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Dragons' Den, Featured, Heartland, Murdoch Mysteries, The Nature of Things

CBC sets fall 2025 premiere dates for more than 30 new and returning original Canadian series

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From a media release:

CBC today announced streaming and broadcast premiere dates for its fall 2025 slate of new and returning programming on CBC Gem and CBC TV, including more than 30 original series and specials from Canadian creators, producers, and storytellers reflecting people, places and perspectives from across the country. The first episode of all series will be available to stream on CBC Gem starting at 9 a.m. ET on their premiere dates noted below with a new episode available weekly at the same time, unless otherwise specified. CBC TV local broadcast times are noted in parentheses (for Newfoundland and Labrador, please add half an hour to all times).

New Canadian Original Series

LOCALS WELCOME New Factual Series (10×30) – Premieres Sunday, October 5 (9 p.m.)

LOCALS WELCOME is a celebration of the lesser-known food places that make up the fabric of Canada’s rich and diverse communities. Hosted by food writer Suresh Doss, the series puts food back where it belongs: in a take-out container. Outside a strip mall. On the hood of a parked car. From his home base of Scarborough, Suresh will zig zag across Toronto, explore Montreal and even journey to Richmond, BC – all in service of helping Canadians understand the fascinating and transformative power of the foods that connect us all. Featured special guests include Matty Matheson, Ann Pornel and David Schwartz.

THE ASSEMBLY New Factual Series (6×30 on CBC Gem, 3×60 on CBC TV) – Premieres Thursday, November 6 (9 p.m.)

In each episode of this unique entertainment series based on the hit international format, one of Canada’s most popular celebrities and public figures faces a group of 30 atypical interviewers, all on the autism spectrum. Featured celebrity guests include Jann Arden, Allan Hawco, Howie Mandel, and Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, with more to be announced.

Returning Series

CORONATION STREET – ongoing (weekdays at 7 p.m.; Fridays at 7:30 p.m.)

THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES (21×30) Season 33 – Premieres Tuesday, September 16 (8 p.m.)

JUST FOR LAUGHS GAGS (11×30) – Premieres Tuesday, September 16 (8:30 p.m.)

THE NEW WAVE OF STANDUP Season 6 (4×30) – Premieres Tuesday, September 16 at 9:30 p.m. on CBC TV (all episodes available beginning Friday, August 29 on CBC Gem)

THE PASSIONATE EYE (9×60 + 1×120) – Premieres Wednesday, September 17 (8 p.m., 9 p.m. beginning September 24)

THE PASSIONATE EYE returns with a new season of thought-provoking original documentaries, beginning with LILITH FAIR: BUILDING A MYSTERY, telling the story of and challenges faced by the groundbreaking music festival started by iconic Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan and her team in the late 1990s.

DRAGONS’ DEN Season 20 (12×60) – Premieres Thursday, September 25 (8 p.m.)

In this milestone 20th anniversary season, DRAGONS’ DEN welcomes Celebrity Guest Dragon, Drew Scott, Property Brother and Co-Founder of Scott Brothers Global, and revisits some of the most memorable deals from the past two decades, spotlighting exciting new innovations and sharing stories from entrepreneurs that represent the best of Canada.

PLAN B Season 3 (6×60) – Premieres Thursday, September 25 at 9 p.m. on CBC TV (streaming now on CBC Gem)

HEARTLAND Season 19 (10×60) – Premieres Sunday, October 5 (7 p.m.)

THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW Season 9 (8×60) – Premieres Sunday, October 5 (8 p.m.)

FAMILY FEUD CANADA – (64×30) Season 7 – Premieres Monday, October 6 (7:30 p.m.), airing four nights a week, Monday to Thursday

MURDOCH MYSTERIES Season 19 (21×60) – Premieres Monday, October 6 (8 p.m.)

THE NATURE OF THINGS Season 65 (14×60) – Premieres Wednesday, October 29 (8 p.m.)

FOR THE CULTURE WITH AMANDA PARRIS Season 2 (6×60) – All episodes available beginning November 28 on CBC Gem

Heartland

CBC News

ABOUT THAT WITH ANDREW CHANG (11×30) – Premieres Friday, September 19 at 8:30 p.m. on CBC TV (Available weekday mornings on CBC Gem and the CBC News streaming channel)

MARKETPLACE Season 53 (15×30) – Premieres Friday, September 26 (8 p.m.)

THE FIFTH ESTATE Season 51 (14×60) – Premieres Friday, October 10 (9 p.m.)

THE NATIONAL – ongoing (live at 10 p.m. weekdays and Sundays on CBC TV and CBC Gem)

CBC’s flagship national newscast with Chief Correspondent Adrienne Arsenault (Monday – Thursday), guest hosts on Friday and Ian Hanomansing on Sunday.

