Da Vinci's Inquest
Encyclopedia
Da Vinci's Inquest is a Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 dramatic television series that aired on CBC Television
CBC Television
CBC Television is a Canadian television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster.Although the CBC is supported by public funding, the television network supplements this funding with commercial advertising revenue, in contrast to CBC Radio which are...

 from 1998 to 2005. Seven seasons of thirteen episodes each were filmed for a total of ninety-one episodes.

The show, set and filmed in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, stars Nicholas Campbell
Nicholas Campbell
Nicholas Campbell , sometimes credited as Nick Campbell, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker, who has won three Gemini Awards for acting. The movies Naked Lunch, Prozac Nation and the TV series Da Vinci's Inquest are some examples of his acting work.-Early life:Campbell was born in Toronto, Ontario,...

 as Dominic Da Vinci, once an undercover officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police
Royal Canadian Mounted Police
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police , literally ‘Royal Gendarmerie of Canada’; colloquially known as The Mounties, and internally as ‘The Force’) is the national police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world. It is unique in the world as a national, federal,...

, but now a crusading coroner
Coroner
A coroner is a government official who* Investigates human deaths* Determines cause of death* Issues death certificates* Maintains death records* Responds to deaths in mass disasters* Identifies unknown dead* Other functions depending on local laws...

 who seeks justice in the cases he investigates.

The cast also includes Gwynyth Walsh
Gwynyth Walsh
Gwynyth Walsh is a Canadian actress best known for her role of the Star Trek character B'Etor, one of the Duras sisters.She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1958 and raised in Vancouver. Walsh earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta and started her career appearing on stage...

 as Da Vinci's ex-wife and chief pathologist Patricia Da Vinci, Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes is a Canadian actor. He recently starred as Doctor Cottle on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica. Before Battlestar Galactica he was probably best known to American audiences as the lovestruck, hapless escaped convict "Dutch Leitner" on the 1970s soap-opera...

 as detective Leo Shannon, and Ian Tracey
Ian Tracey
Ian Tracey is a Canadian Leo- and Gemini Award-winning actor. Over the years, Tracey has participated in over seventy films and television series. Tracey has starred in series like Da Vinci's Inquest and Intelligence, both CBC television series produced by long-time colleague Chris Haddock...

 as detective "Mick" Leary.

Production

Da Vinci's Inquest was loosely based on the real life experiences of Larry Campbell
Larry Campbell
Larry W. Campbell was the 37th Mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and is currently a member of the Canadian Senate. Starting in 1969 Campbell worked for the RCMP in Vancouver and then in 1973 as a member of the Drug Squad...

, the former chief coroner of Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...

, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...

, who was elected mayor of that city in 2002. The part of Da Vinci, however, was written specifically for actor Nicholas Campbell
Nicholas Campbell
Nicholas Campbell , sometimes credited as Nick Campbell, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker, who has won three Gemini Awards for acting. The movies Naked Lunch, Prozac Nation and the TV series Da Vinci's Inquest are some examples of his acting work.-Early life:Campbell was born in Toronto, Ontario,...

. Elements of the series storylines were also taken from sociopolitcal issues faced by the real-life Vancouver, such as the plight of the homeless, the controversy over a designated injection site for drug users, the idea of establishing a red light district
Red Light District
Red Light District may refer to:* Red-light district - a neighborhood where prostitution is common* The Red Light District - the title of the 2004 album by rapper Ludacris* Red Light District Video - a pornography studio based in Los Angeles, California...

, and the disappearance of homeless women and sex workers. The production was also influenced by NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue
NYPD Blue is an American television police drama set in New York City, exploring the internal and external struggles of the fictional 15th precinct of Manhattan...

, and featured similar music and scene transitions.

Awards

Nicholas Campbell received the Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...

 for Best Performance in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for his work on the series and has guest-starred in American shows such as Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...

and T.J. Hooker. Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes
Donnelly Rhodes is a Canadian actor. He recently starred as Doctor Cottle on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica. Before Battlestar Galactica he was probably best known to American audiences as the lovestruck, hapless escaped convict "Dutch Leitner" on the 1970s soap-opera...

 also received a Gemini Award
Gemini Award
The Gemini Awards are annual television broadcasting industry awards in Canada.First awarded in 1986, the Geminis celebrate the achievements of TV members of the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. Essentially, it presents awards for the best television productions in Canada. Awards are...

 for Best Actor in 2002 and the Earle Grey Award
Earle Grey Award
The Earle Grey Award is the Lifetime Achievement Award of the Canadian Gemini Awards. The Earle Grey Award is presented annually to an actor or actress in recognition of their body of work in television...

 in 2006. The series was critically acclaimed as the best television series in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 after winning the Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Series for five of its first six seasons. When Da Vinci's Inquest completed its seventh and final season, it was continued in 2005 as Da Vinci's City Hall
Da Vinci's City Hall
Da Vinci's City Hall is a Canadian dramatic television series, which premiered on CBC Television on 25 October 2005. The series was a spinoff of the long-running Canadian series Da Vinci's Inquest...

