Da Vinci's Inquest

Da Vinci's Inquest is a Canadian dramatic television series which originally aired on CBC Television from 1998 to 2005. While never a ratings blockbuster, the critically acclaimed show did attract a loyal following, and ultimately seven seasons of thirteen episodes each were filmed for a total of ninety-one episodes.

Da Vinci's Inquest
GenreCrime drama
Created byChris Haddock
StarringNicholas Campbell
Suleka Mathew
Sarah-Jane Redmond
Donnelly Rhodes
Venus Terzo
Camille Sullivan
Ian Tracey
Gwynyth Walsh
Robert Wisden
Country of originCanada
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons7
No. of episodes91 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producersChris Haddock
Laszlo Barna
Running time45 minutes per episode
Production companies
Release
Original network
Original releaseOctober 7, 1998 (1998-10-07) –
January 23, 2005 (2005-01-23)
Related
Da Vinci's City Hall

The show, set and filmed in Vancouver, starred Nicholas Campbell as Dominic Da Vinci, once an undercover officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, but now a crusading coroner who seeks justice in the cases he investigates.[1][2]

The cast also included Gwynyth Walsh as Da Vinci's ex-wife and chief pathologist Patricia Da Vinci, Donnelly Rhodes as detective Leo Shannon, and Ian Tracey as detective Mick Leary.

Premise

Dominic Da Vinci, once an undercover officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, is now a crusading coroner who seeks justice in the cases he investigates.

Episodes
Main article: List of Da Vinci's Inquest episodes
SeriesEpisodesOriginally aired
First airedLast aired
1137 October 1998 (1998-10-07)3 February 1999 (1999-02-03)
2136 October 1999 (1999-10-06)19 January 2000 (2000-01-19)
3134 October 2000 (2000-10-04)6 February 2001 (2001-02-06)
41330 September 2001 (2001-09-30)21 January 2002 (2002-01-21)
51327 October 2002 (2002-10-27)23 February 2003 (2003-02-23)
61323 November 2003 (2003-11-23)4 April 2004 (2004-04-04)
71312 October 2004 (2004-10-12)23 January 2005 (2005-01-23)

Cast

Main
  • Nicholas Campbell as Coroner (Mayor in season 8) Dominic Da Vinci
  • Suleka Mathew as Dr. Sunita "Sunny" Ramen (credited as "Sue Mathew" in the first season) (seasons 1–5 & beginning of season 6)
  • Donnelly Rhodes as Detective Leo Shannon (seasons 1–7)
  • Venus Terzo as Detective Angela Kosmo
  • Ian Tracey as Detective (Coroner in season 8) Mick Leary
  • Gwynyth Walsh as Dr. Patricia Da Vinci (seasons 1–4)
  • Robert Wisden as Chief Coroner James Flynn (seasons 1–2 & beginning of 3)
  • Sarah-Jane Redmond as Sergeant Sheila Kurtz (seasons 3–7, recurring in seasons 2 and 8)
  • Gerard Plunkett as Chief Coroner [formerly Crown Prosecutor] Bob Kelly (seasons 3–7; recurring in seasons 1–2 and 8)
  • Kimberly Hawthorne as Detective Rose Williams (credited as "Kim Hawthorne") (seasons 4–7)
  • Alex Diakun as Forensics Detective Chick Savoy (seasons 5–8, recurring in 1–4)
  • Sarah Strange as Helen (seasons 5–7, recurring in 1–4)
  • Simone Bailly as Constable Jan Ferris (season 8)
  • Brian Markinson as Police Chief Bill Jacobs (season 8; recurring in seasons 6–7)
  • Mylène Dinh-Robic as Rita Mah (season 8)
  • Benjamin Ratner as Sam Berger (season 8)

Recurring

Production

Da Vinci's Inquest was loosely based on the real life experiences of Larry Campbell, the former chief coroner of Vancouver, British Columbia, who was elected mayor of that city in 2002. The part of Da Vinci, however, was written specifically for actor Nicholas Campbell. Elements of the series storylines were also taken from sociopolitical issues faced by Vancouver itself, such as the plight of the homeless, the controversy over a designated injection site for drug users, the idea of establishing a red light district, and the disappearance of homeless women and sex workers — similar to the case of Robert Pickton.

Format

Da Vinci's Inquest is notable for its unconventional story formats. Unlike most crime dramas, many cases on Da Vinci's Inquest aren't fully explained, and some aren't even solved; often the episodes end with the resolution implied or withheld entirely. Many of the show's fans hail this characteristic as one of its finest qualities. Also unusual is its handling of story arcs. Some arcs span the length of one or more seasons, but aren't touched on at all for several episodes at a time, similar to the Mythology / Monster of the Week format of The X-Files (which was also a Vancouver production, though not at the same time as Da Vinci's Inquest); several main and many guest actors appeared on both shows. An exception to this is Season 7, which features at least three main plots that are addressed in every episode. Two episodes, Season 3's "It's Backwards Day" and Season 4's "Pretend You Didn't See Me," are notable for their extended opening takes, which follow Da Vinci as he walks around a location and speaks with multiple characters in one continuous, ten-minute shot; the former episode is also noted for playing out largely in real time.