CBC MORNING LIVE WITH HEATHER HISCOX (Weekday mornings on CBC News Network)

After 20 years of bringing Canadians the news they need as they start their day, on November 6 Heather Hiscox bids farewell in front of a live audience at the CBC Broadcast Centre in Toronto. More details to be announced soon.

POWER & POLITICS WITH DAVID COCHRANE (Weeknights on CBC News Network)

HANOMANSING TONIGHT (Weeknights on CBC News Network)

ROSEMARY BARTON LIVE (Sundays on CBC TV and CBC News Network)

CBC Sports

CBC SPORTS PRESENTS – ongoing (live on Saturday and Sunday afternoons on CBC TV and CBC Gem)

Looking ahead to Team Canada’s participation at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026, CBC SPORTS will continue to follow high-performance winter sport athletes including at Skate Canada International (Oct. 31 – Nov. 2 in Saskatoon) and IBSF Bobsleigh & Skeleton World Cups (Nov. 21 – Jan. 18 across various European venues). The fall season also includes the World Boxing Championships (Sept. 4-14 in Liverpool), 2025 World Athletics Championships (Sept. 12-21 in Tokyo), World Rowing Championships (Sept. 20-28 in Shanghai) and the World Aquatics Swimming World Cup (Oct. 23-25 in Toronto). CBC SPORTS will once again offer coverage of the U Sports Championships (Oct. 29 – Nov 22 and March 5-22), including the Vanier Cup (Nov. 22 in Regina), showcasing Canada’s top university and college athletes, as well as the remaining games of the Northern Super League inaugural season, including the first-ever NSL championship game (Nov. 15 in Toronto).

The Assembly

CBC Kids Originals

HEY JOOJO! New Live-Action Series – Premieres Monday, September 1 on CBC TV

A brand new live-action short-format series for kids aged 4-6 that peeks into the everyday adventures of Joojo (Joojo Paintsil), his cousin Gary the Unicorn, and their friendly neighbours in their funky apartment home, with guest stars including Canadian icon Mike Myers, and kids TV veteran Patty Sullivan.

THE UNSTOPPABLE JENNY GARCIA New Tween Series (8×12) – All episodes available beginning Friday, September 5 on CBC Gem

Written by Catherine Hernandez (novel Scarborough and its film adaptation) for a tween audience, THE UNSTOPPABLE JENNY GARCIA follows a 13-year-old hip-hop dancer as her life is disrupted by the news that she has Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and she must navigate a new path full of treatments and hospital stays while trying to make room for friends and fun.

TOOPY & BINOO – FABULOUS ADVENTURES Animated Series Reboot (39×7) – Premieres Saturday, October 25 on CBC TV and CBC Gem

A reboot of the iconic Canadian preschool buddy comedy for CBC/Radio-Canada brings back the delightful duo of Toopy, the clumsy mouse, and Binoo, the quiet cat. This 2D-animated series will introduce new imaginative stories and whimsical adventures to a fresh generation of viewers, continuing the legacy of the original.

DINO RANCH: ISLAND EXPLORERS New Animated Series (26×22) – Premieres Saturday, November 8 on CBC TV and CBC Gem

This DINO RANCH spinoff sees the Cassidy Kids, also known as The Dino Ranchers, embark on the adventure of a lifetime on legendary Dino Island, a lost world teeming with undiscovered dinosaurs and mysterious locations.

IT’S ANDREW! (formerly known as ANDREW THE BIG BIG UNICORN) New Animated Series (40×7) – Premieres Friday, December 5 on CBC Gem and Wednesday, December 10 on CBC TV

This new animated series for CBC/Radio-Canada and ABC Australia follows Andrew, a wide-eyed, joyful young rhino bursting with creativity as he navigates life as a big BIG unicorn in the ever-surprising world of Hornsby Downs.

Returning Kids Series

MINI-JON AND MINI-MAPLE Season 3 (36×4) – Premieres Monday, September 1 on CBC Gem and Monday, September 8 on CBC TV

JEREMY & JAZZY Season 3 (22×2) – Premieres Monday, September 1 on CBC Gem and Monday, September 8 on CBC TV

PLAYING WITH STU Season 2 (11×1) – Premieres Monday, September 1 on CBC Gem and Monday, September 8 on CBC TV

GO TOGO Season 2 (31×5) – Premieres Monday, December 1 on CBC Gem and CBC TV

Images courtesy of CBC

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Featured, Plan B

Preview: Tragic time-travel series Plan B returns for Season 3 on CBC Gem

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If you could, would you go back in time and stop something tragic from happening to a family member? That’s the premise behind Season 3 of Plan B.

