''Backbencher'' is a Canadian

radio drama Radio drama (or audio drama, audio play, radio play, radio theatre, or audio theatre) is a dramatized, purely acoustic performance. With no visual component, radio drama depends on dialogue, music and sound effects to help the listener imagine ...

created by Wendy Lill,"Backbencher: Beyond the snake pit". ''

Halifax Chronicle Herald ''The Chronicle Herald'' is a broadsheet newspaper published in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada owned by SaltWire Network of Halifax. The paper's newsroom staff were locked out of work from January 2016 until August 2017. ''Herald'' management con ...

'', May 2010. and primarily written by Lill, Ed Thomason and

Dave Carley Dave Carley is a Canadian playwright who has written for stage, radio and television. His plays have had over 450 productions across Canada and the United States, and in other countries. They have won, or been nominated for, a number of awards, i ...

. It ran for two seasons (20 episodes) on CBC Radio One in 2010 and 2011. The series won a Bronze award in the Best Regularly Scheduled Drama Program (Entertainment)Category at the New York Festivals Radio Program and Promotion Awards on June 20, 2011.

Premise

The series featured the trials of Nellie Gordon, a single mother

paramedic A paramedic is a registered healthcare professional who works autonomously across a range of health and care settings and may specialise in clinical practice, as well as in education, leadership, and research. Not all ambulance personnel are p ...

who was elected against popular expectations in a federal

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

as a

New Democratic Party The New Democratic Party (NDP; french: Nouveau Parti démocratique, NPD) is a federal political party in Canada. Widely described as social democratic,The party is widely described as social democratic: * * * * * * * * * * * * t ...

(NDP)

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for the fictional riding of East Nova,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia ( ; ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. Nova Scotia is Latin for "New Scotland". Most of the population are native Eng ...

. As a new

backbencher In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of the " ...

MP, she has to learn the Byzantine intricacies of federal Canadian politics, which is complicated with her frank outspoken Maritime perspective. Furthermore, her family life is a further hurdle, with her son and mother reluctant to accept her government responsibilities. However, she finds an unexpected friend in Herb Proctor, a Conservative backbencher from an Alberta riding who is often one of Nellie's most supportive allies in Ottawa despite their differing party allegiances and occasional conflicts. Wendy Lill served as a two-term NDP MP for

Dartmouth Dartmouth may refer to: Places * Dartmouth, Devon, England ** Dartmouth Harbour * Dartmouth, Massachusetts, United States * Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada * Dartmouth, Victoria, Australia Institutions * Dartmouth College, Ivy League university i ...

, although she says that the series was not literally based on her own experience.

Cast

The show's cast includes Joanne Miller as Nellie Gordon, Louise Renault as Nellie's parliamentary assistant Renée LeBlanc,

Cory Bowles Cory Bowles (born August 27, 1973) is a Canadian actor, director and choreographer. He is best known for his portrayal of Cory in the series ''Trailer Park Boys''. Life and career Bowles was born in Montreal, Quebec and raised in Truro, Nova Sc ...

as Nellie's constituency assistant Sean Higgins, Deborah Allen as Nellie's mother Catherine, Jacob Robertson as Nellie's son Ben,

Nigel Bennett Nigel Bennett (born 19 November 1949) is a British-Canadian actor, director, and writer who has been based in Canada since 1986. He is best known for playing the vampire patriarch Lucien LaCroix in the TV series ''Forever Knight'', for which h ...

as NDP leader Charlie Dunn and Lee J. Campbell as Herb Proctor.

Scheduling

The first season ran from April 8 to May 27, 2010, airing Thursdays at 11:31 am and 11:05 pm local time (3:31pm and 11:35pm NT). This eight-episode season was rerun from January 3 to February 28, 2011, followed by a twelve-episode second season which ran from March 3 to May 16, 2011.CBC Radio
"Final Episode of Backbencher - Ep. 20 "The Vote" by Wendy Lill"
May 16, 2011 Downloadable audio files of the episodes have been made available via iTunes; links to the episodes are provided on the show's official website.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Backbencher (Radio Drama) CBC Radio One programs Canadian radio dramas 2010s Canadian radio programs