People will see and hear plenty of Surrey scenes and stories when they watch 鈥淎llegiance,鈥� the new CBC police drama that debuts next Wednesday, Feb. 7 on TV and the Gem streaming platform.
The series stars Supinder Wraich as 鈥淪urrey girl鈥� Sabrina Sohal, a star rookie police officer who grapples with the limits of the justice system while fighting to exonerate her politician father Ajeet Sohal, played by Stephen Lobo.
Sohal patrols Surrey alongside veteran training officer Vince Brambilla, played by Enrico Colantoni.
A trailer for 鈥淎llegiance鈥� shows aerial views of Surrey and a 鈥淐anadian Federal Police Corps鈥� building, described as the largest detachment of the police force.
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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With a Surrey policing transition still a very hot topic in the news, the 鈥淎llegiance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 an interview on Zoom alongside Colantoni, series creator Anar Ali and co-showrunner Mark Ellis.
鈥淲e had officers from both forces on set 鈥� some days it was RCMP officers and others it was Surrey Police, and we liked them equally,鈥� Wraich added.
鈥淥f course we鈥檝e always been aware that this was happening with the RCMP and the police,鈥� Ali chimed in, 鈥渂ut it鈥檚 nothing that we necessarily address in our show, which is this fictional world.鈥�
With 鈥淟aw & Order鈥�-like vibes, the show focuses on 鈥渋dentity and belonging, policing and politics, and finding truth within the heart of a flawed justice system,鈥� according to a news release posted to cbc.ca.
Last fall, until just before Christmas, the first season of 鈥淎llegiance鈥� was filmed in Surrey and parts of Langley.
鈥淚t was important that we try and capture as many of the key locations of Surrey as we could,鈥� Ellis noted, 鈥渟o viewers will see Surrey Central Library, city hall, our cops will be driving down King George.
鈥淲e had a great creative team that went out and captured a lot of aerials and pass-bys along streets, so we see the gurdwaras, the Payal Business Centre, we see blueberry and cranberry farms next to the reality of condos being built and auto dealerships and strip malls.鈥�
Some Surrey-specific stories also work their way into the series, according to Wraich.
鈥淲e have a storyline that centers around Whalley and the gentrification that鈥檚 happening there and we actively discuss it,鈥� the actor explained.
鈥淲e have another storyline where someone has come to the country and was taken to Surrey and we sort of recreate that journey, you know, from the airport to the place where they were in Surrey. We try to figure it out as part of our police work, in terms of when they give us clues about what bridges were crossed and, you know, where were they exactly? We discuss the landscape actually a fair bit.鈥�
Ali said she created the series with themes of restorative justice in mind, along with identity and the allegiances of immigrants, with the help of consultant Paul Dadwal, an ex-RCMP officer from Surrey.
鈥淚 was really interested in exploring the idea of justice and the idea that our system is maybe a little bit broken right now,鈥� Ali said.
鈥淪urrey as the setting evolved through the creative process because I always start with characters and specifically, I was starting with Sabrina and her family,鈥� Ali added.
鈥淎nd so as I followed the characters, they took me to Surrey, and then I found out that it did have the, you know, largest diaspora of Sikh Punjabi people in the world. And I knew about the long history of the Sikh Punjabi community in B.C., and it was all those factors coming together. And Surrey is just so beautiful, so that鈥檚 not a bad thing either, and there are just so many rich stories of many communities there that I thought would be great to explore.鈥�
The 鈥淎llegiance鈥� creative team and actors will return here for a kickoff screening of the show Tuesday, Feb. 6, at Surrey City Hall. The invite-only event, planned in partnership with Surrey-based , will involve a Q&A with cast and crew.
鈥淲hile we were shooting the show,鈥� Wraich said, 鈥渋t was just such an arduous shoot that we didn鈥檛 get to see as much of Surrey as we would like to. Going back, it鈥檒l be nice to appreciate, you know, some of the restaurants as opposed to locations because I will say that our production design team did such a good job, sometimes I didn鈥檛 realize the real place that we were at.
鈥淭he people of Surrey, whenever we were shooting, would stop and ask what we were doing,鈥� the actor added. 鈥淭here was a real pride to have a show based in Surrey and two, that it was about the Sikh Punjabi community that lives there. I think it鈥檚 exciting to make a show that鈥檚 representative of that community.鈥�
