X Company
X Company | |
---|---|
Created by | |
Starring | |
Country of origin | Canada |
Original language(s) |
English German |
No. of seasons | 2 |
No. of episodes | 18 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
|
Running time | 44 minutes |
Production company(s) |
Temple Street Productions Pioneer Stillking Films |
Distributor | Sony Pictures Television |
Release | |
Original network | CBC Television |
Original release | February 18, 2015 – present |
External links | |
Website |
X Company is a Canadian/Hungarian spy thriller television series created by Flashpoint's Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern which premiered on February 18, 2015, on CBC Television. The series takes place during World War II, and follows five recruits as they are trained as secret agents at a Canadian training facility near Lake Ontario and then sent out into the field.[1][2]
On March 4, 2015, CBC renewed the series for a second season with ten episodes, two more than the first season of eight.[3][4] On March 31, 2016, CBC announced that the series would be renewed for a ten-episode third season, to debut in the winter of 2017.
Cast
- Évelyne Brochu as Aurora Luft
- Jack Laskey as Alfred Graves
- Warren Brown as Neil Mackay
- Dustin Milligan as Tom Cummings
- Connor Price as Harry James
- Hugh Dillon as Duncan Sinclair
- Lara Jean Chorostecki as Krystina Breeland
- Torben Liebrecht as Franz Faber
Production
X Company had been an idea being considered for over a dozen years by creators Mark Ellis and Stephanie Morgenstern. They made a short film entitled Remembrance which did well enough on the festival circuit to encourage them to develop a feature script which eventually became X Company.[5] Originally titled Camp X, the series was filmed in Budapest, Hungary, from August to October 2014, and is a Canadian-Hungarian co-production. X Company is inspired by the real spy training facility, Camp X, which was located between Whitby and Oshawa, Ontario, Canada.[6][7]
Season 2 was filmed for four months in Budapest, and Esztergom,[8] Hungary beginning in July 2015.[9] Season 2 aired on January 27 on CBC.[10]
Critical reception
Writing in the Huffington Post Denette Wilford said: "X Company is another history lesson CBC is offering audiences, and it nails it once again."[5] The Globe and Mail's TV critic John Doyle called it "vastly entertaining" and "a good solid thriller".[11]
Episodes
Season 1 (2015)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1 | "Pilot" | David Frazee | Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern | February 18, 2015 |
The team faces a dangerous mission in France, back at the base Duncan must convince a fragile young man with a valuable skill set to join the fight. | |||||
2 | 2 | "Trial by Fire" | David Frazee | Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern | February 25, 2015 |
The team must protect Alfred as they parachute into France to steal codes that could save thousands of British lives, an unexpected obstacle forces Tom to stay behind and perform the hard part of the job. | |||||
3 | 3 | "Kiss of Death" | John Strickland | Mark Ellis, Stephanie Morgenstern & Hannah Moscovitch | March 4, 2015 |
The team infiltrates a brothel and a Nazi headquarters in an attempt to keep atomic research from falling into the wrong hands, Aurora gets ambitious but finds herself in a dangerous situation. | |||||
4 | 4 | "Sixes & Sevens" | John Strickland | Denis McGrath | March 11, 2015 |
The team is sent to smuggle a British airman out of France with the help of a jazz band, but things get complicated when the Germans capture one of the musicians. | |||||
5 | 5 | "Walk with the Devil" | Jamie Stone | Derek Schreyer | March 18, 2015 |
Aurora and the team wrestle with whether to trust a Vichy Mayor, who offers rich intelligence in exchange for their help in discovering what has become of the town's young women. | |||||
6 | 6 | "In Enemy Hands" | Jamie Stone | Hannah Moscovitch | March 25, 2015 |
A sabotage mission leaves Harry critically injured and the team trapped in a safe house, desperate to escape a town swarming with Nazis. | |||||
7 | 7 | "Quislings" | Craig Viveiros | Denis McGrath | April 1, 2015 |
