CBC’s fall season continues with new seasons of hit family drama HEARTLAND (Oct. 1), THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW (Oct. 1) with hosts Alan Shane Lewis and Ann Pornel, high-stakes medical drama SKYMED (Oct. 1), audience favourite MURDOCH MYSTERIES (Oct. 2), consumer watchdog MARKETPLACE (Oct. 13) and award-winning investigate series THE FIFTH ESTATE (Oct. 20), and the premiere of docuseries BLACK LIFE: UNTOLD STORIES (four episodes available each on Oct. 18 and Oct. 25), reframing the rich and complex histories of Black experiences in Canada

International series include the exclusive Canadian premiere of the fifth and final season of BAFTA-nominated supernatural sitcom GHOSTS (Oct. 6), the exclusive English-language Canadian premiere of hit period drama SISI Season 2 (Oct. 6) following Empress Elisabeth of Austria and her marriage to Archduke Ferdinand on the eve of WWI, and the exclusive Canadian premiere of intimate Norwegian romantic drama ONE NIGHT (Oct. 20) 

New CBC Gem originals this month include Season 2 of comedy ZARQA (Oct. 6) from producer and star Zarqa Nawaz (Little Mosque on the Prairie), the adaptation of Vivek Shraya’s hit play and book HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR (Oct. 13) exploring failure and how to embrace it, and Indigenous horror series THE BANNOCKING (Oct. 20) 

Delicious new lifestyle series include Canadian Screen Award-nominated CHUCK AND THE FIRST PEOPLES’ KITCHEN (Oct. 13), following Chef Chuck Hughes as he explores First Nations culinary traditions and techniques, and JAMIE: EASY MEALS FOR EVERY DAY (Oct. 27), as Jamie Oliver cooks from home to create new family favourites 

Spooky Canadian films for the Halloween season include thriller NEVER SAW IT COMING (Oct. 6) starring Emily Hampshire (Schitt’s Creek), COME TRUE (Oct. 13) about the power of dreams - and nightmares, sci-fi drama CODE 8 (Oct. 20) starring Robbie and Stephen Amell, and werewolf drama BLOODTHIRSTY (Oct. 27) about an indie singer’s sacrifices for her career

CBC Gem is Canada’s streaming service, offering more than 6500 hours of live and on-demand Canadian programming and a curated selection of acclaimed, best-in-class content from around the world, including more than 800 documentaries, 500 hours of ad-free content for kids and tweens, and a collection of over 200 Canadian feature films. CBC Gem is available free as an app for iOS and Android devices and online at CBCGem.ca, and on TV screens via Roku, Apple TV, Google Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Android TV and Xbox. 

For screening links or more information about any of the titles, please contact Tanya Koivusalo at tanya.koivusalo@cbc.ca. Note: This schedule is subject to change.

For images from CBC Gem titles, click here. Please credit Courtesy of CBC Gem.

ACCLAIMED INTERNATIONAL SERIES

GHOSTS Season 5 (7x30, Comedy, Monumental Television/Them There, UK)

Begins streaming Friday, October 6 

*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*

The unlikely house share between Mike and Alison and their after-life tenants continues to cause comedy chaos. There’s April Fools’ high jinks between Alison and the ghosts. Meanwhile, Mike struggles to handle the insurance claim on the gate house fire (yes, lightning really does strike thrice). And can a visit from an antiques dealer be the answer to all Mike and Alison’s money woes or is a golf consortium and buddying up with nosey neighbour Barclay really the best option? Needless to say, there are laughs aplenty in this final season.

SISI Season 2 (6x60, Drama, Story House Pictures, Germany)

Begins streaming Friday, October 6 

*Exclusive English-Language Canadian Premiere*

An heir to the throne at last! But what should be a joyous moment for Sisi and Franz is soon overshadowed by renewed power struggles in Europe: Bismarck threatens to drive Austria into a new war. Sisi tries with all her might to be there for her husband and her people. And although she loves Franz and demonstrates her diplomatic talent over and over, Sisi's life remains that of a bird in a golden cage. Yet, when she has to travel to Hungary on a political mission, she manages to rediscover the light-heartedness of her childhood for the first time in many years. The untamed, endless expanses of the Hungarian puszta, the hard, simple life of the people, and a man with whom one can steal horses. While Franz discovers his sensitive side at the Viennese court, Sisi still successfully resists the growing attraction to Count Andrassy. But when Sisi ends up in captivity with Andrassy, of all people, she finally must ask herself how long she can remain steadfast... 

ONE NIGHT (10x30, Drama/Comedy, NRK, Norway)

Begins streaming Friday, October 20 

*Exclusive Canadian Premiere*

Elizabeth, a 27-year-old waitress, and Jonas, a 35-year-old carpenter, both meet for the first time on a blind date. Step by step, as they get to know each other, so do we… In the midst of this weird, awkward and moving journey through the night, the audience looks deep into both of the characters’ hearts and hopes, and feels with them the longing to be loved.

