| Genre: | Crime drama |
| Executive Producer: | Chris Haddock Laszlo Barna |
| Creator: | Chris Haddock |
| Starring: | Nicholas Campbell Suleka Mathew Sarah-Jane Redmond Donnelly Rhodes Venus Terzo Camille Sullivan Ian Tracey Gwynyth Walsh Robert Wisden |
| Country: | Canada |
| Language: | English |
| Num Seasons: | 7 |
| Num Episodes: | 91 |
| List Episodes: | List of Da Vinci's Inquest episodes |
| Runtime: | 45 minutes per episode |
| Related: | Da Vinci's City Hall |
Da Vinci's Inquest is a Canadian crime drama 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.
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.
See main article: List of Da Vinci's Inquest episodes.
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. Each episode of the series cost $1 million.[3]
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.
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.
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.
Acorn Media UK has released the first three seasons on DVD in Region 1 (US only).[4]
In Canada, Alliance Atlantis released the first season on DVD on 14 October 2003.[5] Season 2 was released on 3 February 2009 by Alliance Films, more than five years after the release of the first season.[6]
| DVD Name | Ep# | Region 1 (US) | Region 1 (CAN) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season 1 | 13 | February 27, 2007 | October 14, 2003 | |
| Season 2 | 13 | November 13, 2007 | February 3, 2009 | |
| Season 3 | 13 | June 10, 2008 | N/A |
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.
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.
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.