''Haven'' is an American-Canadian supernatural drama

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed be ...

loosely based on the

Stephen King Stephen Edwin King (born September 21, 1947) is an American author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, crime, science-fiction, and fantasy novels. Described as the "King of Horror", a play on his surname and a reference to his high s ...

novel '' The Colorado Kid'' (2005). The show, which dealt with strange events in a fictional town in

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and nor ...

named Haven, was filmed on the South Shore of

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 ...

, and was an American/Canadian co-production. It starred

Emily Rose Emily Rose may refer to: * Emily Rose (actress) (born 1981), American television actress/voice actress * '' The Exorcism of Emily Rose'', a 2005 supernatural horror crime film about demonic possession, loosely based on the story of Anneliese Michel ...

, Lucas Bryant,

Nicholas Campbell Nicholas Campbell (born 24 March 1952) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor and filmmaker, who won three Gemini Awards for acting. He is known for such films as ''Naked Lunch'', '' Prozac Nation'', ''New Waterford Girl'' and the tele ...

and

Eric Balfour Eric Salter Balfour (born April 24, 1977) is an American actor and singer. He is the lead singer of Born as Ghosts, formerly known as Fredalba. He made his film debut in the drama '' Shattered Image'' (1998), followed by roles in '' What Women Wan ...

, whose characters struggle to help townspeople with supernatural afflictions and protect the town from the effects of those afflictions. The show was the creation of writers Jim Dunn and

Sam Ernst Sam Ernst is a television writer and producer best known for working on shows such as ''Daredevil'', ''Carnival Row'', '' Hand of God'', '' Haven'', and '' The Dead Zone''. He frequently collaborates with his writing partner Jim Dunn. In 2010, h ...

. The one-hour drama premiered on July 9, 2010, on

Syfy Syfy (formerly Sci-Fi Channel, later shortened to Sci Fi; stylized as SYFY) is an American basic cable channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. La ...

, and concluded on December 17, 2015. In August 2015, Syfy cancelled the series after five seasons.

Premise

When

FBI Special Agent The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, ...

Audrey Parker (

) is dispatched to the small town of Haven, Maine, on a routine case, she finds herself becoming increasingly involved in the return of "The Troubles", a plague of

supernatural Supernatural refers to phenomena or entities that are beyond the laws of nature. The term is derived from Medieval Latin , from Latin (above, beyond, or outside of) + (nature) Though the corollary term "nature", has had multiple meanings si ...

afflictions that have occurred in the town at least twice before. With an openness to the possibility of the paranormal, she also finds a more personal link in Haven that may lead her to the mother she has never known. Over time, Parker, who eventually quits the FBI to join the Haven Police Department, begins to realize that her arrival in Haven may have been pre-arranged and that her name and even her memories may not be her own. As the series progresses, she learns more about the mysteries of both Haven and her true identity. She and her partner, police detective Nathan Wuornos ( Lucas Bryant), find themselves frequently facing problems caused by both the effects of the Troubles, as well as the activities of town folk who take more drastic measures against those who are Troubled.

Cast and characters

Main

as Audrey Parker * Lucas Bryant as Nathan Wuornos *

as Garland Wuornos (season 1; guest seasons 2–3) *

as Duke Crocker

Recurring

Mary-Colin Chisholm Mary-Colin Chisholm is a Canadian actress, playwright, and co-assistant director of the theatre companies LunaSea Theatre and Frankie Productions. Career In 2000, Chisholm directed the theatrical piece called ''Frankie'', starring Mary Ellen Maclea ...

as Eleanor Carr (season 1) *

Richard Donat Richard Donat (born 1 June 1941) is a Canadian actor, known for his work in Canadian and American television. He is well known for playing the character Vince Teagues in the Canadian–American TV series, '' Haven''. Donat is the younger brot ...

as Vince Teagues *

John Dunsworth John Francis Dunsworth (April 12, 1946 – October 16, 2017) was a Canadian actor. He was best known for playing the antagonistic trailer park supervisor Jim Lahey on the cult comedy series ''Trailer Park Boys'' (2001–2018). His other roles ...

