Jozi-H | TV, eh?

Series debuts for the week of Oct. 8. Check local listings for exact times in your area.

Monday, Oct. 9

Rumours, CBC: Rumours offers a modern look at high urban living through the eyes of the staff at a Toronto-based women’s magazine. Wild and wickedly funny, the show explores sex, love, friendship, family, and business and how the lines between these things blur, fall apart, and get smashed to pieces. Airs Mondays at 9 p.m. on CBC. Official show site.

The Hour, CBC: The Hour brings viewers a different take on the news. It’s not a newscast. And It’s not a magazine show. It’s 1/24th of a day through the lens of George Stroumboulopoulos and company. All news shows cover the issues of the day. The Hour covers them in an unconventional way. Whether it’s interviewing Canadians in The Hour’s dubious panel van, setting up the current climate in a political hot zone, or interviewing a past-his-prime rock star in all his spandexed glory, George is there, guiding you seamlessly between politics and pop. Airs Mondays – Thursdays at 11 p.m. on CBC. Official show site.

Tuesday, Oct. 10

Intelligence, CBC: Intelligence is the story of opposite sides of the law coming together to serve themselves and each other. It is a cat and mouse game of exploitation and cover-up, as each camp uses intelligence agents to build up their enterprises. As the season begins, third generation gangster Jimmy Reardon and Director of Vancouver’s Organized Crime Unit Mary Spalding have made deals with the devil; that is, Jimmy has made the deal to work with Mary Spalding as a star informant, and Mary has made the deal to provide Reardon with protection from prosecution. Each will attempt to use the other without getting caught in the act. Airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on CBC. Official show site.

Thursday, Oct. 12

October 1970, CBC: The eight-hour mini-series October 1970 is a detective thriller, a hostage drama and a political nail-biter. On October 5, 1970, the political landscape of Canada was changed forever when terrorists from the Front de libÃ©ration du QuÃ©bec (FLQ) kidnapped British diplomat James Cross from his Montreal residence. Five days later, another FLQ cell snatched Pierre Laporte, QuÃ©bec’s Minister of Labour. By October 17th, Laporte had been killed, the police were overwhelmed, the city was in chaos, and the army, in full battle gear, patrolled the streets. Ottawa invoked The War Measures Act suspending civil liberties in Canada. Airs Thursdays at 9 p.m. on CBC.

Friday, Oct. 13

Jozi-H, CBC: Set in a socially turbulent, violent, yet undeniably modern city, JOZI H is a gripping medical drama about the personal struggles faced by an eclectic, international band of Doctors, Surgeons and Nurses, dedicated to saving lives at one of the world’s highest profile emergency medicine facilities â€“ â€œJohannesburg Metropolitan Hospitalâ€. The result is enthralling, compelling viewing in a series filled with complex characters and intriguing storylines, based on universal themes, yet ready to tackle hot issues. JOZI H is a hard-hitting series that combines cutting-edge medicine with riveting drama. Airs Fridays at 9 p.m. on CBC. Official show site.

To get e-mail alerts on upcoming Canadian series, join the mailing list through Google Groups or e-mail me.

From a CBC media release:

Hard-Hitting New Series Jozi-H Combines Cutting Edge Medicine with Riveting Drama Beginning Friday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. on CBC-TV

Ancient customs and cutting-edge medicine square up for a head-on collision in JOZI-H, a gripping new 13-part medical drama premiering Friday, Oct. 13 at 9 p.m. on CBC Television.

Set in Johannesburg, South Africa, JOZI-H is about the personal struggles faced by a varied team of international doctors, surgeons and nurses, dedicated to saving lives at the world’s highest profile emergency medicine facility-Johannesburg Metropolitan Hospital. Filled with complex characters and intriguing storylines, the series is set in an intense crucible of culture clashes that sets it apart from any medical series ever produced.

JOZI-H’s reputation for trauma work is legendary. Overseas professionals would give anything for the privilege of training there. It’s where modern western medicine meets traditional African healing; where ground-breaking HIV/AIDS research leads the way in search of a cure; where diseases no longer found in the western world remain a deadly challenge; and the volume of violent crime forces interns to become world experts on trauma in weeks, rather than years. Most of the medical team-originally from Canada, the U.S. and Britain-are on their own personal â€œtour of dutyâ€. They struggle to deal with the challenges of life, love and medicine against an intense, ever-changing landscape.

Vincent Walsh (Hemingway vs. Callaghan) stars as Dr. Russ Monsour. Hiding the fact that he’s half native, the recently divorced Winnipeg doctor wishes to disappear into a place where no one knows him. Sarah Allen (Booky Makes Her Mark) is Jenny Langford, a paediatric surgical registrar posted for six months in South Africa. With an inflexible bureaucracy standing in the way, Dr. Langford has to fight for the drugs to treat her young HIV/AIDS patients, while acting as single mother for her own child born with spinal bifida. These foreign surgeons, along with a local mix of doctors and nurses, band together to form an overworked, underpaid and over-dedicated team of health care workers. Their backgrounds are diverse and their pasts incomparable, yet each is united in an effort to heal all those who enter the hospital.

Continue reading Upcoming series: Jozi-H premieres Oct. 13 on CBC →