**** “gentle, affecting and pleasingly honest”

Gabriel Tate, The Telegraph
 

CBC GEM ORIGINALS 

ZARQA Season 2 (6x11, Comedy, FUNdamentalist Films)

Begins streaming Friday, October 6

From award-winning Canadian film and television producer, author, journalist, and internationally renowned thought leader for Muslim women in media, Zarqa Nawaz (Little Mosque on the Prairie), the season follows Zarqa’s (Nawaz) pursuit of a holier-than-thou social influencer’s friendship and clout. Her plan backfires when she gets cancelled, sending her life spiralling out of control as she attempts to claw her way out of the latest hole she’s dug.

HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR (8x15, Comedy/Drama, Sphere Media)

Begins streaming Friday, October 13

What happens when a star isn’t born? An adaptation of Vivek Shraya's hit play and subsequent book, the CBC Gem original short form series HOW TO FAIL AS A POPSTAR answers this question with hilarity, vulnerability, imagination, and of course, music. The series tracks the journey of Vivek, a young queer brown boy from Edmonton as he tries (and fails) to achieve pop stardom – from the perspective of the now 40-something trans feminine multidisciplinary artist that boy became. 

THE BANNOCKING (6x10, Drama, Bad Bannock Productions)

Begins streaming Friday, October 20 

A journalism student, Ellen Bear, returns home to uncover the truth about an abandoned residential school, but chaos ensues when residents of Bent Creek First Nations begin to show bizarre and violent behaviour, leaving everyone to ask: “What’s in the bannock?”

DOCUMENTARIES

BLACK LIFE: UNTOLD STORIES (8x60, Studio 112 in association with Northwood Entertainment, and Ugly Duck Productions, Canada)

Four episodes available each on Wednesday, Oct. 18 and Wednesday, Oct. 25

BLACK LIFE: UNTOLD STORIES is an eight-part documentary series that reframes the rich and complex histories of Black experiences in Canada, dispelling commonly accepted myths and celebrating the many contributions of Black Canadians. The series spans more than 400 years with an eye towards contemporary issues, music, policing, Black liberation, immigration, culture, and sports.

CYNARA (90min, a documentary Channel original, directed by Sherien Barsoum, Canada) 

Begins streaming Tuesday, October 24 

On February 19, 2011, a distraught woman calls 911, telling the dispatcher that two men broke into her house and that her daughter is not breathing. When first responders arrive, they find 16-year-old Cynara without vital signs, and her mother, Cindy Ali, lying on the floor, unable to move. Hours later, Cynara is dead, and Cindy is the prime suspect. 

With exclusive access to Cindy, her family, her lawyers, witnesses and court documents, this film is both a thoughtful crime story and an intimate drama about a mother trying to clear her name.

CANADIAN FEATURE FILMS

*Available as part of the Halloween Collection*

NEVER SAW IT COMING (83min, Thriller, directed by Gail Harvey)

Begins streaming Friday, October 6

Keisha Ceylon (Emily Hampshire) is a psychic. At least, that's what she passes herself off as. Her real powers have more to do with separating troubled families from their money than actually seeing into the netherworld. When Keisha targets the family of the missing Ellie Garfield (Diane D'aquila), she becomes entangled in the dark secrets of Ellie's husband Wendell Garfield (Eric Roberts) and his daughter Melissa (Katie Boland).

COME TRUE (105min, Sci-Fi/Horror, directed by Anthony Scott Burns) 

Begins streaming Friday, October 13

High school student Sarah (Julia Sarah Stone) is at her lowest point when she runs away from home and finds herself with no one to rely on and struggling with recurring nightmares. She chances upon a university sleep study that offers the promise of safety and money, and which also brings her an unexpected friend and confidant in the overseeing scientist Jeremy (Landon Liboiron). But there's something curious about the proceedings, and being under observation seems to make Sarah's disturbing dreams even worse. As the darkness begins to close in, it's soon clear that Sarah has unknowingly become the conduit to a horrifying new discovery.

“‘Come True’ is superior throwback horror”

Ben Kenigsberg, The New York Times

CODE 8 (90min, Sci-Fi, directed by Jeff Chan)

Begins streaming Friday, October 20

CODE 8 is set in a world where 4% of the population is born with varying supernatural abilities, but instead of being billionaires or superheroes, they face discrimination and live in poverty, often resorting to crime. Connor Reed (Robbie Amell), a power-enabled young man, is struggling to pay for his ailing mother’s (Kari Matchett) health treatment. Fighting to earn enough money as a day labourer, Connor is lured into a lucrative criminal world by Garrett (Stephen Amell) who works for Lincoln City’s reigning drug lord, Marcus Sutcliffe (Greg Bryk). Garrett helps Connor sharpen his powers in order to execute a series of crimes on behalf of Sutcliffe, while a militarized police unit, led by Agent Park (Sung Kang) and Agent Davis (Aaron Abrams), hunts them down.

