From Allan Hawco on Twitter “Our decision to end Republic of Doyle on season 6 was tough, but I
think you’ll love that we’re going out with a bang”. #october8finalseason 29
May 2014
A couple of weeks ago Republic of Doyle filmed its last
episodes on the streets of St John’s, Newfoundland. CBC Canada and the
producers decided to make this series their last. After the announcement made on
social media and in the news media, there were congratulations all round for
the show and its cast and of course the contribution it has made to the Newfoundland
community and arts. The show has contributed too many fans including myself
visiting the glorious island of Newfoundland.
The fans will miss Jake, Leslie, the Doyle family, the crazy
bunch of characters and of course the amazing city of St John’s. The first
episode of the final season airs on CBC Canada on the October 15 2014. On the
same night in Toronto there is a fan event for all those fans interested in celebrating
the show they love. There is also some more good news, the producers and cast plan
to make a movie. So it will not be the last we see of Jake Doyle riding around in the
GTO around the streets of St John’s. Republic of Doyle on the big screen, I
can’t wait to see that.
After the announcement of the decision not to renew the show
I went looking for all that had been said about the final days of filming.
In an article and video posted on CBC News “That's a wrap: Republic of Doyle ends shooting of final season” on September 2014 Allan Hawco explained his decision not to
continue with show. "We wanted to make sure we were loyal to our
fans, and we had an opportunity to deliver on our promises. I feel if we kept
going, I don't know if I'd be able to promise that. At a certain point you kind
of run out of the magic. I didn't want to be the last guy hanging out at the
party that everybody wants to go home." Being a fan of many television
shows I have seen popular shows run themselves into the ground when their time
was over. The cast and crew tired and the writers running out of material. The
decision was a brave one indeed but one that was done for the right reasons.
There is a wonderful video attached to the article which all
Republic of Doyle fans should see. Allan apologies for blocking traffic in
downtown St John’s for six years, and describes how many people he will miss
once the show finished. He then talks about making the show and the projects he
has planned. Exciting stuff.
Allan Hawco and the GTO talking about the end of Republic of Doyle (CBC.ca no copyright infringement intended).
That's
a wrap: Republic of Doyle ends shooting of final season from CBC News September
2014,
The tires on Jake Doyle's GTO will screech for the
last time on Wednesday, as shooting for the final season of the hit series Republic
of Doyle will come to an end.
The Gemini-nominated show debuted in January 2010,
and on Oct. 15, the sixth season will premiere on CBC Television.
Republic of
Doyle star and co-creator Allan Hawco, who has played
Doyle, took a few minutes from taping on the southside of St. John's on
Tuesday, to speak with the CBC's Zach Goudie.
Hawco said there's been a large level of nostalgia
as the crew wraps up the show"
And, a certain level of an emotional connection to
this family of people that we've been working with for six years. Being able to
work and live in my favourite city in the world, with my favourite people, it's
going to be a hard separation. I think it's going to be emotional for everybody
and I'm not looking forward to that," Hawco said.
Hawco said it was a hard decision to have season
six as the final instalment of the show.
"Well, you've got to think all the jobs that
are in play, the amount of marriages, babies that have been born, houses that
have been bought. This is people's livelihood," said Hawco.
"You can't make that decision lightly, and
that was one of the biggest things that was making us hesitate in terms of
ending the show. Creatively it was the right decision, but I am going to miss
it. I'm going to miss shooting in this amazing city and being able to showcase
it. Fundamentally I'm going to miss playing Jake Doyle."
Large team behind the scenes
Unlike seeing show regular characters
Jake, Des, Tinny, Rose, Malachy and Leslie on-screen, there is an
army of support — 150 people who work full-time — behind the scenes.
The St. John's Morning Show spoke to several of the
folks who work on every episode.
Gina-Rae Anderson, who has worked in the props
department, was studying film in Halifax four years ago.
"I just knew that when I came back to
Newfoundland that I just couldn't see myself doing anything else but working on
the show, and somehow it all worked out. And now I'm doing my dream job,"
Anderson said.
"I love coming into work and there's so many
people, so many friendships have evolved over the past few years. It truly
really, really feels like a family. I just love everybody ... going to
miss them so much. It's life changing. The show for me was actually life
changing. It pretty much developed my career."
Jess Anderson is the digital unit manager
with the show, and prior to working on Republic of Doyle, didn't have any television experience.
"Over the past four years, I think I've
learned a lot. We're here for about 12 hours a day, so you get to see kind of
everything from you know, how the cameras work, to who does what in the crew.
And then where I'm working around, I get to see the show come full circle with
editing and post and see how it's all done," Anderson said.
"I've been getting kind of a bittersweet vibe
on set. Everyone's in really good spirits, it almost feels like the last day of
high school. So we all know that we're graduating tomorrow and we all know that
we will see each other again, but we don't know when or where or how. So it's
definitely bittersweet."
The right decision
Hawco said while it was a tough decision to end the
series, it was the right one.
"Because, every year we were at the
hands of fate. We just didn't know if we were going to be ordered every year,
and we wanted to make sure we had control over how we went out," said
Hawco.
"We wanted to make sure we were loyal to our
fans, and we had an opportunity to deliver on our promises. I feel if we kept
going, I don't know if I'd be able to promise that. At a certain point you kind
of run out of the magic. I didn't want to be the last guy hanging out at the
party that everybody wants to go home."
After Wednesday's wrap, the crew will
conclude editing and post-production.
When asked what would happen to the blue GTO once Republic of Doyle ended, Hawco told
CBC, "nothing."
"We're going to make a movie ... so,
stay tuned."
