going undercover and a truly explosive scene. As for Mary, she’s very interested in science and has an inquisitive mind; perhaps she’s inherited that from her father, whom we have yet to meet. Any guesses as to who he may be?
Frankie rides a motorbike
Reason No. 25 why we’re enamoured in this show already.
Paul Amos and Karen Robinson guest star
Amos, who starred on Lost Girl and appeared on Murdoch Mysteries, drops by as Mr. Richard Scanlon, a factory manager. Robinson, who is so great as Ronnie on Schitt’s Creek, plays Trudy’s mother Mildred Clarke.
Franke Drake Mysteries airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC.
Images courtesy of CBC.
I have some catching up to do! I thought I knew all of the main players on Heartland, but Sunday’s new episode brings back faces fans haven’t seen in years.
Here’s what the CBC says about this week’s instalment, “Our Sons and Daughters,” written by Mark Haroun and directed by Chris Potter:
When some old friends return to Hudson on vacation, Amy tries to teach them about the life-changing power of connecting to a horse, in order to help them cope with parenting struggles. Meanwhile, Georgie gets invited on a road trip, but it might not be everything she hoped for. And with Lou back in New York, Peter takes care of Katie, but worries when she doesn’t come home from a trail ride. Then, Jack and Lisa receive an unexpected housewarming gift.
And here are some non-spoilery bits we can reveal after watching a sneak preview.
Peter, Jack and a strange work of art
I love it when Jack is allowed to show his sarcastic, comedic side and he gets to do that alongside Peter this week. Speaking of Peter, he has his hands full taking care of Katie while Lou is away and is crushed when he overhears a conversation between his ex-wife and daughter.
Cara Pifko returns
I haven’t seen Cara Pifko since she co-starred on CBC’s excellent This is Wonderland and had no clue she’d previously appeared on Heartland as Mackenzie Hutton. Well, she’s back—alongside hubby Ian (Gord Rand)—and has some key news to share with Amy and the rest of the family.
Wyatt + Georgie
Dempsey Bryk has been a welcome addition to Heartland and his Wyatt looks cute as a button next to Georgie. After singing her that sweet song last week things can only get better for the pair, right?
Drones rock
Drones with cameras mounted on them have become all the rage in television production and Sunday’s episode begins with a sweeping overhead shot of the dude ranch that is simply breathtaking. Drones also help with a key piece of storytelling later in the episode.
Heartland airs Sundays at 7 p.m. on CBC.
The real world can be a pretty nasty place sometimes. I don’t know about you, but I find myself looking for an escape from the bad that seems to clog up the news and news feeds on social media. I’ve found the perfect respite from all that on Wednesday nights thanks to The Great Canadian Baking Show on CBC.
I love food—baking and ooey, gooey desserts in particular—so The Great Canadian Baking Show ticks those boxes immediately. But the series is so much more than just that. Based on the UK hit of the same name, the CBC’s remake—courtesy of Proper Television—is a sugary sweet, entertaining confection that just makes me happy. A lot of that comes from co-hosts Daniel Levy and Julia Chan. The pair, who are friends, scored themselves the gig of a lifetime with The Great Canadian Baking Show. The opportunity to meet Canadians from across the country, sample their baked goods and hang out for a couple of months? Where do I sign up? You can’t fake the enjoyment the pair derive from making cheesy quips in an attempt to get the other to roll their eyes. This Wednesday’s Bread Week episode gives Chan the chance to shine. And the fact Levy isn’t afraid to taste more than a morsel of gluten-y goodness establishes him as a bona fide bread expert in my eyes.
Judges Rochelle Adonis and Bruno Feldeisen don’t glower at the contestants like Demon Chef Alvin Leung on MasterChef Canada does. Nor should they. This is not that series. The Great Canadian Baking Show is definitely more relaxed, swapping stainless steel and hard edges for pastels and real wood in a pastoral setting. There is a playful, dainty soundtrack accompanying the proceedings, lending a calming air. Yes, folks are being eliminated—it is a competition after all—but even that is done gently and with a “keep your chin up” attitude.
The Great Canadian Baking Show may not be your cup of tea—see what I did there?—but I find it to be a calming oasis amid the noisy negativity we’re besieged with.
The Great Canadian Baking Show airs Wednesdays at 8 p.m. on CBC.
Images courtesy of CBC.
It’s not often that you jump from one high-profile television series to another, but that’s exactly what happened to Natalia Guled. She served as a writer’s assistant on Orphan Black before moving into the position of story editor during the award-winning sci-fi series’ last season. Then, just a short time later she had joined the Murdoch Mysteries’ writer’s room.
Guled’s first Murdoch writing credit was Monday’s latest episode, “21 Murdoch Street,” so we got her on the phone to talk about her experiences in the Canadian TV industry and what it’s been like working on two popular shows.
How did you get into television writing in the first place?
