January is shaping up to be one of the busiest and most exciting in Canadian television, and Global’s Ransom is a part of that.
The Canadian co-production—from executive producer Frank Spotnitz—stars Luke Roberts (Black Sails) as Eric Beaumont, a hostage negotiator who jets to locales around the world talking criminals out of dire situations. The hook? Eric doesn’t carry a gun, preferring to use his gift of patter to disarm the bad guys.
Rounding out Ransom‘s cast is Sarah Greene (Penny Dreadful) as Maxine Carlson, a girl with a secret; Brandon Jay McLaren (Slasher) as Oliver Yates, a psychological profiler; and Nazneen Contractor (Covert Affairs) as ex-cop Zara Hallam. After filming in Toronto for several months—the city stood in for North American locations—the series decamped for the south of France, with the area representing European spots.
Take a look at these gallery images and let us know what you think of Ransom!
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Ransom debuts Sunday, Jan. 1, at 8:30 p.m ET on Global before moving to Saturdays at 8 p.m. ET/PT beginning on Jan. 7.
Global jumpstarts the new year with high stakes and high drama as the network announces new original suspense drama Ransom joins its midseason schedule, premiering on Sunday, January 1 at 8:30 p.m. ET / 8 p.m. PT. Airing in simulcast with CBS in the US, the 13-episode procedural settles into its regular timeslot beginning Saturday, January 7 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Global. From leading independent studio Entertainment One (eOne), Wildcats Productions and Sienna Films, Ransom is executive produced by Emmy® and Golden Globe®-winner Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files, The Man in the High Castle) through his company Big Light Productions, and stars Luke Roberts (Wolf Hall, Game of Thrones), as Eric Beaumont, a crisis and hostage negotiator whose team is brought in to save lives when no one else can. Along with CBS in the US, the procedural drama will also air on France’s TF1 and Germany’s RTL.
Ransom’s premiere episode begins with Eric Beaumont (Luke Roberts) bringing on a new team member, Maxine Carlson (Sarah Greene, Penny Dreadful, Burnt), who is eager to prove herself as an aspiring investigator. But Eric’s trusted team, psych-profiler Oliver Yates (Brandon Jay McLaren, Graceland, The Killing) and ex-cop Zara Hallam (Nazneen Contractor,Heroes Reborn, Covert Affairs), have doubts about their possible new member. And a dangerous secret from Maxine’s past may pose a threat that even the great Eric Beaumont is unable to resolve.
Ransom is inspired by the professional experiences of distinguished crisis negotiator Laurent Combalbert, who along with partner, Marwan Mery, are considered to be among the top negotiators in the world. Today, they travel around the globe to help multinational corporations and governmental agencies with complex negotiations and conflict resolution.
Entertainment One (eOne) and Piller Segan, alongside Canadian broadcast partner Corus, are pleased to announce that principal photography has begun on Season 2 of Global’s runaway success Private Eyes. Starring Jason Priestley (Beverly Hills 90210, Call Me Fitz) and Cindy Sampson (Rogue, Supernatural), the 18-episode order is shooting in and around Toronto and is set to premiere on Global in spring 2017. Priestley will also play double duty as both star of the series and director of the first episode.
As last summer’s #1 new series, the Canadian original detective drama follows the P.I. powerhouse duo, Matt Shade (Priestley) and Angie Everett (Sampson) as they lead Everett Investigations together and test each other both professionally and personally.
Season two picks up with Shade now Angie’s full partner in Everett Investigations, but are the two of them really ready for what that means? Team player Shade has grand plans to “grow the agency†– but lone wolf Angie’s used to things the way they are. Can these two ever reconcile their differences to succeed as a duo?
One thing’s clear: their contrasting skillsets yield results when it comes to solving cases. As their success grows, the cases that come their way get even bigger and more sophisticated, plunging them into the diverse worlds of auto racing, real estate, high fashion, and private school privilege. For all their bickering and disagreements, there’s no substitute for the adrenaline rush of taking down a bad guy or helping an innocent victim. And through it all, there’s the undeniable chemistry between the two – something they must acknowledge sooner or later.
