Beau Starr

Due South is a Canadian crime drama series with elements of comedy. The series was created by Paul Haggis, produced by Alliance Communications, and stars Paul Gross, David Marciano, Gordon Pinsent, Beau Starr, Camilla Scott, Ramona Milano, and latterly Callum Keith Rennie. It ran for 68 episodes over four seasons, from 1994 to 1999.

Set in Chicago, the show follows the adventures of Constable Benton Fraser, an officer of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, who is attached to the Canadian consulate but works with Detective Raymond Vecchio of the Chicago Police Department to solve crimes, assisted by Fraser’s companion Diefenbaker, a deaf white wolfdog. From season three, Fraser works with a Detective Stanley Kowalski, who is placed in the department to impersonate Detective Vecchio, who goes on an undercover assignment.

The premise of such a working relationship is established in the pilot episode when Fraser is temporarily posted to Chicago to assist Vecchio in the investigation of the murder of Fraser’s father, who was also of the RCMP. In the process of finding them, he also exposes an environmental corruption scandal involving some members of the RCMP, causing much embarrassment and loss of jobs in his native Northwest Territories, which leaves him persona non grata in Canada and within the RCMP and posted permanently to Chicago.