A  far-from-traditional fall premiere season has presented a silver lining in Canadian TV as Shaftesbury’s copro Departure becomes Global’s newest ratings success.

The scripted drama series is tracking a 2+ AMA of 1.2 million viewers in its six-episode debut season, according to data from Numeris, with broadcaster Corus Entertainment naming it the No. 1 new series this fall. Departure ranked in the Numeris Top 5 for the week of Oct. 19. The season finale airs Thursday (Nov. 12).

Produced by Toronto’s Shaftesbury and the U.K.’s Greenpoint Productions in association with Corus, the first season stars Archie Panjabi and Christopher Plummer and follows the case of a mysterious plane disappearance over the Atlantic Ocean. Season two, which Shaftesbury has produced with Irish prodco Deadpan Pictures, recently wrapped production with a brand new case surrounding a tragic train crash.

“Congratulations to our esteemed production partners and wildly talented cast and crew on this massive moment for our Canadian series,” said Troy Reeb, EVP, broadcast networks at Corus Entertainment, in a statement. “Departure joins a pedigreed suite of premium scripted content on our powerful Global network, including Private Eyes, Nurses, and our upcoming series Family Law. We remain steadfast in our commitments to building a catalogue of high-quality Canadian content that resonates with viewers across platforms both here and around the globe.”

Canadian TV has been given a rare fall premiere spotlight in 2020 due to the delay of new and returning U.S. series, as the COVID-19 pandemic slowed production start times. The season two premiere of Jann landed a spot on Numeris’ top 20 list, while the encore run of Transplant made Numeris’ weekly list – both are CTV programs.

Image courtesy of Shaftesbury