Returning on Friday at 9 a.m. with new characters and a new cast, CBC Gem’s sci-fi drama once again questions whether we should try to change the past.

Abigail (Carolina Bartczak, Painkiller) seems to have it all. She’s the host of a popular morning TV show, champions women’s mental health rights, is approached to run for political office, hangs with her girlfriends regularly and seems to have a great relationship with her 15-year-old daughter, Lucy (Arianna Shannon).

But that all changes, tragically, when Lucy takes her own life.

Reeling from grief, Abigail turns to the Plan B Agency, hoping that going back in time will mean she can prevent Lucy’s death. Of course, it’s not that simple. The strength of Plan B has always been its “what if” question. What if I chose to do things differently? Would it have saved my marriage, my career, my child? Just watching Plan B makes me wonder what I could have changed if I’d made different decisions in my life. Would I be doing something else? Living somewhere else?

Plan B‘s other strength is the calibre of its cast. Leads Patrick J. Adams, Karine Vanasse, Vinessa Antoine and Vincent Leclerc knocked it out of the park in the first two seasons, and Carolina Bartczak keeps the streak alive in Season 3. Watching Abigail’s emotional highs in the first minutes of Episode 1 plummet to the ultimate low by episode’s end is stunning to watch. Her confusion, her shock and her loss are palpable. Co-star Arnold Pinnock (The Porter), as Nick, is up to the task too, bellowing in rage and despair when he sees his unresponsive daughter.

It doesn’t take long for Abigail and Nick to learn how secretive Lucy has been. That friend Lucy was supposed to be staying with? She hasn’t seen Lucy all summer. Her snarky attitude and retorts to Abigail were an unseen hint that not all was good in Lucy’s world.

And so, as in previous seasons, Abigail turns to the Plan B Agency, hoping that turning back time will heal wounds and reverse what has happened. Abigail quickly finds out, however, that leaving the past behind and looking towards the future may have been a better option.

Plan B returns Friday at 9 a.m. Eastern on CBC Gem.

Image courtesy of CBC.

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Featured, Plan B

Production now underway on the third season of CBC anthology series Plan B

From a media release:

CBC and KOTV today announced that production is now underway in Montreal on a third season of the time-bending anthology drama series PLAN B (6×60). An adaptation of the popular French-language drama series of the same name (now in its fourth season for Radio-Canada), the new season will focus on a new story, starring Carolina Bartczak (Painkiller, X-Men: Apocalypse), Arnold Pinnock (The Porter, Combat Hospital) and Ennis Esmer (Children Ruin Everything, Blindspot). Additional casting includes Arianna Shannon making her screen debut, as well as Jaeden Noel (Orphan Black: Echoes, Invasion), Carolyn Taylor (Baroness von Sketch Show, I Have Nothing) and Grace Lynn Kung (Sort Of, Fallout).

In Season 3 of PLAN B, Abigail Walker (Bartczak), the host of Canada’s top morning TV show, grapples with the devastating loss of her teenage daughter, Lucy (Shannon), to suicide. Tormented by grief and regret, Abigail uses the Plan B Agency to embark on a series of time-traveling journeys, desperate to alter the past and prevent Lucy’s tragic fate. As she attempts to protect Lucy from the toxic relationships that contributed to her downward spiral, Abigail’s actions create ripples that affect not only Lucy’s life but also the lives of those around her. Abigail’s pursuit of a better outcome for Lucy leads her to confront painful truths about her own past, her relationships, and the choices she’s made both for her daughter and for herself. She must navigate the complexities of time travel, grappling with the ethical implications of altering the lives of others. But as Abigail travels deeper into the past, she discovers that the true meaning of love and sacrifice may lie in accepting the unchangeable.

Season 1 of PLAN B, starring Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse, and Season 2, starring Vinessa Antoine, offer gripping, reality-altering drama with unique storylines, showcasing characters navigating life’s what-ifs and second chances. Audiences can watch both seasons on the free CBC Gem streaming service.

A CBC original series, PLAN B is produced by Quebec-based production company KOTV. Jean-François Asselin, who co-created the original French-language series, co-directs with Marianne Farley, and also co-writes with Celeste Parr, for this English adaptation. Asselin & Parr also serve as Showrunners and Executive Producers, alongside Louis Morissette. For KOTV, Louis-Philippe Drolet, Mélanie Viau and Jacques Drolet are Executive Producers and Marie-Claude Beaulieu is Producer.

For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports; Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content; Sarah Adams is Director of Current Production, Drama; and Nicola Makoway is Executive in Charge of Production.

