District 911 | The Press

It was at night, on a Sunday, in the fall of 2006. The telephone rang at 3 a.m. at Fabienne Larouche, who was writing and producing the daily Virginia for Radio Canada.

At the end of the line, the spouse of an actor in the series: “It’s to tell you that [nom de l’acteur en question] won’t be in the studio in a few hours. He attempted suicide and was admitted to hospital. »

Fabienne Larouche jumped out of bed and threw herself on her computer to rework, between 3 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., a complete episode of Virginia. The actor in question, who fortunately got away with it, appeared in two-thirds of the scenes of the episode, the shooting of which began on Monday at 7 a.m., four hours after he entered the hospital.

Not knowing when the actor would recover his health, Fabienne Larouche rewrote the disaster scenario so that the filming of Virginia continue without the hospitalized actor.

The soap opera actors learned their new texts – fresh off the printer – in the make-up room or at lunchtime. And the episode was completed without viewers noticing the drama that had taken place behind the scenes.

Parenthesis: no, this actor was not part of the main cast of Virginia. He had landed an important episodic role.

“I remember that day very well. I’ve been writing or producing a daily for Radio-Canada for 26 years and, yes, I’ve seen some things. When the unexpected happens, it’s the strength of the group that counts. When everyone gets together, it moves mountains, ”explains author and producer Fabienne Larouche.

The production of a daily series imposes this infernal rhythm of work, which grants no respite to the craftsmen and does not tolerate any delay. The rocket train leaves the station at a crazy speed and stops only at the final destination. The slightest postponement costs tens of thousands of dollars, which the already shrinking budgets of these soap operas obviously do not allow.

Author Luc Dionne experienced a similar moment on February 2. It was a Wednesday. One of the star actors of his daily District 31 had been tested positive for COVID-19. This actor from the hard core of the detective series played in almost all the scenes that the team of District 31 should be canning in the coming days. Without him, it was impossible to shoot the episodes as they had been written by Luc Dionne.

What to do with such a case of District 911 ? Luc Dionne, the bosses of Radio-Canada and the producers Fabienne Larouche and Michel Trudeau, of Aetios, considered suspending the broadcast of District 31 during the Beijing Olympics, while the sick actor recovers.

The catch is that District 31 never takes a break. It is our television flagship. The habit of listening to 7 p.m. is firmly rooted among fans. We had to continue.

But how ? Luc Dionne therefore rewrote four episodes in three days, twice as fast as his usual, already very intense pace. The texts were delivered the day before to the actors, who had to memorize them even more quickly than usual.

The episodes in question aired this week and will run until the end of next week. Did you notice a difference? Not me.

It was therefore necessary to weave a quilt with the intrigues already initiated, to bring back characters to compensate for the absence of the covid comedian and to postpone intrigues which would not have been resolved. In short, it was a hyper complex puzzle, which was assembled under difficult conditions.

“When I die, they will write ‘resilient and resistant’ on my tombstone”, jokes the producer of District 31Fabienne Larouche.

Luc Dionne will finish writing the sixth and final season of District 31, if he respects his usual work schedule. With stable ratings around 1.5 million viewers, popular pressure is not diminishing, on the contrary. “It’s a daily, it goes quickly. It’s almost filmed theatre, but people expect heavy series every night, ”says Luc Dionne.

For addicts who scratch the coconut, no, the prolific screenwriter has not forgotten the story of the burnt man of September and will soon attach it to the main plot. Be patient.

You may have noticed that Luc Dionne is having even more fun with Commander Daniel Chiasson (Gildor Roy) and his magic telephone. These comedic scenes from the ringing drawer or department of miracles are tasty. “For me, with Gildor Roy, it’s the perfect match between an author and an actor,” reveals Luc Dionne.

Moreover, Bruno’s new girlfriend (Michel Charette), the overly nice Laurie (Jeanne Roux-Côté), is sleazy and suspicious. Too perfect, too understanding, too everything. This Laurie hides something not very clear, but what exactly? We agree that a woman who sends letters to the psychopath Yanick Dubeau (Patrice Godin) in prison cannot be 100% balanced.

It doesn’t smell good for Bruno, all that. It smells familiar, I would say.