Ever the bridesmaid, Peter Mitchell has been nominated for six Geminis so far, with an even split between writing and best series nominations.

This year Mitchell is nominated for his writing on Traders’ season finale ‘Nice Guys Finish Last,’ which he also directed and which involved a stock market crash, a stabbing and a wedding.

Mitchell, now executive producer of the Keatley MacLeod/aac series Cold Squad, shares his nomination with fellow Traders alum and Cold Squad convert Graham Clegg, both now about halfway through the 20-episode Cold Squad order.

‘Once Traders finished its run, Cold Squad inquired about my availability, and never having done a cop show until then, which is kind of rare, I wanted to do it. I think it’s fun for all of us, doing Cold Squad after all the ensemble-based dramas; it’s a strong case-of-the-week [show]. I think we’ve added elements of character [to the protagonists].’

Mitchell’s two seasons with aac’s Traders came right after a four-year run on the Forefront teen show Madison, which afforded a surprisingly smooth transition from the school and university milieu to the Bay Street world of Traders.

‘They’re both ensemble-based dramas so I didn’t find it that different at all. At the end of the day it’s still the same kind of human experience, they’re both character-based dramas.’

Mitchell had already had stints at series such as Street Legal, Lonesome Dove, Forever Knight and Urban Angel and quality half-hours like Madison, The Rez and Ready or Not, ‘so there are no parameters on what I can do.’

One thing sticks in Mitchell’s craw: ‘I think it’s a real shame Traders didn’t get nominated for best series, that they decided to give the nominations to a bunch of industrials. You can hardly say Stargate is Canadian drama. DaVinci’s Inquest, Traders and Cold Squad are high-quality Canadian drama and [two of these] were ignored, and I think that’s quite odd. I would say Power Play says more about Canada than The Outer Limits does.’ *