as Dave Teagues * Anne Caillon as Jess Minion (season 1) * Michelle Monteith as Julia Carr (season 1) *

Stephen McHattie Stephen McHattie Smith (born February 3, 1946)Other sources cite 1945, 1947, and 1948. is a Canadian actor. Since beginning his professional career in 1970, he has amassed over 200 film and television credits. He won the Genie Award for Best Sup ...

as Edmund "Ed" Driscoll (season 2; guest season 1) *

Kathleen Munroe Kathleen Munroe (born April 9, 1982) is a Canadian actress and wig maker. Munroe was born in Hamilton, Ontario, and currently resides in Los Angeles. She studied cinema at the University of Toronto. She won the 2010 ACTRA Award for Outstanding F ...

as FBI Agent Audrey Parker (season 2; cast season 1) *

Jason Priestley Jason Bradford Priestley (born August 28, 1969) is a Canadian actor and television director. He is best known as the virtuous Brandon Walsh on the television series ''Beverly Hills, 90210'' (1990–1998, 2000), as Richard "Fitz" Fitzpatrick in t ...

as Chris Brody (season 2; guest season 5) *

Vinessa Antoine Vinessa Lynn Antoine (born July 21, 1983) is a Canadian actress. She is best known for her roles as Judith Winters in the CBC comedy-drama ''Being Erica'' (2009-2011), Jordan Ashford in the ABC soap opera ''General Hospital'' (2014-18), and Marc ...

as Evidence "Evi" Ryan (season 2) * Adam "Edge" Copeland (credited as WWE Superstar Edge in seasons 2–3 and as Adam Copeland and WWE Superstar Edge in season 4–5) as Dwight Hendrickson (seasons 2–5) * Maurice Dean Wint as Agent Byron Howard (season 3; guest seasons 1–2 & 5) *

Bree Williamson Bree Williamson Roberts (born December 28, 1979) is a Canadian actress. Career After graduating from Bayview Glen School, she completed her education at the University of Toronto. She played the role of Jessica Buchanan on the ABC soap opera '' ...

as Claire Callahan (season 3) *

Dorian Missick Dorian Crossmond Missick is an American actor known for his role as Damian in the television series '' Six Degrees'' (2006) and for voicing Victor Vance in the video game '' Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories''. He is also known for his starring ...

as Tommy Bowen (season 3) * Kate Kelton as Jordan McKee (seasons 3–4) *

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 ...

as James Cogan (season 3; guest season 5) *

Colin Ferguson Colin Ferguson (born July 22, 1972) is a Canadian-American actor, director and producer.
Yahoo! Mov ...

as William (seasons 4–5) *

Emma Lahana Emma Kate Lahana (born ) is a New Zealand actress. She is known for her roles as Kira Ford, the Yellow Dino Ranger, in ''Power Rangers Dino Thunder'', Jennifer Mason on '' Haven'', and Brigid O'Reilly in '' Cloak & Dagger''. Career Lahana play ...

as Jennifer Mason (season 4) *

Christian Camargo Christian Camargo (né Minnick; born July 7, 1971) is an American actor, producer, writer, and director. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Brian Moser in the Showtime drama ''Dexter'', Michael Corrigan in the Netflix drama '' House ...

as Wade Crocker (season 4) *

Jayne Eastwood Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film '' Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wa ...

as Gloria Verrano (seasons 4–5) *

Robert Maillet Robert Maillet (born October 26, 1969) is a Canadian actor and retired professional wrestler. He is known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) from 1997 to 1999, where he performed under the ring name Kurrgan and was a member of ...

(credited as Robert Norman Maillet in season 5) as Heavy (seasons 4–5) *

Kris Lemche Kris Lemche (born 1978 or 1979) is a Canadian actor. Career At 17 years old, Lemche answered a newspaper casting call and won a role on the Disney series '' Flash Forward''. Abandoning plans to study biochemistry in University, Lemche instea ...

as Seth Byrne (season 5; guest season 4) * Laura Mennell as Charlotte Cross (season 5) *

Paul Braunstein Paul Braunstein is a Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist an ...

as Mitchell (season 5) *

Christian Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words ''Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρι� ...

