''Frankie Drake Mysteries'' is a Canadian drama that ran on CBC from November 6, 2017 to March 8, 2021. The series starred

Lauren Lee Smith Lauren Lee Smith (born June 19, 1980) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her television roles, including Emma DeLauro in the syndicated science fiction drama '' Mutant X'', Riley Adams in the CBS forensics drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investi ...

and

Chantel Riley Chantel Riley is a Jamaican Canadians, Jamaican Canadian actress. Riley made her stage debut in 2011 playing the character of Nala in a German production of ''The Lion King'' in Hamburg. The following year she played the same character on Bro ...

as Frankie Drake and her partner Trudy who ran an all female private detective service in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 1920s.

Overview

Lauren Lee Smith portrays the fictional Frankie Drake, the first female private detective in 1920s Toronto, with Chantel Riley as her crime solving partner Trudy Clarke."The TV home of Murdoch Mysteries is getting a new detective drama"
''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. The newspaper is the country's largest daily newspaper by circulation. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and pa ...

'', April 4, 2017. Frankie and Trudy are often assisted on their cases by Mary Shaw (

Rebecca Liddiard Rebecca Liddiard (born ) is a Canadian actress. She is known for her role as Constable Adelaide Stratton in the 2016 trans-Atlantic mystery series ''Houdini & Doyle'' and as morality officer Mary Shaw in ''Frankie Drake Mysteries''. Life and c ...

), a morality officer in Toronto's police force and Flo Chakowitz (Sharron Matthews), a morgue attendant at the Toronto City Morgue.

Cast and characters

Main

as Frankie Drake, Toronto's first female private detective and the owner of Drake Private Detectives *

as Trudy Clarke, Frankie's partner and friend *

as Mary Shaw, a morality officer in Toronto's police force who often helps Frankie with her cases *

Sharron Matthews Sharron Matthews is a Canadian actress.Daniel Nolan ''Hamilton Spectator'', February 25, 2021. She is most noted for her regular role as Flo Chakowitz in the television series ''Frankie Drake Mysteries'', for which she received Canadian Screen Aw ...

as Flo Chakowitz, a morgue attendant at the Toronto City Morgue who provides information to Frankie

Recurring

Wendy Crewson Wendy Jane Crewson (born May 9, 1956) is a Canadian actress and producer. She began her career appearing on Canadian television, before her breakthrough role in 1991 dramatic film ''The Doctor (1991 film), The Doctor''. Crewson has appeared in ma ...

as Nora Amory, Frankie's mother, a con artist *

Karen Robinson Karen Robinson (born February 29, 1968) is a British-Canadian film, television, and stage actress. She won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance in a Guest Role in a Drama Series at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019 for her appearan ...

(seasons 1-3; guest season 4) as Mildred Clarke, Trudy's mother, a good Christian woman who is not afraid to speak her mind when needed *

Grace Lynn Kung Grace Lynn Kung (born March 25, 1987) is a Canadian actress. She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for the spy series ''InSecurity'' as Jojo Kwan. Kung holds two certificates of distinction from Trinity College London in the United Kin ...

(seasons 1–3) as Wendy Quon, the owner of Quon's Cafe, a

speakeasy A speakeasy, also called a blind pig or blind tiger, is an illicit establishment that sells alcoholic beverages, or a retro style bar that replicates aspects of historical speakeasies. Speakeasy bars came into prominence in the United States ...

in the Ward that is frequented by the main cast *

Romaine Waite Romaine Waite is a Canadian actor. His most notable works include '' The Mist and Star Trek: Discovery''. Early life Waite was born in Montego Bay, Jamaica. He moved to Canada and spent his adolescent years in Brampton, Ontario. Career ...

as Bill Peters a friend of Trudy's who works at city hall and helps the women out with information at times. At the beginning of season four, was engaged to Trudy. He had a job offer in Ottawa, which caused Trudy to break off the engagement *

Emmanuel Kabongo Emmanuel Kabongo (born December 25, 1986) is a Canadian actor and producer. Born and raised in Zaire before it became the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kabongo immigrated to Canada with his family in the 1990s. He began his acting career as a ...

as Moses Page (seasons 1 & 3), Frankie's boxing instructor with whom she has a casual romantic relationship *

Steve Lund Steve Lund (born January 9, 1989) is a Canadian actor, best known for playing the roles of Jake in ''Schitt’s Creek'' and Nick Sorrentino in '' Bitten''. Before acting, he played in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, for the P.E.I. Rockets ...

Ernest Hemingway Ernest Miller Hemingway (July 21, 1899 – July 2, 1961) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and journalist. His economical and understated style—which he termed the iceberg theory—had a strong influence on 20th-century f ...