. In 2002 actress Keegan Connor Tracy
Keegan Connor Tracy
Keegan Connor Tracy is a Canadian actress known for her roles as the ill-fated Kat Jennings in Final Destination 2 and Dawn/Molly in Blackwoods .She was born in Sarnia, Ontario...

 won a Leo Award for her guest appearance in Inquest and was brought back again in 2005.

United States

Da Vinci's Inquest made its U.S. debut the week of 17 September 2005, when it was already in syndication after the original run. The show continues to air in syndication and airs nationwide on Sleuth
Sleuth (TV channel)
Cloo is a digital cable television channel with programming dedicated to the crime and mystery genres. It is owned and operated by NBCUniversal. It launched on January 1, 2006, replacing Trio...

 and the Retro Television Network
Retro Television Network
The Retro Television Network is a system of television stations that airs classic television shows as well as more recently produced programs...

. The series is distributed in the United States by Program Partners with ad-sales done by Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television
Sony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...

.

Other countries

In Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, it aired late Monday nights on the Nine Network
Nine Network
The Nine Network , is an Australian television network with headquarters based in Willoughby, a suburb located on the North Shore of Sydney. For 50 years since television's inception in Australia, between 1956 and 2006, it was the most watched television network in Australia...

, and its affiliates WIN
WIN Television
WIN Television is an Australian television network owned by the WIN Corporation that is based in Wollongong, New South Wales. WIN commenced transmissions on 18 March 1962 as a single Wollongong-only station, and has since expanded to 24 owned-and-operated stations with transmissions covering a...

 (although on a different night) and NBN. In mid 2006, the show was replaced with Quizmania
Quizmania
Quizmania was a popular British interactive gameshow. The show was devised by Chuck Thomas, Debbie King, and Simone Thorogood and produced by Fremantle Media for Information TV and ITV . Currently, the online revival is produced by Screen Pop Ltd. in association with Illumina Digital...

. As of early 2007, it has been screening again late on Thursday nights (technically early Friday morning). With the launch of 13th Street on Foxtel on Sunday, November 15, Da Vinci's Inquest has begun airing in Australia again.

It has also been aired in late night slots on RTÉ One
RTÉ One
RTÉ One is the flagship television channel of Raidió Teilifís Éireann , and it is the most popular and most watched television channel in Ireland. It was launched as Telefís Éireann on 31 December 1961, it was renamed RTÉ Television in 1966, and it was renamed as RTÉ One upon the launch of RTÉ...

 in Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...

.

In Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

, Skjár einn
Skjár einn
Skjár Einn is an Icelandic television channel owned by Skipti. Skjár Einn broadcasts both Icelandic and foreign television shows. Since its foundation in 1999 it has aired crime, drama, reality and comedy television series...

 has aired the show in various slots, including Saturday evening.

The show currently airs daily at 3am in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 on the Living Channel and on late Saturday evenings in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

 and northern parts of Estonia
Estonia
Estonia , officially the Republic of Estonia , is a state in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea, to the south by Latvia , and to the east by Lake Peipsi and the Russian Federation . Across the Baltic Sea lies...

 on Finnish YLE TV2
YLE TV2
YLE TV2 is a Finnish television channel owned and operated by YLE.TV2 launched in 1964, and broadcasts public service programming, children's, youth, sport and music programmes.-Own Productions:* Ajankohtainen kakkonen* Akuutti* Jopet Show* Kummeli...

.

In Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

 it airs daily on Sony Entertainment España.

Da Vinci's City Hall and TV movies

In Canada, the new spinoff series, Da Vinci's City Hall
Da Vinci's City Hall
Da Vinci's City Hall is a Canadian dramatic television series, which premiered on CBC Television on 25 October 2005. The series was a spinoff of the long-running Canadian series Da Vinci's Inquest...

, premiered on 25 October 2005. However, after airing a complete first season of 13 episodes, the CBC cancelled the program.

In the U.S., Da Vinci's City Hall airs as part of the Da Vinci's Inquest rerun package, regarded as the eighth season of the series (even using the titles from the last three seasons of Inquest instead of the titles for City Hall). City Hall debuted in the U.S. on Superstation WGN on April 27, 2007, and released into national syndication to local stations, also as part of Da Vinci's Inquest, on November 4, 2007.

A TV movie following up on the two series, The Quality of Life, aired on CBC on June 14, 2008.

