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"Da Vinci's Inquest" (1998)

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30 out of 31 people found the following comment useful :-
The Best One-Hour Dramatic Show On Television. Period., 7 October 2005
Author: Doghouse-6 from Glendale, CA

DA VINCI'S INQUEST may well be the very best 1-hour television drama ever. If it isn't, there are no more than a handful - from whatever country or era - that can even come close.

It's new to American television (at least as far as I know), and I've only seen a dozen or so episodes, but their promos don't lie: one episode and I was hooked. The writing, the acting; you almost forget that what you're watching is, well, written and acted! 'Verisimilitude' is one of those words one doesn't come across much these days, but it's appropriate to describe this show. The characters are complex, their interactions so 'real life,' that watching them almost gives a feeling of eavesdropping.

Also, as in real life, there is not always a resolution. Some episodes end with matters left hanging and loose ends untied. Life doesn't always supply us with all the why's and wherefore's; neither does DA VINCI'S. This is a show that does not treat the viewer like an idiot. Perhaps a lot of Canadian TV is like that, but it's a novelty down here.

Nicholas Campbell, as Vancouver coroner Dominic Da Vinci, is the on-screen engine that powers this show. The acting of all of the series' regulars - Ian Tracey, Donnelly Rhodes, Sue Mathew, Sarah Strange and others - is of a uniformly high order, but each is even better when playing a scene with Campbell, whose presence, style and energy make everything just crackle with authenticity (oh, hell, I don't know; does authenticity crackle? If it doesn't, it should). If you've been a regular viewer of U.S. shows such as "X-Files" and the "Stargate's" - which were/are produced in Canada - you'll see a number of familiar faces.

Be warned: this show could spoil you for all American television drama. My viewing companion and I watched an episode of "Law & Order" - which we enjoy - immediately after viewing a DA VINCI; big mistake. Anything else is going to suffer by comparison. But here's some good news: if you jump in now, you've got seven seasons worth of episodes to see. That should tide you over for a while, and you'll want to catch each one.

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21 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
Exceptional..., 31 August 2004
Author: ilias-1 from Roatan (Vancouver is Home)

I had heard about this series through friends who worked on set, but actually watched my first couple episodes in Honduras (go figure). I actually live and work in the downtown east side of Vancouver, where most of the series takes place. The imagery, and story lines, are quite true to the neighborhood. Most of the TV series coming out of Vancouver, use the backdrop and call it something else, often side stepping a lot of the uniqueness of the city in an effort to mask the location. DVI actually embrace Vancouver's look as well as problems, which makes thing leagues more genuine.

I LOVE the feel of the show, it's built on longterm story, and the evolution of characters over seasons instead of just episodes. The drama isn't overly heated, it's kept in range enough so to get into an almost documentary feel. Which actually has a better impact as it is taken for reality, more than say... Third Watch, or other "shaky-cam cop shows" that can get over the top dramatic, reminding you that these are actors, on a big budget set.

Canadian TV has always been pretty solid on drama and story, as there isn't always a budget big enough to blow up buildings, cars, or anything else for that matter. They are heavily supported by Canadian viewers. I will watch things sometimes just because they are Canadian, and am often quite surprised. And by Canadian, I mean real Canadian, not American companies, heading north in the interest in saving money.

All in all great show, great stories, great characters, in a great city. And Even though most of the focus is on the more seedy of areas of Vancouver, if you've ever lived there, you'll know there a certain charm to that area. Bottom line, take some time, and enjoy your first episode, It will go from there I'm sure.

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16 out of 16 people found the following comment useful :-
Brilliant police procedural (some spoilers), 2 November 2004

Author: thesnowleopard from Scotland

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

As Da Vinci's Inquest barnstorms through its seventh season, it just keeps getting better and more complex. It was already high quality in season one. Now, it's very likely the best TV show out there right now. The writing, acting and characterisation are brilliant, growing increasingly naturalistic over the years. Usually, you can see in a show where the actors are propping up bad writing, and vice versa. Here, the two are practically seamless. And the direction has only got better over the years, as fancy, distracting camera angles and cues have made way for plainer, darker, noirish cinematography. Even the letterbox format post-season three is remarkably effective.

DVI isn't as overtly violent or graphic as U.S. police procedurals. It doesn't do on screen reconstructions like CSI. Since season one, there's been little or no on screen sex. Yet, the world DVI portrays is harsher than any U.S. TV show (or possibly even a Brit TV show) would allow, while remaining one of the most compassionate entries in the genre. If there's a dead body in the story, you're going to see a dead body. If a hooker or a rent boy is working the streets, you'll see that, too. But you won't see it hyped, glamorized or otherwise jazzed up for Joe Q. Public. What you see is what you get.