Natalia Guled: I graduated from university in 2014 with the intention of getting into TV. I pursued it on and off. I got into various incubators that were informal and crafted my skills through that. I eventually met enough people who began to give me some real insight into this industry and one of them, Deb Nathan, told me to take a screenwriting course, which I did. Deb really took to my work and from that point on championed me. With her recommendation, I got into the Writers Guild of Canada Bell Media Diverse Screenwriters Program. I developed a screenplay that [Murdoch Mysteries showrunner] Peter Mitchell read and he hired me based off that script.
What was the screenplay about?
It was a 1950s con drama set in Birmingham, Alabama. If was the first script where I really figured out how to write. That program really helped guide me and I’d recommend it to anyone. I did apply to the Canadian Film Centre twice in a row before and didn’t get in, and I received my second rejection letter when I was staffed on Orphan Black, which was my first job in the industry. Another mentor of mine is friends with Graeme Manson, the co-creator of Orphan Black, and recommended me for a job there, which I got. The moral of that story is it really comes down to who you know and who connects with your work because that’s all that really matters in this industry. It’s a social, cooperative and collaborative industry and the connections I made are rich.
Let’s talk about Orphan Black a bit. Was it a learning curve to join that show as a story editor?
Oh my god, it was unbelievable. [Laughs.] The writers on that show were in complete command of their craft. I remember the first day that I arrived at work as a writer’s assistant and doing an internship that blossomed into story editor, and it was like learning a new language. There is so much jargon used in the writer’s room and shortcuts that are needed to get a story broken and it was overwhelming. But it was so clear that of all the places to cut your teeth in the industry, that was a fantastic opportunity so I really took it seriously. I really connected with the writers in the room and spent every day trying to learn something new and contribute.
How did you go from Orphan Black to Murdoch Mysteries?
Deb Nathan put my name in the list of people for Pete to meet with. He read my script, we had a nice interview and he hired me. It was pretty fast and I was very surprised to get the job. It was really a dream to join Murdoch Mysteries and work with Pete, who is so calm and masterful a showrunner and running a room in general that it was an easy transition.
This is quite the episode to get your first writer’s credit on. Crabtree and John Brackenreid go undercover in a boy’s school, Nina and Watts were both back. A lot was going on in this episode. There were funny moments and shocking ones too, like when John punched his dad.
[Laughs.] Yeah, that was a great moment.
How did the gambling storyline come about?
That was something that was broken in the room. We knew that we wanted to do a play on 21 Jump Street. I had entered the room about a month after it had convened and the story had already been loosely broken and that it would be two kids who were missing and had been up to no good at the school. It came together quite quickly, it took about two days to break it, and then I took it away to write a beat sheet, get notes on that and then work on an outline.
You dealt with something that continues to be timely regardless of the setting: racism with regard to the Banerjee brothers.
They just wanted to give another layer to these characters. We wanted them to be up to no good but sympathetic at the same time. The idea of two guys who normally would have been ostracized figuring out a way to create a social connection to these boys through gambling was sort of interesting to the room. There was actually a deleted scene between Brackenreid and Mr. Banerjee where they are discussing what it means to be part of the empire. In that scene, Brackenreid is glad to be part of the empire and Mr. Banerjee is like, ‘I’m only part of the empire because I’m trying to learn the master’s tools and gain independence from my country.’ There was more to the story but we had to cut it for time, unfortunately. It was a depiction of what the Commonwealth was at the time and Canada was part of that, so was India and a lot of other nations around the world.
Watts questions John about why he’s a cop. Will John question his decision throughout this season?
I think it was something that we definitely wanted to explore. We’re interested in the concept of walking in your parent’s shoes and if you’re doing it for the right reasons. We’re definitely going to be seeing more of John and more of what it’s like to be cop John.
Let’s talk about Crabtree and how fantastic it was to have him not only be a professor but also to bring in Curse of the Pharaohs as the book to study.
That was a lot of fun and Jonny had fun with it too. He ad-libbed a lot of that. He will always deepen whatever is on the page with another layer of humour or serious moments like when John Brackenreid comes into the room where Crabtree is and is upset he was wrong about Moore. He says to John, ‘Your father would tell you this, as would Detective Murdoch: you’re wrong until you’re right.’ Jonny added that emotive, mentoring attitude to the line. He always makes a great choice and that’s actually the case with all of our actors on the show.
It’s tough to add to a storyline after 11 seasons, but the one Julia is currently on with regard to infertility has been really interesting so far.
That’s something everybody has been really excited about this year. We get to have a deeper depiction of this marriage for sure.
After a season on Murdoch Mysteries writer’s room, what’s your experience been like overall?
It’s such a specific and special room. We come in at 10 and we usually leave and 5 and somehow 18 episodes and a Christmas movie get made. We crack each other up … it’s been a really lovely process for sure and I’m going to miss everyone in the off-season.
Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.
Images courtesy of CBC.