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Plan B

Vinessa Antoine, Vincent Leclerc and Sarah Booth to star in the second season of the CBC original drama series Plan B

From a media release:

CBC today announced a second season of the time-bending original drama series PLAN B (6×60) from KOTV. An adaptation of the popular French-language drama series of the same name (now in its fourth season for Radio-Canada), season 2 will focus on a completely new story, starring Vinessa Antoine (Diggstown, Interrogation), Vincent Leclerc (lxe-13, The Revenant), and Sarah Booth (Three Pines, Heartland).

The new season follows Mia Coleman (Antoine), a Montreal police officer. Mia is approaching her fortieth birthday and grieving the end of her relationship with her ex, and her ex’s son, whom she embraced as her own. At work, the constant injustice she faces gnaws at her own sense of purpose. Mia’s already tumultuous life is turned upside-down when a seemingly routine intervention in a family crisis involving Paul (Leclerc) and Keri Whitman (Booth) results in the worst imaginable outcome. What if Mia and her partner Tyler had the evidence that would have prevented this life-altering event? Through Plan B, a strange agency that can take her back in time, Mia will stop at nothing to prevent a family tragedy, and will embark on a journey during which she’ll delve deep into her own psyche, confronting buried emotions and an unresolved past. Could Mia’s chosen path be a desperate but subconscious attempt to heal her own wounds? Season 2 of PLAN B explores the mind of a woman who, in her efforts to change a family’s destiny, discovers her own.

A CBC original production, PLAN B is produced by Quebec-based production company KOTV, with international distribution by Red Arrow Studios International. Jean-François Asselin, who co-created the original French-language series, directs and also co-writes, with Celeste Parr, this English adaptation. Asselin also serves as Showrunner and Executive Producer, alongside Louis Morissette. For KOTV, Louis-Philippe Drolet, Celeste Parr, Mélanie Viau, Jacques Drolet and Aisling “Ash” Chin-Yee are Executive Producers. For CBC, Sally Catto is General Manager, Entertainment, Factual & Sports; Trish Williams is Executive Director, Scripted Content; Sarah Adams is Director of Current Production, Drama; and Nicola Makoway is Executive in Charge of Production.

Plan B Internationally
The French series is enjoying great success on the international market. Adapted and broadcast by TF1 in France in May 2021, the made-for-France adaptation of the series starring Julie De Bona rose to the top of the charts. In Flemish Belgium, the adaptation broadcast in March 2021 was also a great success. Additionally, Season 2 won Best Scripted Format at the 2020 C21 International Format Awards.

Pier-Luc Funk (Genesis, Matthias & Maxime) stars in Season 4 of the original Quebecois version of the series. This new season is available in the Vero.tv section of ICI Tou.tv Extra and currently airing on ICI Télé.

About KOTV
For over a decade, Montreal-based company KOTV has partnered with renowned creators to bring a multitude of programs in fiction, documentary, variety, magazine and youth to the screen. A leader in the field of production, adaptation and television distribution, KOTV is distinguished by its ability to renew itself. Its ambitions know no borders and the company continues to ascend by opening up to new markets via original English-language productions through international co-productions, and by exploiting its drama and variety formats around the world.

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Plan B

Links: Plan B, Season 1

From Brendan Kelly of the Montreal Gazette:

Link: Take 2 for Plan B: CBC time-travel series keeps original’s Montreal flavour
There’s a new drama series premièring next week on CBC, and in a most unusual twist for the English-Canadian national TV networks, the show is clearly set right here in Montreal. Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Previewing CBC’s Plan B
It’s a heady, often uncomfortable watch in the way marriage dramas often are. That said, Adams and Vanasse are always welcome on our TVs and they go deep on the material here. Continue reading.

From Debra Yeo of the Toronto Star:

Link: Patrick J. Adams stars in CBC’s new drama ‘Plan B,’ a fitting followup to his ‘Suits’ stint
There are a couple of different types of time travel going on in new TV drama “Plan B”: the make-believe type that happens in a van that drives backwards, and the kind that stars Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse had to do in their heads on set. Continue reading.

From Ron Johnson of Streets of Toronto:

Link: Patrick J. Adams dishes on new anti-romance TV show
“I was really drawn to this concept of a perfectionist writ large — a guy who needs everything to just be just right — and on an almost obsessive scale.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse talk CBC’s Plan B
“I was a little worried at first because my instinct was, ‘Well, are we just remaking what you made in English?’ Because in my experience, that can often kind of be folly. It doesn’t always work.” Continue reading.

From Heather M. of The Televixen:

Link: Patrick J. Adams and Karine Vanasse talk navigating relationships in Plan B
“There’d be a much simpler way to deal with this rather than going back in time. But I guess Phil’s not interested in simple. There’s so much presumption in that and you just end up going so far in a direction rather than just stopping and listening and connecting to your partner, which Philip just cannot do until it’s too late in this circumstance.” Continue reading.

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