(season 1), a writer and reporter for the ''

'' * Richard Walters (seasons 1–3) as Tickles Malone, a musician who Frankie bumps into at different clubs around Toronto *

Anthony Lemke Roger Anthony Lemke (born October 7, 1970) is a Canadian television and film actor, best known for portraying Three (Marcus Boone / Titch) on Syfy's science-fiction drama ''Dark Matter.'' In French Canada, Lemke is best known for playing David R ...

as Detective Grayson (season 2), recently transferred to the Toronto police and a thorn in Frankie's investigations * Johnathan Sousa as Alessandro Contento (season 4), a European race car driver who is Frankie's boyfriend * Ben Sanders as Steven Reid (season 4), a journalist for the ''Worker's Gazette'' and Mary's boyfriend * Patrick Garrow as Harvey Lyle (season 4), a detective in Mary's precinct, who suspects Mary is smarter than she lets on and tries to catch her snooping * Mac Fyfe as Sebastian West (season 4), Frankie's neighbour, a carpenter, who has a passing interest in Frankie

Guest

Jonny Harris Jonathan Harris (born September 22, 1975) is a Canadian actor and comedian from Newfoundland and Labrador.George Crabtree George William Crabtree (November 28, 1944 – January 23, 2023) was an American physicist known for his highly cited research on superconducting materials and, since 2012, for his directorship of thJoint Center for Energy Storage Research(JCE ...

(season 1), who has retired from the Toronto police and was a successful investor *

Derek McGrath Derek McGrath (born June 4, 1951) is a Canadian actor and writer. Life and career McGrath was born in Timmins, Ontario. His career began as Linus in '' You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown''. He is known for his roles in ''Cheers'' as Andy Schroed ...

as Abraham Amory (season 1) * Romane Portail as

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

(season 2), who hires Frankie to determine who shot at her in Toronto *

Honeysuckle Weeks Honeysuckle Susan Weeks (born 1 August 1979) is a British actress best known for her role as Samantha Stewart (later Wainwright) in the ITV wartime drama series ''Foyle's War''. Early life Weeks was born in Cardiff, Wales, to Robin and Susan ...

as Agatha Christie (season 3), whom Frankie meets in England * Dillon Casey as Jack Drake (seasons 3 & 4), Frankie's younger half brother * Geraint Wyn Davies as Ned Drake (season 4), Frankie's dead father, who she discovers is alive and well

Episodes

Series overview

Season 1 (2017–2018)

Season 2 (2018)

Season 3 (2019)

Season 4 (2021)

Production

The series was created by Carol Hay and Michelle Ricci; both women also served as writers and producers on '' Murdoch Mysteries''. It is produced by

Shaftesbury Films Shaftesbury Films is a film, television and digital media production company founded by Christina Jennings in 1987. It is based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Background Shaftesbury is a creator and producer of original content for television an ...

. On April 5, 2018, the show was renewed for a second season. On March 25, 2019, the show was renewed for a third season. The third season premiere was filmed in England, with

playing the role of British author Agatha Christie. On May 27, 2020, ''Frankie Drake Mysteries'' was renewed by CBC for a fourth season. On February 28, 2021, CBC announced the show would not be renewed for a fifth season. In May 2020, an animated spinoff for kids called ''Mary and Flo: On the Go'' was reported as being in production; the web series was released in March 2022.

Broadcast

Alibi An alibi (from the Latin, '' alibī'', meaning "somewhere else") is a statement by a person, who is a possible perpetrator of a crime, of where they were at the time a particular offence was committed, which is somewhere other than where the crim ...

in the United Kingdom aired the second season starting January 21, 2019, with the third season aired in 2020.

Ovation The ovation ( la, ovatio from ''ovare'': to rejoice) was a form of the Roman triumph. Ovations were granted when war was not declared between enemies on the level of nations or states; when an enemy was considered basely inferior (e.g., slaves, p ...

in the United States aired seasons one and two back to back, beginning on June 15, 2019, and started airing season three on April 4, 2020. The fourth and final season premiered on October 2, 2021, following the broadcast of the new special titled ''Frankie Drake Mysteries: Music at Midnight'', and the series concluded on December 4, 2021. Co-produced by Ovation in conjunction with the Toronto Sympathy Orchestra and Shaftesbury Films, this special features interviews and performances from series stars

, and more. The special wasn't aired in Canada, instead released onto

YouTube YouTube is a global online video sharing and social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by Google, and is the second mo ...

by Shaftsbury on their channel earlier in February 2021, and premiered on Ovation on September 25, 2021 at 7PM ET/4PM PT. Additionally,

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

has started broadcasting the show and offering it on-demand through its membership program, Passport. The show was further picked up in Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.

Home media

Reception

The series has received generally positive reviews from critics since its release. John Doyle of ''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

'' remarked "it's a hoot and as silly as all get-out," and concluded that "thanks to its charm and the frocks, skirts, suits and, well, the gorgeous furniture, it's frightfully good entertainment."

Johanna Schneller Johanna Schneller is an American-born Canadian film journalist and television personality, currently the host of the film talk show '' The Filmmakers'' on CBC Television. A freelance celebrity interviewer for such publications as '' Vanity Fair'' ...

of the ''

'' wrote that "the messaging in CBC series sometimes hits you over the head, but it's fun to watch women run their own show."

Notes

References

External links

''Frankie Drake Mysteries''
at CBC.ca *{{IMDb title, 6881870 CBC Television original programming 2010s Canadian crime drama television series 2017 Canadian television series debuts Cultural depictions of Grand Duchess Anastasia Nikolaevna of Russia Television series by Shaftesbury Films Television series set in the 1920s Television shows set in Toronto 2020s Canadian crime drama television series 2021 Canadian television series endings Canadian historical television series