Canadian medical drama Wojeck now on YouTube

Three years ago, I blogged about a 1960’s Canadian medical drama, Wojeck, starring John Vernon as a crusading medical examiner in urban Toronto. Think Quincy or CSI with a Canadian accent.

Before CSI and Quincy, there was Wojeck

At the time, there were only a couple of episodes uploaded on YouTube, as well as opening credits for the show’s two seasons. The show was extremely popular in the 1960’s – heck, one episode was rebroadcast in America as part of an anthology series – but Hollywood saw a star in John Vernon, and he left the series to move to California and make bigger-budget movies.

The TV series itself is quite an interesting watch – it’s gritty, it’s unflinching, and it has plenty of 1960’s-era morality in it. Steve Wojeck solves mysteries that no one else will touch, and he discovers social injustice that no one will acknowledge.

And now, an enterprising YouTuber has uploaded all 20 episodes of the Canadian drama for all of us to watch and enjoy. Here’s the pilot episode, “Tell Them the Streets are Dancing,” where Wojeck investigates why Sicilian tunnel workers are dying from pressure-related deaths.

And in “All Aboard for Candyland,” Wojeck discovers that a hospital nurse may be involved in a narcotics distribution ring – complete with views of the seedier side of downtown Toronto and the 1960’s-era view of addiction.

Wow.

And here’s the kicker. In 1992, Vernon returned to the role of Steve Wojeck in a telefilm called Wojeck: Out of the Fire, which ALSO exists on YouTube. Damn.

So you have all 20 episodes of Wojeck and the follow-up TV movie?

I think it’s time for a little binge-watching, if you don’t mind.

Heck, maybe my blog buddy Jacob Gilbert might do a review of Wojeck on his The Land of Whatever blog portal. Or Roger Green could review the show in his Ramblin’ with Roger blogsite. It’s definitely worth the viewing, I would say.