Fans of Quebec series were spoiled once again this year by the three generalist channels – ICI Télé, Noovo and TVA – as well as by the Club illico, Crave and TOU.TV platforms.
Here is the list of the best new fiction from here, all of which can be caught up during the holidays.
Note that productions that are in their second season or more have not been considered, in order to highlight the novelties.
Club immediately
Xavier Dolan directs his first series by adapting the eponymous play by Michel Marc Bouchard. In addition to writing the screenplay, he took on the role of the youngest of the Larouches, a family mortgaged by an incident that occurred while everyone was sleeping in 1991. Twenty-eight years later, the secret that has everything gangrenous is ready to explode. This ambitious work lives with us for a long time because of the script and the direction, the acting, the music of Hans Zimmer and David Flemming, the photo direction of André Turpin as well as the deliciously “Dolanian” hairstyles-costumes-makeup “.
HERE TV
Éric Bruneau and his wife Kim Lévesque Lizotte sign their first screenplay together. It’s modern, the characters are strong and complex, and what about issues like ambition, excessive competition, work-family balance and double standards between men and women. The performance of Éric Bruneau, Pierre Chagnon, Marie-France Marcotte, Guy Nadon, Émile Proulx-Cloutier and Karine Vanasse leaves us wanting more. Can’t wait for a second season to see how François and Évelyne will continue their open war, without forgetting the delectable Dominique!
Noovo
The subject was delicate, but the author Simon Boulerice was able to maneuver – as well as the actress Evelyne Brochu – so that we get attached to her character, Chanelle “Chouchou” Chouinard, a teacher who falls in love with a 17-year-old student, throwing himself into the void and at the same time sacrificing his family and his career. Lévi Doré is fabulous in the role of this teenager who is the source of all the problems of Chanelle. Hats off also to actors Sophie Cadieux, Steve Laplante and Joey Bélanger, as well as directors Marie-Claude Blouin and Félix Tétreault.
ICI TOU.TV EXTRA
Serge Boucher delivers a poignant story in three temporalities – past, present, future – whose multiple layers are revealed little by little, for our greatest pleasure. We follow the Victo quartet, from its founding in Centre-du-Québec to Montreal. We like that the adult characters are present in the scenes of the past when they remember them. It’s well put together, well played and we hope that the author of the “Aveux”, “Appearances”, “Feux” and “Fragile” series will write other dramas as rich and mature, he who has hinted that he could forsake the small screen.
Club immediately
This dramatic comedy by Florence Longpré and Suzie Bouchard, directed by Philippe Falardeau, focuses on Elisabeth (excellent Sandrine Bisson, winner of a Gemini for this role), who must take the reins of the family farm after the sudden death of her husband. She must learn everything, in addition to being interested for the first time in the foreign workers who work for her. French, English and Spanish rub shoulders there, as well as sign language, one of the heroine’s sons being hard of hearing. A second season has been confirmed.
Noovo
What a captivating psychological thriller with its Agatha Christie tunes. Yan Lanouette Turgeon’s inspired production and Michel Corriveau’s captivating music lead us on a quest to unmask the villain(s). The ideal is to put on the episodes one after the other in a weekend. People who don’t know each other are invited by a billionaire, but their helicopter trip goes wrong and they take refuge in a mansion in the forest. It gets complicated when they start missing one after the other.
VAT
Even if we are in a hospital with young patients, this story is luminous and comforting. The solidarity between the patients with regard to the disease is touching, as are their friendship and their first loves. And we are talking about young emerging actors with great talent. Note here Noah Parker (replaced in the 2nd season by Antoine L’Écuyer), Anthony Therrien, Audrey Roger, Milya Corbeil Gauvreau, Étienne Galloy and Léanne Désilets. The second season moves to TVA on January 10.
VAT
The human dramas that make up the intrigues of this judicial daily are drawn from true stories by criminal lawyer Richard Dubé, then scripted by several authors. Sébastien Delorme is a solid criminal lawyer and we feel that we still have plenty to discover about each of the main characters working within the Lapointe-MacDonald firm. The cases are captivating and let us underline in passing the performance of Hubert Proulx in the very first trial.
Club immediately
What a powerful work screenwriter and director Sophie Deraspe has offered to Club illico subscribers. The universe of Val-Paradis is intriguing and populated by shady or colorful people who do not want the investigation into the death of young Noémie to be reopened. Following a near-death experience, Jen (Nahéma Ricci) is convinced that her sister did not commit suicide. Helped by ex-inspector Alain Renaud (excellent Stéphane Gagnon), Jen tries to understand what happened to her sister.