The team reaches Paris, tasked with assassinating French civilians who collaborate with the Nazis. | |||||
8 | 8 | "Into the Fire" | Craig Viveiros | Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern | April 8, 2015 |
As Paris is torn by a massive roundup of Jews, the team must help an early Holocaust witness bring his story to Allied leaders. Meanwhile, German agents close in on Aurora and Alfred. |
Season 2 (2016)
No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
9 | 1 | "Creon Via London" | Grant Harvey | Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern | January 27, 2016 |
The team is reeling as Alfred is taken by the Gestapo and Tom is shot. With communication cut off, all of the Camp X program may be compromised by Alfred's capture. | |||||
10 | 2 | "Night Will End" | Grant Harvey | Hannah Moscovitch | February 3, 2016 |
Franz Faber uses increasingly inhuman techniques to get Alfred to break, while Sinclair, now on the ground in France, leads the team on a daring rescue attempt. | |||||
11 | 3 | "Sein Und Schein" | Andy Mikita | Adam Barken | February 10, 2016 |
The team must find a way to get Alfred and René back. Alfred struggles with what to tell Sinclair. | |||||
12 | 4 | "Last Man, Last Round" | Andy Mikita | Sandra Chwialkowska | February 17, 2016 |
Alfred risks his life to free British POWs in the hope they can rebuild their resistance networks. | |||||
13 | 5 | "Nil Nocere" | Kelly Makin | Denis McGrath | February 24, 2016 |
The team searches for a doctor who may be helping Jews escape France; Aurora and Franz's wife grow closer. | |||||
14 | 6 | "Black Flag" | Kelly Makin | Daniel Godwin | March 2, 2016 |
Harry makes a plan to assassinate a German general, defying Aurora's orders. Guest star: Urs Rechn | |||||
15 | 7 | "La Vérité Vous Rendra Libre" | Amanda Tapping | Adam Barken | March 9, 2016 |
Aurora tries to maintain her leadership; an attack by German commandos threatens the team. | |||||
16 | 8 | "Fatherland" | Amanda Tapping | Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern & Sandra Chwialkowska | March 16, 2016 |
The Gestapo plan to wipe out Camp X is underway, and while the rest of the team heads to Dieppe, Aurora gets caught in a showdown. | |||||
17 | 9 | "Butcher and Bolt" | Jamie Stone | Denis McGrath | March 23, 2016 |
Aurora fights to regain her team's faith as Alfred finally reveals their Dieppe objectives: a raid on a German radar station in the midst of the Allied attack, and a daring attempt to steal the secrets of the Enigma machine. | |||||
18 | 10 | "August 19th" | Jamie Stone | Mark Ellis & Stephanie Morgenstern | April 6, 2016 |
The team pays a devastating price at Dieppe as Alfred and Aurora put everything on the line to try and “turn” Franz Faber. |
References
- ↑ Brioux, Bill (December 31, 2014). "Canadian TV to watch for in 2015". The Canadian Press. Toronto Star. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ↑ Barr, Merrill (December 22, 2014). "50 Percent of You Will Not Survive The First Trailer For X COMPANY". Nerdist. Archived from the original on January 20, 2015. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ↑ "CBC renews Schitt's Creek and Murdoch Mysteries, cancels Strange Empire". CBC News. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 4, 2015.
- ↑ "CBC announces new drama, comedy, and factual line up, plus renewals for 2015-16" (Press release). CBC Media Centre. March 4, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2015.
- 1 2 "'X Company' Review: CBC Delivers Another Much-Needed History Lesson To Canadians". huffingtonpost.ca. Huffington Post. Retrieved 30 June 2015.
- ↑ Vlessing, Etan (August 14, 2014). "Hugh Dillon, Evelyne Brochu join Camp X". Playback Online. CBC. Retrieved February 20, 2015.
- ↑ Yeo, Debra (August 15, 2014). "Hugh Dillon to star in spy school drama Camp X". Toronto Star. Retrieved January 19, 2015.
- ↑ Nácik masíroznak majd Esztergom utcáin: figyeljen a belvárosban! | Szeretgom.hu
- ↑ "Gala des Jutra 2015 : les potins du tapis rouge". LE HUFFINGTON POST. March 15, 2015. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
- ↑ https://twitter.com/XCompany/status/675018687255027712
- ↑ "John Doyle: X Company is excellent, if conventional, entertainment". theglobeandmail.com. The Globe and Mail. Retrieved 30 June 2015.