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Canal Road

Editorial Review

Editorial Review

Canal Road seemed to have so much potential when it premiered in April, but after poor ratings it was only a matter of weeks before it was bumped into a graveyard slot and later dropped from the Nine Network's schedule altogether.

Even if you wanted to follow this Australian-made drama it's unlikely that you could; Nine broadcasts it in fits and starts, and it returns to the airwaves at the same time as the world's biggest sporting event - all but guaranteeing no one will tune in.

Spencer McKay (Paul Leyden) is a top psychiatrist who moonlights at Canal Road, a legal-medical centre in Melbourne, to distract himself from the tragic murders of his wife and young son.

In this episode Spence treats Mia, a young woman who claims that voices in her head compelled her to attempt to murder her father. But is Mia suffering from a personality disorder... or does she really have the power to channel the dead? Spence is sceptical... until Mia starts receiving messages from his dead wife. Are her gifts genuine, or is there more to the case than meets the eye?

Canal Road doesn't deserve such shoddy scheduling - it's not a terrible show. There's solid Australian talent in the cast - including Sybilla Budd and Satisfaction's Diana Glenn - and the production values and Melbourne backdrop are especially slick.

The trouble will the series is that it's just not very compelling - there's no hook to keep audiences coming back for more. Instead of asking "Who really killed Spencer's family?", you're more likely to ask "Who cares?"

Canal Road airs on the Nine Network on Sunday, August 10, at 10:30pm.

Click here to view Citysearch's TV guide.

Sam Downing, July 2008