HERE TV
Suzanne Clément shines in the role of emergency physician Emmanuelle St-Cyr and we can’t wait to learn more about her past, especially everything related to the death of her husband. Is she being bullied with the story of the dead rat she received and what about her son who we can’t wait to meet? We particularly appreciate the characters played by Geneviève Schmidt and Pascale Renaud-Hébert.
Noovo / Crave
Here is a well-crafted investigation and a concrete production by Stéphane Lapointe, with actors in great shape, including Céline Bonnier, Louis-Philippe Dandenault, Raymond Bouchard and Bobby Beshro. The tireless Catherine Godin has been fighting for 15 years to get her son out of prison and claims that he was wrongly convicted of murder. It’s heavy and the investigation is complicated to unravel, but captivating until the end.
VAT
This drama is worth the detour for the game of Chantal Fontaine, who plays a bipolar mother leaving prison and trying to reconnect with her three children. Hats off also to Marilyn Castonguay in the role of the eldest daughter, who is undoubtedly the one who suffered the most from the inadequate mother who repeatedly raised and abandoned her. This series fits into Duo Productions’ “Mental Health and Family” collection like the excellent “My Son” series, which dealt with schizophrenia. Note also the performance of Steve Gagnon, Rachel Graton and Luc Senay.
ICI TOU.TV EXTRA / ICI TV
A powerful and touching work, we meet two young Anishinaabe (Algonquins) who suffer mistreatment and abuse in a Native boarding school operated by the Oblates in the 1960s. The wounds of the past still haunt Wabikoni, who has become Flora Turcotte (excellent Dominique Pétin) , who hid his past and turned his back on his community. His brother Kiwedin, who became Rémi Dumont (Marco Collin) also suffered, but he pulled himself together and told their story in a book, thus trying to reconnect with his sister.
addikTV
In this series of espionage, we find ourselves at the heart of the Canadian secret services, those who ensure that our lives remain peaceful, preventing attacks and vultures from destroying everything. Mélissa Désormeaux-Poulin is brilliant as we try to find out the identity of a mole who would be in the pay of the Americans. It’s fast-paced and highly effective, and it pleased viewers, with “Classified Secret” earning addikTV its top viewership ratings. Let’s say that you have to have strong nerves and not be paranoid to evolve in this environment.
ICI TOU.TV EXTRA
The production by Patrice Sauvé is inspired, as is the story delivered by Stéphane Bourguignon. And Benoit Gouin plays with great aplomb Larry, a former undercover police officer who is leading an investigation after his wife was injured in a shooting near his home. Larry is efficient, but he doesn’t mind the rules and is hard-headed, in addition to his sullen mood, which often gets him into trouble.
VAT
Guylaine Tremblay and Nico Racicot are solid in this series directed by Louis Bélanger from a screenplay by François Archambault adapting the novel “Anna and the child-old man”, by Francine Ruel. Arnaud is the victim of a gratuitous attack and goes into a tailspin, dragged into a spiral of consumption leading him into the street. His mother worries, but must learn to live with this difficult reality.
– “À cœur beating”, by author Danielle Trottier and director Jean-Philippe Duval (ICI Télé – from January 10, at 8 p.m.)
– “About Antoine”, by author Cathleen Rouleau and director Podz (Club illico – January 19, 2023)
– “Disobey: Chantale Daigle’s choice”, by authors Daniel Thibault and Isabelle Pelletier and director Alexis Durand-Brault (Crave – spring 2023)
– “High Demolition”, by authors Jean-Philippe Baril Guérard and Suzie Bouchard, and director Christian Laurence (Series Plus – winter 2023)
– “The Emperor”, by author Michelle Allen and director Adam Kosh (Noovo – from January 11, at 8 p.m.)
– “The pearls”, by Erika Soucy and director Hervé Baillargeon (Club illico – 2023)
– “Les révoltés”, by Anita Rowan and director Louis Choquette (Club illico – summer 2023)
– “Eyes closed”, by Anita Rowan and director Jeanne Leblanc (ICI TOU.TV EXTRA – 2023)
– “Mégantic”, by author Sylvain Guy and director Alexis Durand-Brault (Club illico – from February 16)
– “A guy, a girl”, by author Guy A. Lepage and directors Jean-François Fontaine and Guy A. Lepage (ICI TOU.TV EXTRA – spring 2023)
– “Turn – double fault”, by authors Éric Bruneau, Marie-Hélène Lebeau-Taschereau and Louis Morissette and director Rafaël Ouellet (Noovo – from January 10, at 8 p.m.)
– “IXE-13”, by author Gilles Desjardins and director Yan Lanouette Turgeon (Club illico – 2023)