“a well-crafted mix of crime melodrama and fantasy”

Dennis Harvey, Variety

BLOODTHIRSTY (84min, Horror, directed by Amelia Moses) 

Begins streaming Friday, October 27

Grey, an indie singer whose first album was a smash hit, gets an invitation to collaborate with notorious music producer Vaughn Daniels at his remote studio in the woods. Together with her girlfriend Charlie, they arrive at his mansion, and the work begins. But Grey is having visions that she is a wolf, and as her work with the emotionally demanding Vaughn deepens, the vegan singer begins to hunger for meat and the hunt. As Grey starts to transform into a werewolf, she begins to find out who she really is, and begins to discover the family she never knew. What will it take to become a great artist and at what cost to her humanity?
 

LIFESTYLE

ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY Season 29B Episodes 29-42 (27x60, Lifestyle, Naked Television, UK)

Begins streaming Wednesday, October 4 

When homeowners are reviewing their quality of life and questioning the need to live in expensive and polluted urban spaces, ESCAPE TO THE COUNTRY’s satisfying journeys of rural property searches and lifestyle changes have never felt more relevant. Having been on screen for twenty years, this heritage brand now focuses on escaping to the countryside in its broadest sense, presenting practical lifestyle content and constructive suggestions for the viewer, all the while capturing the seasonal beauty of the British landscape. A warm and knowledgeable cast of presenters helps a broad range of property hunters with differing budgets and wish lists.

CHUCK AND THE FIRST PEOPLES’ KITCHEN (13x30, Lifestyle, Andicha Media Inc., Canada)

Begins streaming Friday, October 13

Eager to learn more about First Nations culinary traditions, Chef Chuck Hughes meets Canada's Indigenous communities. From lobster fishing in Chaleur Bay, to moose hunting in the province of Newfoundland, to the Ptarmigan hunt in Nunavut, Chuck does not hesitate to travel through forests, rivers and streams and snow-covered landscapes to learn about the food supply techniques of yesterday and today. Members of the communities teach Chuck various family and ancestral recipes, an integral part of their cultural and culinary heritage, which are to be protected and passed onto future generations. Guided by his mentors, Chuck becomes a privileged witness of the respect this proud people has toward Nature.

JAMIE: EASY MEALS FOR EVERY DAY (24x30, Lifestyle, A Fresh One Production, UK)

Begins streaming Friday, October 27 

Jamie’s brand-new series sees him cooking from home, creating exciting recipes for his family – and us – that take ingredients we already know and love and reinvents them. With a glimpse into life in the Oliver household, Jamie’s Easy Meals For Every Day inspires us with tasty ideas for simple, affordable meals. This is about celebrating the food we buy every week, and cooking it up in fun, delicious ways, making new family favourites.
 

CBC SPORTS

BEACH VOLLEYBALL WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Streaming October 6 - 15

The highlight of the 2023 international beach volleyball season, the World Championships will be held across the Mexican cities of Tlaxcala, Huamantla and Apizaco from October 6-15, taking the event back to Latin America for the first time in 20 years. The tournament will feature 48 teams in each gender, from nearly 40 countries, including Canadian blocker Brandie Wilkerson with new partner 2019 world champion Melissa Humana-Paredes.

ARTISTIC GYMNASTICS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

Streaming September 30 - October 8 

Taking place at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, Belgium, the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships is the biggest gymnastics competition of the year, featuring nearly 500 gymnasts from more than 80 countries competing for world titles. Canada’s women’s team hopes to build on the success of the 2022 championships, where they secured a historic bronze medal, clinching their ticket to Paris 2024. On the men's side, the pursuit for a Paris 2024 berth continues. 

GRAND PRIX OF FIGURE SKATING: SKATE CANADA INTERNATIONAL

Streaming October 27 - 29 

Skate Canada International is the second competition in the annual Grand Prix of Figure Skating. This year’s event takes place at the Doug Mitchell Thunderbird Sports Centre in Vancouver, British Columbia where 18 Canadian skaters are set to compete, including ice dancers Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier. The top six from each discipline (men, women, pairs, and ice dance) qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final which will be held in Beijing, China from December 7-10.

KIDS AND TWEENS

PEPPA PIG Season 1 (52x5, Kids, Hasbro Entertainment and Karrot Animation, UK)

Begins streaming Friday, October 6 

Peppa is a loveable, cheeky little piggy who lives with her little brother George, Mummy Pig and Daddy Pig. Peppa’s favourite things include playing games, dressing up, days out and jumping in muddy puddles. Her adventures always end happily with loud snorts of laughter.

THE BEST OF CBC

The Canadian streaming home of past and current seasons of hit CBC series including HEARTLAND, KIM’S CONVENIENCE, MURDOCH MYSTERIES, THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW, SCHITT’S CREEK and WHEN CALLS THE HEART, plus ARCTIC VETS, BARONESS VON SKETCH SHOW, MR. D, PRETTY HARD CASES, THE PORTER, RUN THE BURBS, SKYMED, SON OF A CRITCH, SORT OF, STILL STANDING and TALLBOYZ, and classic CBC hits like BEING ERICA. 
 

COMING IN NOVEMBER

BLACKBERRY three-part series

CRIME Season 2 

ETERNAL SPRING

HARLOTS Season 3 

SORT OF Season 3 

SWAN SONG four-part series