Story lines can go on for years, meandering on and offscreen. Characters drink a whole lot of coffee in this show. Cases may or may not get solved, at about the same rate as in real life. Which is to say, not all that often. This could get frustrating, if DVI were not such a character-oriented show. One of the most compelling story lines on at the moment, for example, shows one homicide detective's long, dark night of the soul as he battles PTSD and psychotic depression. Another shows, with zero sentimentality, a young junkie hooker with more brass than brains playing two cops against each other as one tries to take the other one down for murder and corruption. Still another began last season with the title character, Dominic Da Vinci, running for police chief. This season, it's morphing into a 21st century version of a '70s dystopic conspiracy thriller, as Da Vinci finds himself and his friends increasingly harried by shadowy enemies.

You find yourself rooting for the good guys even though they're usually more screwed up than the bad guys. Da Vinci, himself, is a not-so-recovering alcoholic Vancouver city coroner with a big mouth. Nick Campbell inhabits the role so well that he effortlessly charms the audience into Da Vinci's manic daily routine. It's not hard to see why Da Vinci can be such a git and a player at times, yet have so many friends. He has some truly hilarious interactions with his secretary, Helen (the wonderful Sarah Strange), and colleagues/opponents like Zack, the irascible traffic cop, and Carmine, the uniformed officer who repeats everything everybody else says. In recent interviews, Campbell has hinted that Da Vinci may be heading for the mayor's office. That should be a fun ride.

I'm not normally into political thrillers, but I'll buy that ticket. Second-billed Ian Tracey plays Da Vinci's main police ally, Mick Leary. Leary, a smart, quiet, ultra-competent homicide detective with a temper like Mt. St. Helens and a head full of hallucinogenic Catholic guilt, redefines the term "loose cannon". Ever since a police-shooting-gone-bad nearly three seasons ago, Leary hears voices and sees dead people on the streets of Vancouver. Yet this guy still carries a badge and a gun. It's anybody's guess what he'll do next or what his superiors will do once they twig to his problems. His solution was to give away his possessions and go live on the beach in his truck. Tracey plays Leary deadpan funny, but with a subtle wrongness these days that could explode into violence at the worst possible moment. If he doesn't get a Gemini for this storyline, it'll be a sin.

Veteran Donnely Rhodes plays Leary's ex-partner, Leo Shannon, a cop who's "seen it all and done most of it". Shannon is being pushed into early retirement while trying to care for his Alzheimer's-suffering wife. He's also as big a player as Da Vinci, down in the blue trenches. Throwing in his vote for Da Vinci last season might have been a mistake he'll live to regret.

The superlative Venus Terzo plays Angela Kosmo, Leary's obsessive, maverick current partner, who once spent three years solving, mostly by herself, a fictional parallel to the real-life mystery of Vancouver's missing prostitutes. A cool-headed lioness who hunts where angels fear to tread, Kosmo's been doggedly tracking Brian Curtis (Colin Cunningham), a dirty Vice cop with a nasty habit of offing his informants, for the past two years. Caught between them is amoral teenage hooker, Sue, played with no wrong notes at all by Emily Perkins from Ginger Snaps. Perkins and Cunningham are both great in their roles, but they do the shallowness of their characters almost too well. It's a relief to get back to the depths of the good guys, screwed up as they are.

And the good guys are easy enough to spot. They have compassion, loyalty and courage. That's probably the best thing about this show. The good guys are as unpredictable as the bad guys, and probably more flawed. But even when it all gets ugly, they keep throwing themselves into the fray. They never stop trying to do the right thing, even when they don't have a clue what that is.

By God, it's a crusade. Maybe that's why DVI is such a great story.

It's a hero's journey for the 21st century. In this dirty world, that's no bad thing.

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18 out of 22 people found the following comment useful :-
a good show, 12 January 2001
Author: tovachanah from west bloomfield, michigan

i am becoming a fan of canadian tv. davinci's inquest is a good example of good tv. unlike american tv, which is more plot driven, canadian tv is more character driven. this show, shot in vancouver, is a good crime show. no violence but definate tension. and the good guys don't always win - more like real life. the great thing about this show is that out of the 3 stories in the episode i saw, only 1 was resolved. we see his frustration at not bieng able to resolve his workload and the toll it takes on his personal/emotional bieng. hopefully in future episodes we will see the resolution or at least see davinci working towards resolution as he takes on more work. coroners and police don't just work on one case. they work on several cases at once with new ones adding on.

anyone who is able to catch canadian tv should catch this show. it makes american tv fare pale in comparison

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13 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
A great TV series!, 21 September 2005
Author: rickrudge from Milwaukie, Oregon, USA

I am so happy to start seeing "The Da Vinci Inquest" here in the United States. WGN has started broadcasting episodes (sometimes three or four a day). I couldn't be happier. This series is so fresh and new compared to what else is out there. If you get a chance, please watch a couple of episodes.

