CTV greenlights two more seasons of Cardinal, Canada’s most-watched Canadian drama

From a media release:

After a breakthrough inaugural season, CTV announced today it has greenlit unprecedented second and third cycles of its hit new dramatic thriller, CARDINAL for broadcast in 2017/18. The order marks the first time CTV has ordered two consecutive seasons of a drama. Produced by Sienna Films and Entertainment One (eOne) in association with CTV, and commissioned for French-language Canadian broadcast by Super Écran, an additional two self-contained cycles, each consisting of six, one-hour episodes, have been ordered. Both series stars, Billy Campbell (THE KILLING) and Karine Vanasse (REVENGE), return for Seasons 2 and 3.

Cycles 2 and 3 will be filmed once again in Sudbury and North Bay and will be based on books in the John Cardinal Mysteries series written by Ontario native and award-winning author Giles Blunt. Season 2 will be shot this coming summer and is inspired by the third novel in the series, Black Fly Season. Set to shoot in Fall 2017, Season 3 is inspired by the 4th and 5thnovels in the series, By the Time You Read This and Crime Machine. As with the first cycle, each additional season will be a self-contained original adaptation inspired by the stories of each novel.

Season 1 has been licensed to BBC in the U.K., C More in Scandinavia and Calle 13 in Spain by eOne, and has several active negotiations underway.

Since its premiere in January, CARDINAL, a critical and ratings success, has averaged 1.2 million viewers, making it the most-watched new Canadian program of the 2016/17 broadcast season and the country’s most-watched original drama. Across all airings and on CTV and Super Écran, more than 3.6 million unique viewers watch episodes of CARDINAL weekly. Viewers looking to catch all of Season 1 thrills and chills can catch full episodes of CARDINALon CTV.ca, CTV GO, CraveTVTM, and on CTV-branded VOD channels.

Cycle 1 of CARDINAL is adapted from the award-winning novel Forty Words for Sorrow, the first of Giles Blunt’s John Cardinal Mysteries, a series of six, best-selling Canadian crime novels. Starring Billy Campbell as Detective John Cardinal and Karine Vanasse as Detective Lise Delorme, Season 1 of the murder mystery was shot in Sudbury, Ont., North Bay, Ont., Atikameksheng Anishnawbek in Northern Ontario, and Toronto.

Cast and crew are set to live tweet throughout tomorrow’s broadcast of CARDINAL, responding to viewer questions live across the country as Season 1 comes to its conclusion. Fans can follow along on Twitter with the handle @Cardinal and hashtag #Cardinal.

In the climactic Season 1 finale of CARDINAL entitled “Catherine”, (available tonight as a CraveTVTM FIRST LOOK, and airing tomorrow at 10 p.m. ET/PTon CTV and CTV GO), Cardinal realizes that Eric wasn’t working alone. Meanwhile, Delorme must decide what to do when she finally finds the answers she was looking for about Cardinal’s dark past.

CARDINAL is produced by Sienna Films and eOne in association with CTV, and commissioned for French-language Canadian broadcast by Super Écran with the financial participation of the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation, the Canada Media Fund and the Cogeco Production Program, and with the assistance of the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit.

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11 thoughts on “CTV greenlights two more seasons of Cardinal, Canada’s most-watched Canadian drama”

  1. Hi there. Cardinal is a fine show but it is not Canada’s number one watched drama. That headline is wrong

  2. Great writing, character development, filming, acting and setting, looking forward to next season

  3. Fantastic show that kept me wanting more….THANK YOU for more seaons to come. Kudos to Billy Campbell and Karine Vanasse. Looking VERY forward to Season 2

  4. Love Billy and Karine! It’s wonderful to see such strong integrity and intelligence in their characters in this show. Just finished the finale and can’t wait for the next season. Watching them is a treat. Sad that this season is over. Yey Canada!

  5. Stellar very thought provoking all Canadian crime drama! Cardinal’s writers, actors and it’s producers, especially key camera grips, make Criminal Minds look like children playing. The FBI (Forlorn Boring Icons) nab every killer in every episode. Two reasons it’s recorded are to watch character Penelope and hear quotes at start and end.
    Excellent to hear Cardinal has been renewed for more seasons.
    Still often wonder why Motive repeats? Story lines are sometimes interesting. Lou Ferreria is an astonishing actor in This Life and it’s about Kristin Lehman’s new hair style…
    Happy to find a Canuck website sending Thanks

  6. Excellent series; good storyline and acting etc… Good plot development. The serial killer was pretty scary and some of the torture scenes were brutal.

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