Major story arcs include: Da Vinci's attempts to balance his work life with his ex-wife and daughter, as well as his battles with alcoholism; Leo Shannon struggling to care for his mentally ill wife and facing pressure to retire from the force; the relocation of an old mental hospital's cemetery and the intrigue that follows; Sunny overseeing an archaeological dig at a construction site; Angela Kosmo's battle with a corrupt Vice cop and the teenage prostitute who tries to manipulate both of them; and Da Vinci's quest to establish a red light district and safe injection site to protect the sex workers and drug addicts of Vancouver, which leads him to run first for police chief and then mayor. The sex trade is a recurring theme throughout the entire series, and early season premieres and finales center around high numbers of homicides where prostitutes are the victims, which often turn out to be the work of a serial killer. Relationships between characters (such as Da Vinci's many romantic flings and that between Mick Leary and Sunny Ramen) are left in the background of or take place between episodes.

In Internet fandom, the plot line following Mick Leary's downward spiral into depression after an unstable female constable infatuated with him commits suicide is often considered one of the most powerful and best-written arcs in the entire series by many fans.

Availability outside Canada

United States

The original run of Da Vinci's Inquest was always available in certain U.S. markets (e.g., Seattle) where the CBC could be viewed either over the air or on cable. It made its formal U.S. debut, however, the week of September 17, 2005, when it was already in syndication after the original run. The show has continued to air in syndication, along with multiple networks (including Retro TV, Cloo, WGN America, and Court TV Mystery) due to its low-cost syndication arrangement. The series is distributed in the United States by PPI Releasing, a large distributor of Canadian programming to the American market.

Other countries

In Australia, the series aired late Monday nights on the Nine Network, and its affiliates WIN (although on a different night) and NBN, and later on 13th Street. It has also been aired in late night slots on RTÉ One in Ireland. In Iceland, Skjár einn has aired the show in various slots, including Saturday evening.

Home media

DVD

Acorn Media UK has released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 1 (US only).[3]

In Canada, Alliance Atlantis released the first season on DVD on 14 October 2003.[4] Season 2 was released on 3 February 2009 by Alliance Films, more than five years after the release of the first season.[5]

DVD NameEp#Region 1 (US)Region 1 (CAN)
Season 113February 27, 2007October 14, 2003
Season 213November 13, 2007February 3, 2009
Season 313June 10, 2008N/A

Streaming

Season One is available on Amazon Prime. As of 2017, season one has been released online for free on Canada Media Fund's Encore+ YouTube Channel.

Awards and nominations

Nicholas Campbell received the Gemini Award for Best Performance in a Continuing Leading Dramatic Role for his work on the series and has guest-starred in American shows such as Monk and T.J. Hooker. Donnelly Rhodes also received a Gemini Award for Best Actor in 2002 and the Earle Grey Award in 2006. The series was critically acclaimed as the best television series in Canada after winning the Gemini Award for Best Dramatic Series for five of its first six seasons. When Da Vinci's Inquest completed its seventh and final season, it was continued in 2005 as Da Vinci's City Hall. In 2002, actress Keegan Connor Tracy won a Leo Award for her guest appearance in Season 4's "Pretend You Didn't See Me" and was brought back for a second appearance in 2005.

Da Vinci's City Hall and TV movies

In Canada, a spin-off series, Da Vinci's City Hall, premiered on 25 October 2005.

In the U.S., Da Vinci's City Hall airs as part of the Da Vinci's Inquest rerun package, regarded as the eighth season of the series (even using the titles from the last three seasons of Inquest instead of the titles for City Hall). City Hall debuted in the U.S. on Superstation WGN on April 27, 2007, and released into national syndication to local stations, also as part of Da Vinci's Inquest, on November 4, 2007.

A TV movie following up on the two series, The Quality of Life, aired on CBC on 14 June 2008.

References
  1. Rosenberg, Alyssa (2010-09-15). "'Da Vinci's Inquest': A Crime Show Set In ... Vancouver". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  2. Heffernan, Tim (2008-06-16). "The Best TV Cop Show Is...Canadian?". Esquire. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  3. Hale, Mike (2007-11-25). "'CSI: Vancouver'? Well, Not Exactly". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  4. "Da Vinci's Inquest: The Complete First Season". 3 February 2009. Archived from the original on 2016-03-08. Retrieved 2018-04-25 – via Amazon.
  5. "Da Vinci's Inquest: The Complete Second Season". 18 March 2008. Archived from the original on 2010-08-12. Retrieved 2018-04-25.
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