Vancouver producer Chris Haddock had little time to mourn the cancellation of Da Vinci’s City Hall, the spinoff of his critically acclaimed drama Da Vinci’s Inquest, rebounding immediately with Intelligence, a new series set to debut next month on CBC.

City Hall was axed in February due to declining ratings.

‘We were lucky to have had eight long years of the Da Vinci franchise,’ Haddock says from the Vancouver set of Intelligence, shooting the sixth of 13 one-hour episodes.

‘[CBC] was after me to develop a new primetime drama, and had to make the decision that the Da Vinci franchise could live on in TV movies,’ he says.

Intelligence stars Da Vinci regular Ian Tracey as gangster and drug smuggler Jimmy Reardon, who becomes a wary informant for Vancouver’s Organized Crime Unit, headed by a tough, secretive Mary Spalding, played by Klea Scott. Reardon’s sidekick Ronnie Delmonico is played by John Cassini (Haddock’s The Handler), while Matt Frewer (Taken) portrays veteran intelligence agent Ted Altman, Spalding’s second-in-command.

Audiences got their first taste of the gritty crime drama, which Haddock describes as ‘half gangster, half espionage,’ when the pubcaster aired it as a two-hour television movie in November 2005.

‘I had written and produced the movie with the intention of it being a teaser for a possible series,’ Haddock explains. ‘But I also wanted to prove to the network that there was an appetite and that the idea itself had long legs.’

Fred Fuchs, head of CBC arts and entertainment, says it didn’t take much convincing on the part of Haddock for what he calls ‘an incredible idea’ for a more contemporary story. ‘We’d do anything Chris wants to do,’ he proclaims.

Haddock and his team began shooting the new series in July in sunny Vancouver – not the ideal setting for the neo-noir, anxious world envisioned by the producer and series director Stephen Surjik, who also helmed the MOW. Other directors on Intelligence include Sturla Gunnarsson, David Frazee, Stefan Pleszczynski and Charles Martin Smith.

‘When you shoot in Vancouver, you have to battle the fact that it’s a bright, sunny atmosphere with a lot of green and blue skies,’ Haddock says. ‘So you’re always fighting those elements to give the show a more malevolent atmosphere.’

The producer notes there aren’t many similarities between Da Vinci’s ‘loose, flowing style’ and Intelligence, where the crew works in confined spaces – hence the show being shot entirely handheld. ‘There’s a tiny bit of edginess to convey a sense of slight anxiety and suspense,’ he explains.

Meanwhile, CBC is setting its promotion wheels in motion ahead of the Oct. 10 debut. Many felt a lack of publicity was to blame for the so-so 500,000-viewer response to the MOW, which recently earned five Gemini nominations.

‘I don’t pay too much attention to ratings,’ says Fuchs. ‘Maybe it wasn’t well enough promoted, but people who watched it really liked it.’

Greenlighting the series could be seen as an act of faith, given the pilot’s modest numbers, which totaled only half of CBC TV head Richard Stursberg’s target of one million viewers for all scripted CBC series.

Fuchs says print and radio ads, in addition to an interactive Intelligence website, are in the works, but he admits that drawing an audience will be a challenge.

‘We don’t have American television shows to promote our Canadian content,’ he says. ‘But I believe Canadians want an alternative to American shows that they will support and watch.’

Intelligence, in its Tuesday 9 p.m. timeslot, will go head-to-head with Global’s hit medical drama House and CTV’s Criminal Minds, which attract a similar demographic.

‘There’s a popular show every night,’ says Fuchs, arguing that Tuesday is a sound night for the CBC, with The Rick Mercer Report and This Hour Has 22 Minutes acting as strong lead-ins to Intelligence.

While it remains to be seen how the show will fare at home, Haddock notes that Intelligence has had early sales in Germany and France for a January broadcast.

Fuchs says he’ll have his fingers crossed for the Canadian debut, noting, ‘If we can’t succeed with a show like this, then I don’t know.’

CBC will rebroadcast the two-hour series pilot on Sept. 26 at 8 p.m. before the show’s premiere at 9 p.m. on Oct. 10.

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