(credited as WWE Superstar Christian) as McHugh (season 5) *

William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship ''Enterpris ...

as Croatoan (season 5) *

Rossif Sutherland Rossif Sutherland (born September 25, 1978) is a Canadian actor. He, along with his brothers Angus and Roeg and half-brother Kiefer, are the sons of Donald Sutherland. Early life and education Sutherland was born in Vancouver, but lived in P ...

as Henry (season 5) * Tamara Duarte as Hailie Colton (season 5)

Development and production

''Haven'' was originally developed for ABC Television in 2007 by writers

and Jim Dunn, with production company Piller Segan. In September 2009,

E1 Entertainment E1, E01, E.I or E-1 may refer to: Transportation Aircraft * Azcárate E-1, a Mexican sesquiplane trainer * Fokker E.I, a German fighter aircraft * Grumman E-1 Tracer, an American airborne early warning aircraft * Hydra Technologies E1 Gavilá ...

announced it was working with

to develop a television series based on his novel '' The Colorado Kid'' (2005). The entertainment company ordered the concept straight to series, with thirteen episodes planned. In November, Syfy announced it had acquired the series. Sam Ernst and Jim Dunn wrote the

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

. According to Ernst, the original idea had no supernatural involvement, which prompted Stephen King to ask "Where's the supernatural element"? after he read their notes. In February 2010, Emily Rose was cast in the lead role of Audrey Parker. Eric Balfour and Lucas Bryant came on board in late March. Canadian broadcaster

Canwest Global Communications Canwest Global Communications Corporation, which operated under the corporate name Canwest, was a major Canadian media conglomerate based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, with its head offices at Canwest Place. It held radio, television broadcasting an ...

acquired rights to the series in March as well. In April 2010,

Adam Kane Adam Kane is an American cinematographer, film director, television director and producer. Since the 1990s, Kane has amassed cinematography credits for the films '' Hail Caesar'', ''The Boondock Saints'', '' The Man'', '' Skinwalkers'' and a n ...

signed on to direct the pilot. Production began April 20 in Halifax, Nova Scotia and surrounding areas. Filming occurred primarily in

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

(including using the local arena as a studio) and throughout the South Shore of the province, including Lunenburg, Halifax, and

Mahone Bay Mahone Bay is a bay on the Atlantic coast of Nova Scotia, Canada along the eastern end of Lunenburg County. The bay has many islands, and is a popular sailing area. Since 2003 the Mahone Islands Conservation Association has been working to prot ...

. The promo of series premiere features the song Short Change Hero by The Heavy. The series premiere, "Welcome to Haven", aired on Syfy in the U.S. on July 9, 2010, and on

Showcase Showcase or vitrine may refer to: *Cabinet (furniture) *Display case Music * ''Showcase'' (Bill Anderson album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Patsy Cline album), 1961 * ''Showcase'' (Buddy Holly album), 1964 * ''Showcase'' (Philly Joe Jones album), 1959 ...

in Canada on July 12.Showcase page
The show became available to other international markets in October 2010.

Episodes

The one-hour drama premiered on July 9, 2010, on

. The series was the first property to be produced for Syfy Pay channels around the globe, excluding Canada and Scandinavia. On October 12, 2011, it was renewed for a third 13-episode season, which began airing on September 21, 2012. On November 9, 2012, it was renewed for a fourth 13-episode season. On January 28, 2014, the show was renewed for a split 26-episode fifth season. The first half aired in 2014 with the second half airing in 2015.

