Wojeck
Wojeck is a Canadian dramatic television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1966 to 1968. It was arguably the first successful drama series on English Canadian television. The series starred John Vernon as Steve Wojeck, a crusading big city coroner who regularly fought moral injustices raised by the deaths he investigated. He often tackled tough and controversial issues. The first episode of the series examined the role of racism in the suicide of a young Ojibwe man. The show was inspired by the career of Dr. Morton Shulman. The cast also included Ted Follows, Patricia Collins, and Carl Banas. Jennifer Dale played his daughter in the 1992 TV movie. Although it was one of the highest-rated shows on Canadian television in its time, only 20 episodes of the series were made, because Vernon was lured to Hollywood by the promise of more money than the CBC could offer. He only returned to the role once, for a TV movie Wojeck: Out of the Fire. The first season was filmed in black and white, while season two was shot in colour. The following episodes were produced: "The Last Man in the World" "Tell Them the Streets Are Dancing": This episode starred Bruno Gerussi as a construction worker whose crew were forced to work in underground tunnels where some of them contracted Caisson's Disease. This episode was picked up by "Bob Hope's Chrysler Theater" and shown in the US.
A young homosexual is arrested after a hotel killing. During the trial, the prosecutor, Bob Allenburry, (a respected family man and friend of Steve Wojeck) is blackmailed by Harry Richards, a friend of the accused, which jeopardizes Allenburry's career.
Sitting on the Fund Raising Committee for the City of Zion Hospital, coroner Steve Wojeck learns of an emergency admission of an Arab sailor who has a possible case of smallpox. This Arab admission to the Jewish hospital creates a controversial issue for the committee members. Bourgiba, the ship's captain, fights the health authorities when the sailor's ship is quarantined and the ship's owner offers a donation to the hospital in return for the sailor's release. Wojeck is prompted to investigate when he learns that there is a dead man aboard the ship.
This comic script juxtaposes the story of Madame Czerensky, a beautiful but aging woman who fears that someone is trying to kill her, with the story of a museum publicist with a mummy to bury and in need of a death certificate. Coroner Steve Wojeck discovers that the cause of the mummy's death and the source of Madame Czerensky's illness are the same: both used a mud pack from Egypt which contained arsenic; consequently both Madame Czerensky and the mummy suffered from their vanity.
Joe Smith, a Cree from Moosonee, comes to the city in search of work and is driven to end his life in a jail cell. Steve Wojeck investigates and uncovers aspects of the alien society which led Joe to his death.
Gale Fletcher, a pregnant and unwed patient of Wojeck's, is found to be suffering from a critical illness. Meanwhile, a dress designer seeks an illegal abortion without her husband's knowledge.
Wojeck continues his involvement with Gale Fletcher, a pregnant, unwed woman suffering from a critical illness, and is called to investigate the death of a doctor who was a suspect in an illegal abortion case.
Wojeck investigates the death of a young man suspected of brutally murdering an old woman. The youth was killed by a veteran police officer, and newspapers accuse the officer of police brutality. Wojeck's investigation incites unforeseen attention from some influential citizens.
Coroner Steve Wojeck investigates the case of a young woman who died in childbirth. Negligence on the part of the hospital staff is suspected by Wojeck as he becomes acquainted with the woman's artist husband Gerry Coleman and his unusual Trotskyite neighbors, Gus and Bea Lefkowitz.
Investigating a woman's murder, Wojeck suspects her husband, and worries that the husband's landlady may be in danger.
| Location | |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Release | 1966-09-13 |
| Producer |