''Terminal City'' was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format ...

about a woman ( Maria del Mar) diagnosed with

breast cancer Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or ...

. She's brought in to star on a failing

reality TV Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

show, turning it into a hit as her life and body begin to change.

Production

Angus Fraser Angus Robert Charles Fraser (born 8 August 1965) is an English cricket administrator. He served as the managing director of Middlesex Cricket between 2009 and 2021, before assuming a new role heading the club's academy He is also a former E ...

, a native of Vancouver, was the director-creator, with

Rachel Talalay Rachel Talalay (born July 16, 1958) is a British-American film and television director and producer. She is also a University of British Columbia film professor. Early life and education Talalay was born in Chicago, Illinois. Her father Paul ...

also brought in as a director. As the writer, Fraser was partly inspired by a close call his mother had with cancer, and his own near-death experience when he was stabbed in the heart as a bouncer. Originally conceived as a

feature film A feature film or feature-length film is a narrative film (motion picture or "movie") with a running time long enough to be considered the principal or sole presentation in a commercial entertainment program. The term ''feature film'' originall ...

, ''Terminal City'' was filmed in

Victoria, British Columbia Victoria is the capital city of the Canadian province of British Columbia, on the southern tip of Vancouver Island off Canada's Pacific coast. The city has a population of 91,867, and the Greater Victoria area has a population of 397,237. T ...

in 76 days and won 11

Leo Awards The Leo Awards are the awards program for the British Columbia film and television industry. Held each May or June in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Leo Awards were founded by the Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Foundation of British C ...

plus 2 nominations.

Cast

* Maria del Mar - Katie *

Gil Bellows Gil Bellows (born June 28, 1967) is a Canadian actor, screenwriter, and director. He is best known for the roles of Tommy Williams in the 1994 movie ''The Shawshank Redemption'', Billy Thomas in the Fox television series '' Ally McBeal'' (1997– ...

- Ari *

Paul Soles Paul Robert Soles (August 11, 1930 – May 26, 2021) was a Canadian actor and television personality. He led the voice cast in such series as '' The Marvel Super Heroes'' (1966), voiced the title character in '' Spider-Man'' (1967), and portra ...

- Saul * Jane McLean - Jane * Nakul Kapoor - Yash *

Katie Boland Katie Boland (born 1987 or 1988) is a Canadian actress, writer, director, and producer. She began her career as a child actress in film and television and has since branched out into adult roles, in addition to writing, directing, and producing ...

- Sarah *

Adam Butcher Adam Butcher (born October 20, 1988) is a Canadian actor. Early life Born in Cambridge, Ontario, Butcher has an older sister, actress Mandy Butcher. Butcher started acting at the age of nine when his aunt (a talent agent) and uncle (a stu ...

- Nicky * Nico McEown - Eli * Bill Mondy - Frank *

Michael Eklund Michael Eklund is a Canadian television and film actor who is known for playing the role of the villain or antihero. His characters are often described as being "creepy". His roles include a kidnapper who terrorizes characters played by Hall ...

- Henry * Ross Birchall - Kristov * Andrew McIlroy - Brendan

Plot

Fraser's plot follows a family woman who finds she has cancer and becomes the star of a reality show simultaneously.

Critical reviews

Timeout says the show "prominently counts reality TV among its subjects, but its chief concerns—marriage, family and mortality—are timeless ones that are given fresh urgency by the way screenwriter Angus Fraser approaches them from odd angles." * "''Terminal City''...A new breed (and calibre) of must-see Canadian TV." - Gayle MacDonald, '' The Globe and Mail'' * "World class writing and acting...HBO calibre." - John McKay,

Canadian Press The Canadian Press (CP; french: La Presse canadienne, ) is a Canadian national news agency headquartered in Toronto, Ontario. Established in 1917 as a vehicle for the time's Canadian newspapers to exchange news and information, The Canadian Pre ...

* "A challenging, deeply disturbing 10-part hour drama that raises the bar considerably." - Jim Bawden, '' Star Week'' * "''Terminal City'' is one of the most original and intricate explorations of family dynamics ever created for television in this country." - Alison Cunningham, ''

TV Times ''TV Times'' is a British television listings magazine published by Future plc. It was originally published by Independent Television Publications, owned by the participating ITV companies. The magazine was acquired by IPC Media in 1989, which ...

'' * "Morality comes calling: ''Terminal City'' is like '' Six Feet Under'' with a comic twist." - Bill Brioux, ''

Toronto Sun The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Postmedia Place i ...

'' * "Exceptional drama." - Alex Strachan,

CanWest News Service Postmedia Network Canada Corp. (also known as Postmedia Network, Postmedia News or Postmedia) is a Canadian media conglomerate consisting of the publishing properties of the former Canwest, with primary operations in newspaper publishing, news ...

* "A challenging, relentlessly ambitious ride worth taking." - BB, ''Dose'' * "Elegantly sinister, comic and deeply moving. Maria Del Mar in the tough lead role, handles it with aplomb." - John Doyle, '' The Globe and Mail'' * "Challenging, evocative, addictive." - Rob Salem, ''

The Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'' * "New provocative drama." - Tara Merrin, ''

Calgary Sun The ''Calgary Sun'' is a daily newspaper published in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. It is owned by Postmedia. First published in 1980, the tabloid-format daily replaced the long-running tabloid-size newspaper ''The Albertan'' soon after it was acq ...

Broadcasters

* In Canada, Terminal City originally aired its first run episodes on

The Movie Network Crave (formerly The Movie Network or TMN) is a Canadian premium television network and streaming service owned by the Bell Media subsidiary of BCE Inc. Launched in 1983 as the national service First Choice, early difficulties and a subsequent ...

and

Movie Central Movie Central (occasionally abbreviated as "MC", mostly in program guides) was a Canadian English language Category A premium cable and satellite television channel that was owned by Corus Entertainment. Movie Central was designated to oper ...

in 2005, later being rerun on

Citytv Citytv is a Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The licence of the original Citytv station, granted the callsign of CITY-TV by the CRTC on November 25, 1971 to Cable Television A ...

. * In the United States, Sundance Channel picked up the series and began airing the series in March 2008.

References

External links

Official website
* 2000s Canadian drama television series 2000s Canadian television miniseries 2005 Canadian television series debuts 2005 Canadian television series endings Citytv original programming Crave original programming Television shows filmed in Victoria, British Columbia Television shows set in British Columbia {{Canada-drama-tv-prog-stub