Cast

  • Nicholas Campbell
    Nicholas Campbell
    Nicholas Campbell , sometimes credited as Nick Campbell, is a Canadian actor and filmmaker, who has won three Gemini Awards for acting. The movies Naked Lunch, Prozac Nation and the TV series Da Vinci's Inquest are some examples of his acting work.-Early life:Campbell was born in Toronto, Ontario,...

     as Dominic Da Vinci
  • Suleka Mathew
    Suleka Mathew
    Suleka "Sue" Mathew is a Canadian actress, known for her portrayal of Dr. Sunita Ramen on the Canadian television series Da Vinci's Inquest....

     as Sunita "Sunny" Ramen (credited as "Sue Mathew" in the first season)
  • Sarah-Jane Redmond
    Sarah-Jane Redmond
    Sarah-Jane Redmond is a British-Canadian actress and acting instructor.-Filmography:* Harper's Island as Sarah Mills* Case 39 ... as Mrs. Barron* Sorority Wars * Smile of April ... as Witness 2...

     as Sgt. Sheila Kurtz
  • Donnelly Rhodes
    Donnelly Rhodes
    Donnelly Rhodes is a Canadian actor. He recently starred as Doctor Cottle on the Sci Fi Channel television program Battlestar Galactica. Before Battlestar Galactica he was probably best known to American audiences as the lovestruck, hapless escaped convict "Dutch Leitner" on the 1970s soap-opera...

     as detective Leo Shannon
  • Colin Cunningham
    Colin Cunningham
    Colin Alexander Cunningham is an American television and film actor, now living in Vancouver, British Columbia.-Television:...

     as detective Brian Curtis
  • Venus Terzo
    Venus Terzo
    Venus Terzo is a Canadian actress best noted for her role as Detective Angela Kosmo in Da Vinci's Inquest and its spinoff, Da Vinci's City Hall. She was nominated in 2002 for the Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role in that same role...

     as detective Angela Kosmo
  • Ian Tracey
    Ian Tracey
    Ian Tracey is a Canadian Leo- and Gemini Award-winning actor. Over the years, Tracey has participated in over seventy films and television series. Tracey has starred in series like Da Vinci's Inquest and Intelligence, both CBC television series produced by long-time colleague Chris Haddock...

     as detective Mick Leary
  • Camille Sullivan
    Camille Sullivan
    Camille Sullivan is a Canadian actress. She has starred in various films and TV series. Among her notable TV appearances are Da Vinci's Inquest, Intelligence and Shattered. She won a Leo Award for her role in Normal...

     as Detective Suki Taylor
  • Gwynyth Walsh
    Gwynyth Walsh
    Gwynyth Walsh is a Canadian actress best known for her role of the Star Trek character B'Etor, one of the Duras sisters.She was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1958 and raised in Vancouver. Walsh earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts at the University of Alberta and started her career appearing on stage...

     as Patricia Da Vinci
  • Robert Wisden
    Robert Wisden
    Robert Charles Wisden is a British actor who has an extensive career in Canadian and American television. In 2000 he won a Gemini Award for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series for The Sheldon Kennedy Story .-Career:Wisden moved with his...

     as Chief Coroner James Flynn
  • Alex Diakun as Chick Savoy
  • Kimberly Hawthorne as Det. Rose Williams


Recurring characters

  • Robert Clothier
    Robert Clothier
    Robert Allan Clothier was a prominent Canadian stage and television actor most famous for his role on the long-running CBC television show, The Beachcombers...

     as Joe Da Vinci (season 1)
  • Joy Coghill
    Joy Coghill
    Joy Coghill, O.C., is a Canadian actor, director, and writer.She and Myra Benson founded Canada's first children's theatre company, Holiday Theatre. In 1994, Coghill founded Western Gold, a theatre company for older professional actors. She holds honorary degrees from SFU and UBC...

     as Portia Da Vinci
  • Terry Chen
    Terry Chen
    Terry Chen is a Canadian movie and television actor.Chen was born to ethnic Chinese parents originating from Taiwan and mainland China in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. After an education at schools in his hometown and in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, he attended college in Calgary and...

     as William Chen (Seasons 3, 4, 6 & 7)
  • Max Martini
    Max Martini
    Maximilian Carlo "Max" Martini is an American film, theater and television actor known for his roles as Corporal Fred Henderson in Saving Private Ryan, Wiley in Level 9, First Sergeant Sid Wojo in The Great Raid, and as Master Sergeant Mack Gerhardt on the military television drama, The...

