People filled Surrey City Hall Tuesday (Feb. 6) during an invite-only launch party for 鈥淎llegiance,鈥� .
A night before its TV and streaming debut tonight (Feb. 7), the first episode of the series was screened in Centre Stage theatre and adjacent room for an overflow crowd, followed by food and drinks.
stars Supinder Wraich and Enrico Colantoni attended the evening party, along with fellow actors, the show鈥檚 creative team, politicians, business leaders and others.
Airing Wednesdays at 9 p.m., the series stars Wraich as 鈥淪urrey girl鈥� Sabrina Sohal, a rookie police officer who fights to exonerate her politician father, played by Stephen Lobo. The first woman in her trailblazing Punjabi-Canadian family to become a Canadian Federal Police Corps officer, Sohal patrols Surrey alongside veteran officer Vince Brambilla, played by Enrico Colantoni.
Surrey Mayor Brenda Locke said she was impressed by the pilot episode, which sees Sohal graduate from the police academy and, on her first day on the beat, work to find a missing child while coping with the arrest of her father, Minister of Public Safety.
鈥淚 loved it,鈥� Locke said. 鈥淗ow they showcased Surrey was great. I teared up at one point and I jumped another time. I was blown away how good it was.鈥�
Locke said she met with the series producers last spring.
鈥淭hey came to say they wanted to do this in Surrey and I said, 鈥榊eah, what can we do to help?鈥� Some of it was filmed here at city hall, and you can see Surrey all over the place. I鈥檒l be PVR鈥檌ng it.鈥�
鈥� RELATED: .
It's here: The just-released trailer for new Surrey-set police drama "Allegiance," debuting Feb. 7 on .
鈥� Tom Zillich (@TomZillich)
Have a look and fire up a reply.
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First-season episodes of 鈥淎濒濒别驳颈补苍肠别鈥� involve a deadly batch of drugs hitting the streets, high-tech car thefts linked to an international crime ring, Surrey鈥檚 gangland culture and more.
Surrey Coun. Doug Elford said he enjoyed the moving script and pace of the pilot episode.
鈥淚 had a lot of different feelings watching it, emotions built into it, very riveting,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 well-produced, and I love to see Surrey, the backgrounds, just fantastic. I was really proud to see that, and they got into the cultural component too, which is really important. The show truly reflects the diversity of our city. I鈥檓 going to recommend everybody have a look at it.鈥�
Vancouver Police Const. Kal Dosanjh, Surrey resident and , said 鈥淎濒濒别驳颈补苍肠别鈥� rings true to him.
鈥淚t was neat to see policing from a visible minority perspective, with the focus on a South Asian police officer and her experiences,鈥� Dosanjh said.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a cultural diaspora element to it as well, because she鈥檚 trying to balance eastern and western cultural values at the same time, which was exactly my experience. I came from a very traditional Sikh family, and when I first got on the job I was full Sikh, with a turban, and it wasn鈥檛 an easy experience, being on the street and dealing with suspects making racial insinuations, a lot of discrimination and prejudice.
鈥淚 share a lot of those story elements in my own life, what (Sabrina) is going through in the show. I saw a lot of myself in her, just what she has to deal with on the job and in her life.鈥�
Documentary filmmaker Baljit Sangra said she loved Wraich鈥檚 lead character.
鈥淪eeing her father get arrested at her police graduation, that was interesting,鈥� said Sangra, who is currently working on a documentary/biopic of jazz singer , a Black-South Asian musician from Edmonton.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 lovely to have a series anchored in Surrey, so I鈥檓 looking forward to more episodes where they get into the community, other cases that inspire stories. I imagine there will be gang storylines, politics. I鈥檒l be watching.鈥�
With a Surrey policing transition still a very hot topic in the news, the 鈥淎濒濒别驳颈补苍肠别鈥� creative team says the timing of the series launch is coincidental.
鈥淭he CFP is a fictionalized police force and not meant to really represent the RCMP or the Surrey Police,鈥� Wraich underlined during a recent interview on Zoom alongside Colantoni, series creator Anar Ali and co-showrunner Mark Ellis.
鈥淥f course we鈥檝e always been aware that this was happening with the RCMP and the police,鈥� Ali added, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 nothing that we necessarily address in our show, which is this fictional world.鈥�
Last fall, until just before Christmas, the first season of 鈥淎濒濒别驳颈补苍肠别鈥� was filmed in Surrey and parts of Langley.