Private Eyes season two is executive produced by John Morayniss and Tecca Crosby for eOne, Shawn Piller and Lloyd Segan for Piller Segan, Jason Priestley, Alan McCullough, James Thorpe and Tassie Cameron. McCullough and Piller are also Showrunners for season two.
The search for the next group of Canada’s most outrageous houseguests continues as details are announced for Global’s Big Brother Canada Season 5 national casting tour. Canadians 19 years of age and older can continue to apply online at BigBrotherCanada.ca until October 24, or apply in person at the following locations:
Saturday, October 1:
Vancouver – The Bourbon, 50 W Cordova St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Edmonton – The Billiard Club, 10505 82 Ave. NW, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Halifax – HFX Sports Bar, 1721 Brunswick St., from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Thursday, October 6:
St. John’s – Sundance Saloon, 30 George St., from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Saturday, October 29:
Toronto – The Addisons Residence, 456 Wellington St. W, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Tuesday, November 1:
Montreal – BLVD44, 2108 Boul. St-Laurent, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Additional casting information, including a complete list of rules and eligibility, can be found at BigBrotherCanada.ca.
Airing exclusively on Global in spring 2017, Big Brother Canada plucks a group of hand-picked strangers from their homes, sequesters them from the outside world, and places them inside a house outfitted wall-to-wall with cameras and microphones that capture their every move. Competing for a grand cash prize, each week the houseguests battle in a series of challenges that give them power or punishment, voting each other out until the fate of the final two is decided by a jury of fellow houseguests.
Living in Toronto, seeing orange traffic cones signify one of two things: road work or a film or television production. I’ve seen plenty of the former and latter over the past 15 years, but never a full-on road closure for a television production. Until earlier this summer.
The reason? Global’s crisis negotiation drama, Ransom. The co-production between the Canadian network, CBS in the U.S. and TF1 in France (Toronto’s Sienna Films and eOne are among the production partners) closed down a block near the Eaton Centre, filming a bank heist scene taking place during one of 13 episodes. Yellow barriers and Toronto police redirected traffic while black SUVs and cop cars emblazoned with the NYPD logo sat staggered in front of an old office building standing in for a bank. A phalanx of actors portraying SWAT police trooped down the street during several takes as a drone buzzed loudly overhead, capturing the action.
Ransom stars Luke Roberts (Black Sails) as Eric Beaumont, a hostage negotiator who jets to locales around the world talking criminals out of dire situations. The hook? Eric doesn’t carry a gun, preferring to use his gift of patter to disarm the bad guys. Based on the real-life experiences of negotiator Laurent Combalbert, executive producer Frank Spotnitz (The X-Files) says this is the biggest international show he’s done.
“I was told about Laurent about two and a half years ago,” Spotnitz says. “It already makes a great TV show, because, in the case of Laurent, every case is 24 to 48 hours. They are naturally adrenaline and suspense-filled. And he doesn’t carry a gun. That’s crazy. I’ve done lots of shows, including The X-Files, where people solved their problems with guns. To have a guy who says, ‘No guns. I’ll solve this with my mind,’ is a challenge but I wanted to do a show like that.”
Rounding out Ransom‘s cast is Sarah Greene (Penny Dreadful) as Maxine Carlson, a girl with a secret; Brandon Jay McLaren (Slasher) as Oliver Yates, a psychological profiler; and Nazneen Contractor (Covert Affairs) as ex-cop Zara Hallam. After filming in Toronto for several months—the city stood in for North American locations—the series decamped for the south of France, with the area representing European spots.
Spotnitz, who lives in London, full-time says he fell into the current production model where several countries toss production money into a hat and share costs but sees it as the way of the world now, where viewers are watching programs both traditionally and non-traditionally (like his The Man in the High Castle on Amazon).
“When I moved to London, I sort of fell into this model,” he says. “It’s an amazing time to be in Europe. There is a real awakening of television and a new ambition to do shows in the English language that compete with the best shows in North America. It’s challenging to do a show for two or three broadcasters but I enjoy it, travelling and getting to know all of these different cultures.”
Ransom airs during the 2016-17 broadcast season on Global and CBS. Look for more Ransom coverage on TV, Eh? as we get closer to a broadcast date.