     as Danny Leary
  • Gerard Plunkett as Chief Coroner Bob Kelly
  • Stephen E. Miller as Sgt Zack McNab
  • Jewel Staite
    Jewel Staite
    Jewel Belair Staite is a Canadian actress, who portrayed Catalina in Space Cases, Kaylee Frye in Firefly and Serenity, and Dr. Jennifer Keller on Stargate Atlantis.-Personal life:...

     as Gabriella Da Vinci
  • Sarah Strange
    Sarah Strange
    Sarah Strange is a Canadian actress, known for work in a variety of American and Canadian television and film projects, most notably as Helen in the Canadian drama Da Vinci's Inquest.-Life and career:...

     as Helen
  • Alisen Down
    Alisen Down
    Alisen Elizabeth Jean Down is a Canadian film and television actress. She was born in Langley, British Columbia.-Early life:...

     as Dr Maria Donato (Season 6 & 7)
  • Emily Perkins
    Emily Perkins
    Emily Jean Perkins is a Canadian actress, known best for her co-starring role as Brigitte Fitzgerald in the movie Ginger Snaps and its two sequels, Ginger Snaps II: Unleashed and Ginger Snaps Back: The Beginning. Since the late 1980s she has appeared in various films and television series.-Life...

     as Sue Lewis
  • Peter Williams
    Peter Williams (actor)
    Peter Williams is a Jamaican-born actor currently residing in Canada. The majority of his work has been in television, including the role of the primary villain Apophis in the first four seasons of Stargate SG-1...

     as Morris Winston
  • Callum Keith Rennie
    Callum Keith Rennie
    Callum Keith Rennie is a British-born Canadian television and film actor. He started his career in Canadian film and television projects, where his portrayal of Stanley Raymond Kowalski in the TV series Due South was his first international success...

     as Det. Bob Marlowe (Seasons 2, 3 & 4)
  • Dean Marshall
    Dean Marshall
    Dean Stewart Marshall is a Canadian actor, known for his role as a Sgt. Bates on Stargate Atlantis.Marshall began performing from a young age in a steel band. His family was originally from Trinidad and Tobago. He joined the Canadian Forces as a teenager for a short time...

     as Constable Carter
  • Keegan Connor Tracy
    Keegan Connor Tracy
    Keegan Connor Tracy is a Canadian actress known for her roles as the ill-fated Kat Jennings in Final Destination 2 and Dawn/Molly in Blackwoods .She was born in Sarnia, Ontario...

     as Jackie
  • Crystal Lowe
    Crystal Lowe
    Crystal Lowe is a Canadian-born actress best known for her scream queen roles in the horror films Final Destination 3, Black Christmas, and Wrong Turn 2: Dead End.-Early life:...

     as Sylvia

Format

Da Vinci's Inquest is notable for its unconventional story formats. Unlike most crime dramas, many crimes on Da Vinci's Inquest aren't clearly explained, and some aren't even solved. Many of the show's fans hail this characteristic as one of its finest qualities. Also unusual is its handling of story arcs. Some story arcs span the length of one or more season, but aren't touched on at all in some episodes within that season. Story arcs include Da Vinci's struggles with his ex-wife and daughter, Leo Shannon struggling to care for his mentally ill wife, the relocation of a mental hospital's cemetery and the intrigue that follows, and Da Vinci's quest to establish a red light district and safe injection site to protect the sex worker
Sex worker
A sex worker is a person who works in the sex industry. The term is usually used in reference to those in the sex industry that actually provide such sexual services, as opposed to management and staff of such industries...

s and drug addicts of Vancouver. In Internet
Internet
The Internet is a global system of interconnected computer networks that use the standard Internet protocol suite to serve billions of users worldwide...

 fandom
Fandom
Fandom is a term used to refer to a subculture composed of fans characterized by a feeling of sympathy and camaraderie with others who share a common interest...

, the plot line following Mick Leary's descent into depression after a female constable
Constable
A constable is a person holding a particular office, most commonly in law enforcement. The office of constable can vary significantly in different jurisdictions.-Etymology:...

 infatuated with him commits suicide is often considered one of the most powerful and best-written arcs in the entire series by many fans.

DVD releases

Acorn Media has released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 1 (US only). Due to poor sales, no further seasons were released.

In Canada, Alliance Home Entertainment
Alliance Films
Alliance Films is a major Canadian motion picture distribution/production company, which serves Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain.-History:It was formed in 1984 by Stephen Roth, Denis Heroux, John Kemeny, Robert Lantos and Jay...

released the first season on DVD on October 14, 2003. Season 2 was released on February 3, 2009, more than 5 years after the release of the first season.
DVD Name Ep# Region 1 (US) Region 1 (CAN)
Season 1 13 February 27, 2007 October 14, 2003
Season 2 13 November 13, 2007 February 3, 2009
Season 3 13 June 10, 2008 N/A

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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