The Border (TV series)

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The Border
Image:The Border Intertitle.jpg
The Border title screen
Genre Drama
Created by Jerremy Hole
Janet MacLean
Peter Raymont
Lindalee Tracy
Starring James McGowan
Sofia Milos
Graham Abbey
Jonas Chernick
Nazneen Contractor
Mark Wilson
Jim Codrington
Catherine Disher
Composer(s) Mark Korven
Country of origin Flag of Canada Canada
Language(s) English
No. of seasons 1
No. of episodes 13 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s) Janet MacLean
David Barlow
Brain Dennis
Story editor(s) Denis McGrath
Editor(s) Christopher Donaldson
Cinematography Gavin Smith
Running time 45 mins. approx.
Broadcast
Original channel CBC Television
Picture format 480i (SDTV)
1080i (HDTV)
Original run January 7, 2008 – Present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

The Border is a Canadian drama airing on CBC Television. Created by Peter Raymont, Lindalee Tracey, Janet MacLean and Jeremy Hole of White Pine Pictures; produced by Canadian documentary film director Peter Raymont; and directed by Philip Earnshaw.[1][2] The first season had a total budget of $18 million dollars.[3]

The series is set in post-9/11 Toronto and follows agents of the Immigration and Customs Security (ICS) agency. ICS was created by the Government of Canada to deal with trans-border matters concerning Canadian national security including terrorism and smuggling.

The 13 episodes were aired on the CBC for 13 consecutive weeks.[4][5] The first episode aired on January 7, 2008. On March 7, 2008, CBC announced they have ordered a second season of The Border.

Contents

[edit] Cast

Main article: List of The Border characters
Name Portrayed by
Mike Kessler James McGowan
Bianca LaGarda Sofia Milos
Gray Jackson Graham Abbey
Layla Hourani Nazneen Contractor
Hieronymous Slade Jonas Chernick
Maggie Norton Catherine Disher
Al 'Moose' Lipinsky Mark Wilson
Darnell Williams Jim Codrington
Andrew Mannering Nigel Bennett

[edit] Elements

[edit] Immigration and Customs Security

Immigration and Customs Security (French: Sécurité de l'immigration et des douanes) is based in Toronto, with its headquarters in a formerly used ferry terminal used for the former Rochester fast ferry.[6]

ICS is led by Major Mike Kessler, an ex-Special forces operator in Joint Task Force 2.

[edit] Fighting Terrorism and Crime

Sofia Milos, who plays Bianca LaGarda, had said that The Border demonstrates how people should be fighting against crime and terrorism of all types. She said that the show hopefully would make a dialogue with viewers and ask themselves if they "believe in your government? Whose point of view is right? There is a border between justice and crime.", hence the show's title.[7]

Another viewpoint in the show is the reference between the American and Canadian ways of handling situation involving criminal and terrorist suspects. The show highlights typical American pragmatism in handling a situation with Canadians going all the extra mile to ensure that an innocent person is not in their way while conducting anti-terrorist duties.[8]

[edit] Production Influences

Lindalee Tracey had been following immigration issues before she had started to work with her husband, Peter Raymont, starting with the National Magazine Award-winning article The Uncounted Canadians written for Toronto Life in 1991 with the 1997 documentary Invisible Nation on the underground illegal immigrant community in Toronto.[3] She then collaborated with Raymont to create the 2002 documentary The Undefended Border.[3][9] Raymont had used his work on various headlines on the news as basis for the episodes on The Border, in addition to his work on The Undefended Border with research on various immigration issues.[5][3]

Raymont said that the series and the issues in the show are drawn out from issues that currently face Canada and the rest of the world such as the Darfur Crisis, human rights violations in China and trans-national crimes such as pedophiles and international crime rings.[10] He also said that he wanted to show the Canadian perspective in facing national security issues that would affect the country as Raymont wanted to show viewers that Canadians are more understanding and open-minded than the Americans are.[10]

To honor Linda's work on creating the series, Raymont had given cards out to the cast and crew of the show to remind them that they should give credit to his wife, whose photo was on it, for being the driving force of the show as a means of honoring Linda for her work, after she passed away on October 2006 from Breast cancer.[3][11]

[edit] International Syndication

Rights to air The Border had recently been bought by French media company Midnight Media to air the show in France.

