Quentin Durgens, M.P.

Quentin Durgens, M.P. is a Canadian dramatic television series, which aired on CBC Television from 1965 to 1969.[1] It was one of the first hour-long drama series produced by the CBC, and helped to establish Gordon Pinsent as a major star in Canada.[1] Created by George Robertson,[2] the series first aired in 1965 under the title Mr. Member of Parliament, as a short-run series within the CBC's drama anthology The Serial.[3] It was spun off into a standalone series and retitled Quentin Durgens, M.P. in its second season.[4]

Set in Ottawa, Ontario and the fictional community of Moose Falls,[lower-alpha 1] the series starred Pinsent as Quentin Durgens, an idealistic young lawyer who wins election as a Member of Parliament, succeeding his father in a by-election after his father's death in office.[3] Durgens was a backbench member of the governing party in the House of Commons,[4] but had a maverick streak and aspired to do the right thing even if it wasn't politically expedient.[4] Some of the storylines within the series were fictionalized depictions of real-life events in Canadian politics,[1] and the series incorporated some documentary filmmaking techniques inspired by the National Film Board.[1] Alan Macnaughton, the retiring Speaker of the House of Commons of Canada, and David Vivian Currie, the incumbent Sergeant-at-Arms, served as script consultants to ensure that Canadian political process was accurately depicted.[3]

The series was frequently compared in the Canadian press to Slattery's People, an American series about a state legislator which aired on CBS in the 1964–65 season.[3]

The cast also included Suzanne Lévesque, Budd Knapp, Cec Linder, Ovila Légaré and Chris Wiggins.[1]