I get so tired of the US made TV shows, like "Law & Order" or the various, tired "CSI" shows. You can usually solve the mystery a quarter into the program. "DVI" shows compelling, lovable characters digging up clues and evidence. You easily like them and are rooting for their success.

Filmed in Vancouver, BC (one of the most beautiful cities in this continent) the program is very noire-like. It doesn't necessarily glorify the city. Junkies look pretty lousy on this show and how the police treat them is a lot different than what you see in US shows (even like in Cops).

I recommend to all of my fellow US viewers, to give this show a try. You will love it.

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13 out of 14 people found the following comment useful :-
the best television series ever made, 10 June 2004
Author: (mtnloverxtreme@hotmail.com) from prince george, b.c.

for you Americans who don't have access to the show, my heart goes out to you. to my fellow Canadians, we truly have been blessed.

this show has world class actors, magnificent story lines and a cool gritty look. i am no fan of Canadian made television. hockey and davinci are the only two shows i watch on CBC. but when a friend told me about this and she ranted like a crazed lunatic about this Vancouver shot show, i figured i would check it out. THANK YOU LAURIE!

i cant say enough about this show. along with 'deadwood', 'sopranos', news, hockey, i always try and be home for davinci. find a way to watch this show if you can. you will not be disappointed.

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13 out of 15 people found the following comment useful :-
a realistic look at the many layers of life, death, and community in Vancouver, Canada--from the streets up, 4 January 2005
Author: caseyjwolf from Canada

not to be confused with the book, The DaVinci Code.

this is an amazing television series and i feel privileged to get to see it. i wish everyone who likes dramatic series had the chance to see it because it is far and away the best i have ever seen, though you have to watch it for awhile before the full magic works itself on you.

DVI is in a class all by itself. it evolves slowly and intelligently in many ways over many episodes. the characters seem so much more real, with their peculiarities and particular views on the world which weave a feeling of humaness and familiarity. even walk-on parts have more depth than is normal.

a couple of plots at least are usually being pursued at the same time, and where many things do eventually wrap up, other don't. somethings you just never know, some are implied, some just lead you to think. issues that affect the poor and disenfranchised in the city come up on a regular basis, and prostitutes look more like street people than glamour girls, have actual personalities, live lives you care about. i could go on and on.

i just love this show, and it is great to have such a quality series made in and made about (no pretending to be Kansas or l.a. here) a city in Canada. even the cafés are real ones. a neat tidbit is that the series is based on the former city coroner, Larry Campbell, who is now Vancouver's mayor. kinda cool.

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9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
One of the CBC's Best, 22 July 2005
Author: blackarachnia2 from ON, Canada

I have to admit the CBC has done it again. I've become such a fan of this show that I find myself watching it as one of my guilty little pleasures. I haven't seen Donlley Roahdes in anything like this since Danger Bay so you can imagine my excitement when I found out that he has a role in this. I still think that he's one of the best Canadian supporting actors out there. The whole cast of this show is extremely talented and brings forth a new face of forensic science. Congratulations to everyone who works on this show. I really appreciate the hard work that you guys put into each and every episode. Everyone break a leg and keep up the good work.

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8 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Great refreshing drama, 20 February 2006
Author: gkoda from United States

I have been a fan of all the CSI shows for awhile, but only recently discovered DaVinci's Inquest. After watching all the American shows in which the CSI teams trade cutesy one-liners while solving impossible crimes, it is really refreshing to see actors portray real people. DaVinci and his entire cast render a convincing picture of dedicated crime fighters and crime solvers who sometimes have to admit that they have no idea what's happening. It's also refreshing to see a cast of people who look like real people. While some of the girls are drop-dead gorgeous, most of the cast have a realistic appearance and even the gorgeous ones manage performances that make them seem genuine and not just some plastic-looking starlet types who walk and move like catalog models. DaVinci is outstanding ,and Leo is a great asset to the cast. I am completely hooked on this show, and I wish I could do something to assure that it will continue. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to let someone know how much I like it.

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7 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
Gripping, Gritty and Great, 8 August 1999
Author: malton from Malton, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada

The second season of DaVinci's will be starting soon (probably in October), and I would suggest to anyone who is not familiar with the show to give it a try. The acting, for starters, is first-class. The show definitely draws its grittiness from American series like Homicide.. etc. but these guys also put a human & humorous face to the characters that make them convincing beyond anything on television today. The writing is first class, often drawing its inspiration from recent criminal cases in Canada. There is nothing contrived about this program. Yes, it is gritty, but not overly so. I would simply call it, exceedingly realistic. I cannot recommend this program highly enough. You will be pleasantly surprised to learn that Canada can now produce "made in Canada" series and draw from all the good production tricks of the U.S. industry, but also put a truly Canadian face back onto the television.

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