A Newfoundland detective teams up with a French cop in the latest crime drama from star/co-creator Allan Hawco
Saint-Pierre and Miquelon, the self-governing overseas territory of France tucked just off Canada’s East Coast, was an area that Newfoundland native Allan Hawco was quite familiar with. “It’s a part of our existence,” says Hawco. “It’s always kind of been there, but I’d never really looked right at it.” A few years ago, the entertainment multitasker was in Saint-Pierre scouting locations for Son of a Critch as a producer, when he was suddenly struck by its rarity. “I looked around and I was like, ‘Oh s***, this place is magic.’ It’s truly, truly unique,” Hawco reflects. “In a world where our industry is constantly searching for unique places and unique voices, I realized that this place had never been fully exploited — in a positive way — and the entire concept of the show hit me in those five minutes.”
The idea of a police officer with the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary getting exiled to Saint-Pierre after a government corruption plot he is investigating lands, quite literally, too close to home, ruminated inside Hawco, dying to come out. “I obsessed over it, started writing it, pitched the CBC and they were very interested,” he explains. He then hit up Wild Cards producer Robina Lord-Stafford, whom Hawco had worked with on Moonshine, to help craft the second lead, a Black detective, originally from Paris, who is forced to pair up with Hawco’s Det. Donny “Fitz” Fitzpatrick. “Instead of being a white writer who would just say, ‘Well, it’ll be any ethnicity,’ I made a decision that we should start honing in on who these people are right from the start and I wanted someone to represent that voice,” says Hawco. “Robina and I started working together and we just seemed to share one brain on who these people were.”
But it was only when the Republic of Doyle alum started spending more time on the island that it became more apparent than ever how Saint-Pierre was a character in its own right. “It’s truly a unique, strange place in terms of why their people are there, why it exists, how it exists and how it functions,” he marvels. “It’s got a real urban feel to it. It’s also got this extreme ruralness to it, because it’s quite difficult to get to. It’s removed from the rest of the world. It’s also extremely cosmopolitan. It has all these Europeans that are living there throughout different parts of the year. It’s got its own culture, its own identity. So, we leaned into that.”
At the centre of the story are Fitz and his new partner, Geneviève “Arch” Archambault, two people who have landed at the edge of the world while running from their own demons. “The concept of the show is how the universe conspires for Arch and Fitz to be forced into a situation of working together, getting to know each other and ultimately becoming almost soulmates in a way,” says Hawco. “It’s like they were destined to be on that island together, at that time.”
While Hawco is technically No. 1 on the call sheet, he credits his French co-star Joséphine Jobert with being a great co-leader on set — so much so that he insisted on sharing top billing with the French actress. “I was like, ‘We should be sharing our [title] card because it’s a two-header show.’ That show is about us,” he says. “She could care less if her name was on the screen. She has no ego. She’s an incredible person. And I feel like that’s where the work starts for me — it’s about showing up and having the best possible time you could have doing it.”
Saint-Pierre wouldn’t have a lingering air of danger without a big bad, who in the first season is played by Rome star James Purefoy. Although the British actor has a vast résumé, Hawco asserts he is as much of a team player as the rest. “The goal is to be working with people who did what they had to do to get there, and then they throw it away to do the scene with you,” he says. “That’s what my core cast does. And someone like James, I mean, he is incredible. He’s a world-class talent. What an absolute honour to be able to share the floor with him. But he doesn’t walk around an ‘international sensation.’ He’s just an actor. He’s a really hardworking actor. He’s a great guy.”
Yet, in the end, even a global star like Purefoy plays second fiddle to the sunsets of Saint-Pierre, which take centre stage. “Its position in the world creates the most dynamic light effect. It feels like at any moment throughout any part of the day, you’re in dusk — it’s like the sky touches the ground,” says Hawco. “It’s such a uniquely interesting and ruggedly beautiful place. It just was screaming at me. We were screaming at each other, I guess.”
Saint-Pierre premieres on Monday, January 6, on CBC