Cold Squad is a
CanadianTelevision in Canada officially began with the opening of the nation's first television stations in Montreal and Toronto in 1952. As with most media in Canada, the television industry, and the television programming available in that country, are strongly influenced by the American media, perhaps...
police proceduralThe police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
televisionTelevision is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
series first broadcast in 1998 that followed the investigations of a part of the
Vancouver Police DepartmentThe Vancouver Police Department is the police force for the City of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada. It is one of several police departments within the Metro Vancouver Area and is the second largest police force in the province after RCMP "E" Division.VPD was the first Canadian police force...
Homicide Division tasked with solving
cold caseCold case refers to a scene of a crime or an accident that has not yet been solved to the full and is not the subject of a recent criminal investigation, but for which new information could emerge from new witness testimony, re-examined archives, retained material evidence, as well as fresh...
s, the titular Cold Squad, as led by Sergeant Ali McCormick (
Julie Stewart- Biography :Julie Stewart studied acting in Montreal at the National Theatre School of Canada and now makes her home in Toronto. She was the star of the Canadian television series Cold Squad. Her credits also include continuing roles in Chasing Rainbows, North of 60 and The Border.- External links :...
).
The cast of
Cold Squad was diverse and changing, McCormick being the only character to appear in all 7 seasons. Some notable series regulars include Detective Tony Logozzo (Michael Hogan) in seasons 1-2, Sgt. Frank Coscarella (
Stephen McHattieStephen McHattie is a Canadian actor.-Life and career:McHattie was born in Antigonish, Nova Scotia....
) in seasons 3-4, Sgt. Len Harper (
Matthew BennettMatthew Ray Bennett is a Canadian actor, writer and director. At the age of 20 he moved from his hometown of Toronto, Ontario to Vancouver, British Columbia to pursue an acting career...
) in seasons 5-7, Insp. Vince Schneider (Jerry Wasserman) season 1, Insp. Simon Ross (
Peter WingfieldPeter Wingfield is a Welsh born television actor, well known for his television roles as Dan Clifford in Holby City, Dr. Robert Helm in Queen of Swords and Inspector Simon Ross in Cold Squad...
) season 2, Insp. Andrew Pawlachuk (Garry Chalk) seasons 3-7, Det. Mickey Kollander (Tamara Craig Thomas) seasons 3-6, Det. Nicco Sevallis (Gregory Calpakis) seasons 3-6, Christine Wren (
Joely CollinsJoely Collins is a Canadian actress.Collins is the daughter of Andrea Bertorelli, and adopted daughter of English musician Phil Collins following their marriage. She was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and studied at The Vancouver Youth Theater, then at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in...
) seasons 4-7, as well as Det. Samantha Walters (
Sonja BennettSonja Bennett is a Canadian actress who portrayed Marcie Brasko in Battlestar Galactica.Born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Bennett has acted in various genre series including Eureka, Stargate Atlantis, Painkiller Jane, The Dead Zone, Cold Squad, as well as other Vancouver filmed television...
) and Const. Ray Chase (
Tahmoh PenikettTahmoh Penikett is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Karl "Helo" Agathon on the Sci Fi Channel's television series Battlestar Galactica and as Paul Ballard in Joss Whedon's Dollhouse'.-Early life:...
) in season 7.
Between the second and third seasons, almost the entire on-screen cast other than Julie Stewart were replaced (although Michael Hogan and Peter Wingfield do appear in the season three 2-part opener Deadly Games). This along with the new sets, a significant revamp of the credits and theme music, and even having McCormick's hair change from auburn to dirty-blonde all contributed to a considerable reworking of the series.
Due to
CTVCTV Television Network is a Canadian English language television network and is owned by Bell Media. It is Canada's largest privately-owned network, and has consistently placed as Canada's top-rated network in total viewers and in key demographics since 2002, after several years trailing the rival...
's sporadic scheduling of the final season, the last episodes of the series initially premiered in their French-dubbed versions on
Séries+Séries+ is a Canadian French language Category A specialty channel devoted to scripted comedy and dramatic programming. The channel is a joint venture between Astral Media and Shaw Media.-History:...
in 2004, long before the English versions of those episodes eventually aired on CTV in the Spring of 2005 as part of a "crime time" block on Saturday nights.
When
Cold Case premiered, the show's similarities to
Cold Squad (including but not limited to a tough female cop with dirty blonde hair leading a team investigating cold cases) led
Cold Squad creators Julia Keatley and Matt MacLeod to retain an
intellectual propertyIntellectual property is a term referring to a number of distinct types of creations of the mind for which a set of exclusive rights are recognized—and the corresponding fields of law...
attorney to look into the situation (CTV also aired
Cold Case as well).
In 2005, Program Partners /
Sony Pictures TelevisionSony Pictures Television, Inc. is an American and global television production/distribution subsidiary of Sony Pictures Entertainment. In turn, the latter is part of the Japanese conglomerate Sony.-Background:...
announced that it had acquired the U.S. syndication rights and began airing the show for the first time for
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
audiences beginning in September 2006.
Cold Squad aired on Sleuth in the US in 2009, and as of fall 2010 still airs in rerun in Canada on
Mystery TVMystery TV is a Canadian English language Category A specialty channel which presents movies and television series of the mystery and suspense genres...
.
DVD release
On September 2, 2003,
Alliance AtlantisAlliance Films is a major Canadian motion picture distribution/production company, which serves Canada, the United Kingdom, and Spain.-History:It was formed in 1984 by Stephen Roth, Denis Heroux, John Kemeny, Robert Lantos and Jay...
released the complete first season of
Cold Squad on DVD in Region 1 (Canada only). This release has been discontinued and is now out of print.
See also
- The Enigma Files
The Enigma Files is a British television detective drama that ran for one series of fifteen episodes in 1980.-Plot summary:The series was a police procedural drama, written by Derek Ingrey, about a Police Officer who has been sidelined from regular duties and, having been placed in charge of a...
, UK / BBC, 1980
- Cold Case Files
Cold Case Files is documentary television series on the cable channel A&E Network hosted by Bill Kurtis that documents the investigation of various long-unsolved murders through the use of modern forensic science , and criminal psychology, in addition to recent breakthroughs in the...
, A&E, 1999
- Waking the Dead
Waking the Dead is a British television police procedural crime drama series produced by the BBC featuring a fictional Cold Case Unit comprising CID police officers, a psychological profiler and a forensic scientist. A pilot episode aired in September 2000 and there have been a total of nine series...
, UK / BBC, 2000
- New Tricks, UK / BBC, 2003
- Cold Case, CBS, 2003