Several United States-based television networks have expressed interests to purchase the rights to air the series in American television networks, including ABC, USA, TNT and CBS.[6][9][12] CBC Television had also given a portfolio of its programs to British media company ContentFilm as they are interested to broadcast CBC Television programs to other countries.[13]

The Border has been sold to some undisclosed broadcasters by Fireworks International in Europe.[14]

[edit] Production

Conception of the series had started in 2006 when Peter Raymont and his late wife, Lindalee Tracey, were commissioned by CBC Television to do a television series five year after the September 11, 2001 attacks.[3][15] Raymont had said that The Border is similar, but a bit different from "24 with a conscience."[3][11]

According to Kristine Layfield, the CBC executive director of network programming, it was fortunate that the show had aired on January 7, 2008 as the Writer's Guild of America-led strikes continue to go on in the United States as it would give the audience something different from watch, especially if CBC Television would benefit from the strikes in order to gain more viewers.[6][16]

James McGowan had said that he eagerly agreed to be casted as the show's protagonist after meeting with Raymont and Tracey because "Their humanity really influences this show ... it's their convictions that are at the heart of the whole show".[17]

Production of The Border had hit some problems in Oshawa, Ontario where residents expressed concern when a Piaggio P.180 Avanti twin-engine plane landed near Stevenson Road, which was located near Oshawa Municipal Airport.[18][6] The plane's presence, as well the filming of gunfire scenes, had prompted residents to make calls regarding its unusual appearance in the area.[6] Oshawa Municipal Airport manager Stephen Wilcox, in a press statement, assured the public on the events in Oshawa that "Today is the one day it's OK if you see a plane on the road."[6]

[edit] Set

For the set of the fictional headquarters of the Immigration and Customs Service, The Border production crew had used the abandoned Rochester fast ferry building that fell to disuse in January, 2006.[6] Brian Dennis, one of the producers on The Border commented that the use of the abandoned ferry building was "great, it was a production designer's dream" since the interior of the building had "customs hall and the interrogation rooms that are brand, spanking new and the jail cells."[6]

[edit] Reception

In its series premiere, the drama was able to draw 710,000 viewers.[19] This news had pleased Kirstine Layfield. In a press release, she said that she is optimistic that "with the numbers given the difficulty Canadian dramas have in trying to tear viewers' attention away from U.S. fare".[20]

In the second week, the show drew out 600,000 viewers.[21] This was a contrast to the first week, with a difference of 110,000 viewers. The ratings had improved when on January 30, 2008, around 760,000 viewers had watched the show.[22]

Ratings dropped to its lowest on February 20, 2008 when 548,000 viewers turned up to watch The Border.[23] Ratings improved again when on February 25, 2008, 716,000 viewers watched The Border.[24]

In iTunes Canada, The Border was among the Top 30 downloads with numbers around 800,000.[22]

A second season is set to be possibly commissioned in the 2008/2009 fiscal year due to the recent success of the drama.

[edit] Criticism

In a February 4, 2008 article of the National Post, it blasted the show on the basis that it had some elements way too similar to the American show 24.[25] There had been some claims of Anti-Americanism bias in the show via Bianca LaGarda and the portrayal of the American government.[26][8]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Crossing those acting borders. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  2. ^ Longtime documentarian Peter Raymont in spotlight with new film, TV show. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 24, but with a conscience. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  4. ^ AWARD-WINNING CAST AND CREW TACKLE INTERNATIONAL SECURITY CRISES. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  5. ^ a b Raymont on The Border. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  6. ^ a b c d e f g h On location with The Border. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  7. ^ Toeing the Line With The Border. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  8. ^ a b Different show, same message. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  9. ^ a b Raymont makes leap into drama with The Border. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  10. ^ a b Canada launches its first TV show on border security, complete with a Canuck spin. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  11. ^ a b '‘The Border'’; CBC’s eagerly anticipated series premieres as American shows are in reruns. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  12. ^ Cross Border Election Win. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  13. ^ CBC quietly sells off catalogue of programs to British company. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  14. ^ Fireworks' Border crosses into Europe. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  15. ^ Hot Box: TV to talk about. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  16. ^ U.S. strike may deliver Canadian TV homeruns. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  17. ^ CBC premiering slick new show The Border. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  18. ^ Series lands in Oshawa. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  19. ^ Strong start for CBC's mid-season. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  20. ^ Ratings cheer CBC. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  21. ^ Thanks. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  22. ^ a b Hot Box: Television worth talking about. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  23. ^ MVP DOA; Viewers Went With Women. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  24. ^ Viewers Run Back to The Border. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  25. ^ Bullet-proof vetted. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.
  26. ^ Dead Things ON Sticks: The Border Bias?. Retrieved on 2008-04-02.

[edit] External links