Collaborators, The

1 9 7 3 – 1 9 7 4 (Canada)
20 x 60 minute episodes

This Canadian drama series revolved around a team of forensic scientists who worked with the police. Known as “The Collaborators”, the scientists were frequently in conflict with the hard-boiled detectives and street cops who worked on the front line.

Each story took viewers from the crime scene to the police station to the lab, offering insights into the investigative process.

The scientists were led by Dr Charles Erickson (Paul Harding) and his assistant, Liz Roman (Toby Tarnow). Harding left the series after the first season of eight episodes before they had even aired.

Michael Kane played the gruff and instinctive Detective Sergeant Jim Brewer. Kane appeared in only three episodes in the second season, leaving for health reasons as he found filming series television too much. His character’s disappearance was left unexplained.

Kane’s replacement, Donald Pilon, played Detective Sergeant Richard Tremblay as a different sort of police officer – rational and relaxed to the point of stoicism.

Creator Richard Gilbert also left the series (over a salary dispute and the fact he had not been allowed to direct).

The show’s ratings steadily declined, and The Collaborators was not renewed for a third year.

Detective Sergeant Jim Brewer
Michael Kane
Dr Charles Erickson
Paul Harding
Liz Roman
Toby Tarnow
Detective Sergeant Richard Tremblay
Donald Pilon
Detective Dave Quinn
Lawrence Benedict
Detective George Kaminski
Les Carlson
Poulis
Robert Warner
Boyer
Carl Gall

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