''October Faction'' is an American supernatural

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has b ...

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as TV shows, as streaming media delivered over the Internet. Streaming television stands in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air a ...

series created by

Damian Kindler Damian Kindler (born May 31, 1968) is a television and film writer, director and producer. Born in Melbourne, Australia, Kindler's family swiftly emigrated to Toronto, Canada, where he was raised. He currently resides in Venice, California, US. ...

, based on the comic series of the same name by

Steve Niles Steve Niles (born June 21, 1965) is an American comic book author and novelist, known for works such as ''30 Days of Night'', '' Criminal Macabre: A Cal McDonald Mystery'', ''Simon Dark'', ''Mystery Society'', and '' Batman: Gotham County Line''. ...

and Damien Worm. It premiered on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

on January 23, 2020. The series stars

Tamara Taylor Tamara Taylor (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the role of Dr. Camille Saroyan, head of the Forensic Division, in the forensic crime drama ''Bones''. She also appeared in season seven of '' Marvel's Agents of S.H ...

, J. C. MacKenzie, Aurora Dawson-Hunte, Gabriel Darku,

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 ...

Megan Follows Megan Elizabeth Laura Diana Follows (born March 14, 1968) is a Canadian-American actress and director. She is known for her role as Anne Shirley in the 1985 Canadian television miniseries '' Anne of Green Gables'' and its two sequels. From 201 ...

and

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 ...

. In March 2020, the series was canceled after one season.

Synopsis

''October Faction'' follows the story of a monster-hunting couple, Fred and Deloris Allen, and their twin teenage children, Geoff and Viv. Following the death of Fred's father Samuel, the family decides to go back to their home town Barrington-on-Hudson, in New York, to arrange the funeral. Haunted with childhood memories of his brother's death and the incessant arguments with his parents over his inadequacy and his choice in women, Fred is repulsed by his childhood home. The children soon begin showing supernatural tendencies. During an impromptu seance Viv has visions of a creature with long hair chained to the seafloor, struggling to free itself. Her brother Geoff accidentally reveals a teacher's deepest, darkest secret about his wife in front of his classmates. Both are ridiculed by the popular cliques for being outsiders. Fred and Deloris are members of Presidio, a secret organisation tasked to protect humanity from various breeds of monsters. They must hide their identities from the townsfolk and appear to live a normal life. This proves hard from the start as strange things begin to unfold in the sleepy little town.

Cast

Main

as Deloris Allen, a supernatural hunter who is part of a secret organization known as "Presidio" * J. C. MacKenzie as Fred Allen, Deloris' husband and a fellow Presidio supernatural hunter who came from a family of Presidio supernatural hunters *Aurora Dawson-Hunte as Viv Allen, Deloris and Fred's teenage daughter *Gabriel Darku as Geoff Allen, Deloris and Fred's openly gay teenage son and Viv's twin *

Maxim Roy Maxim Roy (born March 7, 1972) is a French-Canadian actress. In English, she is best known for playing Detective Isabelle Latendresse in the English version of the Canadian police drama television series '' 19-2'', Jocelyn Fray in the fantasy se ...

as Alice Harlow, a murderous warlock hunting the Allens after she caused the deaths of her own family and friends, Viv and Geoff's natural mother *

as Samuel Allen, Fred's father who is thought dead, but is a prisoner of Presidio *

as Maggie Allen, Fred's mother and a retired Presidio archivist *

as Edith Mooreland, the head of Presidio

Recurring

*Anwen O'Driscoll as Cathy MacDonald, Viv's potential friend who betrays her trust first chance she gets *

Nicola Correia-Damude Nicola Correia-Damude (born 21 June 1981) is a Canadian actress based in Toronto. Career Television and film Correia-Damude has had recurring roles on ''Shadowhunters'', ''Annedroids'', '' The Boys'' and ''The Strain''. Additional television c ...

as Gina Fernandez, the local sheriff of Barrington-on-Hudson and Deloris' friend * Sara Waisglass as Madison St. Claire, a bully to Viv and Cathy's former friend * Praneet Akilla as Phillip Mishra, a closeted jock and initially a bully to Geoff *

Michelle Nolden Michelle Nolden (born March 17, 1973) is a Canadian actress. She has appeared in numerous films and television shows including Murdoch Mysteries, '' ZOS: Zone of Separation'', ''Numb3rs'', ''Street Time'', '' Earth: Final Conflict'', '' The Time ...

as Hannah Mercer, a Presidio agent and Fred's mistress *

Dayo Ade Dayo Ade (born 1972) is a Canadian actor who has appeared in several television shows and films. His most notable role was in the ''Degrassi'' teen drama franchise, playing Bryant Lester "BLT" Thomas in '' Degrassi Junior High'' (1987-89) and ' ...

as Moshe, a werewolf who forms a grudging friendship with Fred and Deloris, and later with the Barrington sheriff department *

Robin Dunne Robin Dunne (born November 19, 1976) is a Canadian actor who has had numerous leading roles in sequels throughout his career, but is perhaps best known for his role as Doctor Will Zimmerman in the science fiction television series ''Sanctuary''. ...

as Woody Markham, a deputy sheriff of Barrington-on-Hudson * Charles Vandervaart as young Fred * Taveeta Szymanowicz as young Deloris

Episodes

Production

Development

On September 28, 2018, it was announced that

had given the production a series order for a first season consisting of ten episodes.

Director X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian filmmaker, commercial director, music video director, and television director. Having directed more than 100 music videos, he is widely known as a pr ...

Mina Shum Mina Shum (born 1966) is an independent Canadian filmmaker. She is a writer and director of award-winning feature films, numerous shorts and has created site specific installations and theatre. Her features, '' Double Happiness'' and '' Long Li ...

, and

David Frazee David Frazee is a Canadian cinematographer and television director. He has earned numerous Gemini Award nominations. His work includes cinematography for ''Intelligence'', ''Da Vinci's Inquest'' and ''Da Vinci's City Hall ''Da Vinci's City Hall ...

are set to direct some episodes. The series was created by Damian Kindler who will also act as writer and executive producer. Additional executive producers are set to include James Thorpe,

, Thomas Walden, Eric Birnberg, George Strayton and Melissa Blake. Production companies involved with the series include High Park Entertainment and

IDW Entertainment IDW Publishing is an American publisher of comic books, graphic novels, art books, and comic strip collections. It was founded in 1999 as the publishing division of Idea and Design Works, LLC (IDW), itself formed in 1999, and is regularly re ...

. On March 30, 2020, Netflix cancelled the series after one season.

Casting

Sometime after the series order announcement, it was confirmed that Tamara Taylor, J.C. MacKenzie, Aurora Burghart, Gabriel Darku, Wendy Crewson, Megan Follows and Stephen McHattie would star in the series. In October 2018, Maxim Roy was cast in a recurring role.

Filming

Filming for the first season took place on location in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a College town, university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cam ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

from September to December 2018.

Release

On January 8, 2020, Netflix released the official trailer for the series.

Reception

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 Wang ...

, the series holds an approval rating of 29% with an average rating of 5.5/10, based on 7 reviews.

References

External links

* * {{IDW Publishing 2020s American drama television series 2020 American television series debuts 2020 American television series endings 2020s American horror television series 2020s American science fiction television series 2020s American supernatural television series American action television series American science fiction web series Dark fantasy television series Dark fantasy web series English-language Netflix original programming Science fiction horror web series Serial drama television series Thriller television series Television shows based on comics IDW Publishing adaptations Television series about dysfunctional families Television series about teenagers Cambridge, Ontario Television shows filmed in Toronto Television shows set in New York (state) Witchcraft in television