Reception

''Haven'' premiered to mixed reviews. On

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...

season 1 has a score of 53 out of 100, based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

season 1 has an approval rating of 35% based on reviews from 26 critics. The site's critical consensus stating: "It benefits from an intriguing setting and a strong lead in Emily Rose, but otherwise, ''Haven'' is a derivative supernatural crime procedural." The ''

Miami Herald The ''Miami Herald'' is an American daily newspaper owned by the McClatchy Company and headquartered in Doral, Florida, a city in western Miami-Dade County and the Miami metropolitan area, several miles west of Downtown Miami. ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virgini ...

''s Robert Bianco called it a "ludicrously see-through supernatural crime drama that wastes a perfectly fine performance from Emily Rose".

References to other works

Allusions to the written works of author Stephen King are made in the series regularly; the setting for the series is derived from King's novella '' The Colorado Kid'' (2005), although the name of the town is changed. On Syfy.com's ''Haven'' website, many of these references are explained for each episode. For example,

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

and Haven are both fictional towns in Maine previously used in the author's stories. One of the main characters receives a copy of a novel written by a character from King's novel, ''Misery'' (1987), while another character has just been released from Shawshank Prison. In some cases the plot of an episode revolves around an idea from King's works: a character who has

precognitive Precognition (from the Latin 'before', and 'acquiring knowledge') is the purported psychic phenomenon of seeing, or otherwise becoming directly aware of, events in the future. There is no accepted scientific evidence that precognition is ...

psychometric Psychometrics is a field of study within psychology concerned with the theory and technique of measurement. Psychometrics generally refers to specialized fields within psychology and education devoted to testing, measurement, assessment, and ...

visions after touching people or things; or plants that start killing people. It is noted on the Syfy site that "'' It'' is a particular favorite Stephen King book for the Haven writers and producers". For example, in "A Tale of Two Audreys", a little boy in a yellow rain slicker is seen outside the church chasing a newspaper boat that he has set in the stream in the gutter. He chases until it falls down into a storm drain on Witcham Street. He then sticks his right arm down into the drain and screams. The scene can be found in the opening chapter of the 1986 book. Also derived from ''It'', the episode "Fear and Loathing" revolves around a troubled person who (unwillingly) takes the form of a person's worst fear, and in one instance appears as a clown, a visual allusion to Pennywise of the film version of '' It'' (1990). The "Troubles" also seem to coincide with the arrival of the stranger, in this case Audrey, every 27 years. This is the same amount of time between appearances of the creature in ''It''. "Croatoan" coincidentally also appears carved into a tree in the 3 part Stephen King mini series "Storm of the Century."

Home media

DVD

Blu-ray

In Region A,

Entertainment One Entertainment One Ltd., trading as eOne, is an American-owned Canadian multinational entertainment company. Based in Toronto, Ontario, the company is primarily involved in the acquisition, distribution, and production of films and television s ...

released the first season on

Blu-ray The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of st ...

on June 14, 2011, and the second season on September 4, 2012. In Region B, the first season was released on September 14, 2011.

Broadcast

''Haven'' has been sold for broadcast in several countries worldwide, including Australia, Canada,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...

, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

Syndication

Chiller A chiller is a machine that removes heat from a liquid coolant via a vapor-compression, adsorption refrigeration, or absorption refrigeration cycles. This liquid can then be circulated through a heat exchanger to cool equipment, or another p ...

'' acquired the rights to air ''Haven'' in June 2013. It first premiered on Sunday, July 14, 2013, at 8pm ET, and aired four episodes every Sunday thereafter until the series was discontinued prior to the network's closure.. Genesis International distributes the syndication version to several local markets in the US.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Haven (Tv Series) 2010 American television series debuts 2015 American television series endings 2010s American drama television series 2010 Canadian television series debuts 2015 Canadian television series endings 2010s Canadian drama television series English-language television shows Saturn Award-winning television series Television shows based on works by Stephen King Syfy original programming Television shows filmed in Halifax, Nova Scotia Television shows set in Maine Showcase (Canadian TV channel) original programming Television series by Entertainment One Television series by Corus Entertainment Television shows filmed in Nova Scotia Television shows based on American novels Canadian supernatural television series 2010s American crime drama television series 2010s Canadian crime drama television series