From a media release:
CTV and Super Écran, alongside producers Sienna Films and Entertainment One (eOne), announced today that production is underway on the second cycle of CARDINAL, the #1 new Canadian series of the year starring Golden Globe® nominee Billy Campbell (THE KILLING) and the multiple Genie Award-winning actress Karine Vanasse (REVENGE). Inspired by Black Fly Season, the third novel in the John Cardinal Mysteries series written by Ontario native and award-winning author Giles Blunt, the second cycle of the networks’ serialized drama is shooting six, hour-long episodes in North Bay, Ont. and Toronto before premiering as part of CTV and Super Écran’s 2017/18 season.
Cycle 1 of CARDINAL was the most-watched new Canadian series and ranked among the Top 10 new series overall that launched on Canadian television in the 2016/17 season, averaging 1.1 million viewers weekly. Following the success of the first season, the series received an unprecedented two-season renewal.
eOne has successfully licensed the series internationally with the first season of CARDINAL having aired on CANAL+ in France, Calle 13 in Spain, and C More in Scandinavia, where it became the network’s biggest foreign drama series. Cycle 1 of CARDINAL will premiere June 3 on BBC in the U.K. and June 16 on Hulu in the U.S.
CARDINAL picks up several months after the events of Cycle 1. It’s early summer in Algonquin Bay and the blackflies aren’t the only ones out for blood. Detectives John Cardinal (Campbell) and Lise Delorme (Vanasse) find themselves with a strange case on their hands involving a young woman with a gunshot wound to the head. The investigation quickly takes a turn as Cardinal and Delorme uncover a series of disturbing, ritualistic killings that may be connected to their young victim. Cardinal must work to identify the young woman before her attacker strikes again.
Joining Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse in Cycle 2 of CARDINAL is an all-star supporting cast that includes Bruce Ramsay (19-2) as Ray Northwind, Alex Paxton-Beesley (PURE) as Red, Jonathan Keltz (REIGN) as Kevin Tait, Kevin Hanchard (ORPHAN BLACK) as Detective Alan Clegg, and Kris Holden-Ried (VIKINGS) as Scott Lasalle. Returning cast members include Deborah Hay (The Anniversary) as Catherine Cardinal, Glen Gould (Rhymes for Young Ghouls) as Det. Jerry Commanda, Kristen Thomson (Away From Her) as Staff Sergeant Noelle Dyson, David Richmond Peck (ORPHAN BLACK) as Corporal Malcolm Musgrave, and Alanna Bale (PRIME RADICALS) as Kelly Cardinal.
CARDINAL is produced by Sienna Films and eOne in association with CTV, with the financial participation of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the Canada Media Fund, and the Cogeco Program Development Fund; and with the assistance of the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit. Super Écran has commissioned the series for French-language Canadian broadcast. eOne distributes the series worldwide.
CARDINAL is adapted from the John Cardinal Mysteries series, a series of six bestselling crime novels written by Giles Blunt. Cycle 2 of CARDINAL is written by Sarah Dodd (MOTIVE, RANSOM), who also serves as an Executive Producer; and co-executive producers Jennica Harper (MOTIVE) and Alison Bingeman (19-2). Co-Executive Producer Jeff Renfroe (ROGUE) directs all six episodes. The drama is executive produced by Sienna Films duo Julia Sereny and Jennifer Kawaja (COMBAT HOSPITAL). For eOne, Jocelyn Hamilton and Tecca Crosby serve as Executive Producers.
