A TV mini-series which was partially shot in North Bay has been picked up by CTV for another two seasons. The series is Cardinal, a detective drama that was adopted from a series of books called the John Cardinal Mysteries. The books were written by Giles Blunt, who grew up in North Bay. Cardinal takes place in the fictional town of Algonquin Bay and has the hero looking into several grisly murders. With the request for two more seasons, it’s the first time that CTV has ordered two straight seasons of a drama. The first season was six episodes long and area residents who watched it could clearly identify some North Bay landmarks. One in particular involved the Ontario Northland bus terminal.
Really observant viewers would have caught a North Bay resident in the third episode. Rod Carley, who is a professor at Canadore College, was in a scene with a police officer examining the remains of a dead animal. Carley, who is part of the school’s acting for stage and screen program and is also behind Rep 21, played the role of a rancher. The scene was shot under a highway overpass. The first season was filmed over the winter and included scene shots in Sudbury, Toronto and the Atikameksheng First Nation in Northern Ontario. Shooting for the second season begins this summer and is based on the third novel of Blunt’s series, Black Fly Season. Then right after that in the fall, crews will shoot the third season which combines the fourth and fifth books. The first season had high viewership in Canada with CTV claiming an average audience of 1.2 million people. Those numbers may have impressed TV companies in other countries because the BBC in the United Kingdom has picked up the license to show season one. Spain and Scandinavia will also air season one. CTV adds it’s negotiating with other firms to air Cardinal in other countries.
