Popular Due South Questions

Here are some of the most popular questions that we get asked from fans of due South:

Has due SOUTH been cancelled?

Many fans are curious to know what the current status of the show is. Given the history of the show, this isn't surprising.

As of December 2002, due South is no longer in production, and there are no known plans to bring it back. The show ended filming in March 1998, and the last official episode of the series is "Call of the Wild, part 2." Most of the show's loose ends were tied up in the last 5 minutes of this episode.

Paul Gross has mentioned in several interviews given in early March 1999 that the show is over and it is time to let it go. He feels that all possible stories have now been told, and he wants to quit before the show gets stale. In one interview Paul mentions that the character of Benton Fraser is "dead."

The possibility of future made-for-TV movies still exists though. Should any official information concerning this possibility be released by Alliance Atlantis, we will be sure to post it to this website.

Just how many seasons of due SOUTH were made?

There seems to be a lot of confusion over the number of seasons of due SOUTH that were made. The answer depends on where you live. All told, there were 68 hours of due SOUTH made for television. The last 26 hours are the source of the controversy. The production numbers broke down in this manner:

  # Episodes # Two-Part Episodes # Hours
Pilot Movie 1 0 2
Season 1 20 2 22
Season 2 18 0 18
Season 3 / 4 24 2 26
Totals: 63 4 68

In the United States, the last 26 hours made were shown as a single season of 20 episodes (22 hours). The remaining 4 episodes (4 hours) were not part of Polygram Television's syndication deal, and were not shown until Turner Network Television (TNT) picked the series up. Thus in the US, fans began thinking of these 22 hours as 'Season 3'.

In Canada, CTV decided to break the last 26 hours up differently. They created two seasons of 13 hours (12 episodes) each. The first 13 hours, "Burning Down the House" through "Mountie on the Bounty, part 2" were shown during the 1997-98 viewing season and were called 'Season 3'. The final 13 hours, "Dr. Longball" through "Call of the Wild, part 2", were shown during the 1998-99 viewing season, and were called 'Season 4'.

In other parts of the world, the final 26 hours were broken up differently.

On this website, you may notice references to Season 3 and/or Season 4. When the show was renewed after Season 2 the new filming run was collectively called 'Season 3'. It wasn't until much later that fans learned that CTV was breaking the final 26 hours up into two seasons. Originally we did not know how to break these final episodes up, so we followed the US model. We have been moving to the Canadian model since due SOUTH is a Canadian series and that is how these final episodes were presented there.

"Call of the Wild, part 2" was designed to be the last due SOUTH episode aired and is the series finale. Currently there are no known plans to make any more episodes. Paul Gross mentioned in several interviews given in early March 1999 that the show is over. The possibility of made-for-TV movies still exists though.

How can I get copies of the due SOUTH episodes?

Many fans discovered due SOUTH too late to get all of the episodes on videotape when the series was originally broadcasting. Here are your options on how to get copies of the past episodes:

Tape Copies from Television:
By far the easiest option, this is becoming harder to do as times marches on. The show is still aired in many parts of the world and we try to track them the best we can on our TV Listings page.

Purchase Copies:
Copies of some episodes are available for sale on video and DVD in various parts of the world. Please see our Merchandise page for more details. Please note that different video and DVD formats exist, and that tapes/DVDs that work in one country might not work in your country.

Getting Copies Made:
Copying tapes/DVDs for others is, of course, copyright infringement, especially if it is a pre-recorded tape/DVD that is available for sale commercially. Copying media that has been purchased from a store, online distributer, or from a production company is Illegal and if you are caught in possession of such copied material you can expect fines and possible jail time. Since all the episodes were released commercially in Europe on video, and selected episodes were released on video and DVD in North America, please keep this in mind when searching for copies.

Sounds scary huh? Wondering if you should try to get copies now? Don't worry, any copies of shows made from an actual television broadcast are acceptable (it is still copywrite infringement, but not many studios pursue this since the popularity of the VCR makes this next to impossible to enforce).

Now, should another fan be willing to make a copy of their tapes/DVDs that were recorded off a television broadcast, they should request nothing more than reimbursement of the videotapes/DVDs and postage. Profiting from making copies of entertainment broadcast on radio and television, or charging for the time involved in making the copies is illegal in the United States and probably other parts of the world. It is generally accepted that paying someone for the cost of the media and any mailing fees incurred is all right. Paying someone extra for the wear and tear on their VCR and/or DVD recorders is a gray area. Paying someone extra for a copy of entertainment that they have to occasionally repurchase from a distributer because their copy wears out is Illegal because they are probably illegalling copying the media.

But how to find someone who would be willing to make copies of their episodes for you?

We've noticed that some fan sites have sections devoted to copying the episodes. We are not going to list them specifically here as some site owners do not appreciate this, and because some of them hover in a gray area in terms of legality in some of the things that they offer. You can find links to their websites on our Internet Web Sites page. We do not endorse any particular sites who provide these services, and you should keep in mind legal issues mentioned above should you decide to contact them.

Another option to obtain copies of any of the episodes is to make a request to one of the Internet groups that exist to support the show. Another good place is the Due South newsgroup (alt.tv.due-south). Note that these groups probably have established policies on this practice and you can probably find them in the groups Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document if one exists.

Helpful Tip: It is helpful to give your general location in your request, such as your country, your state, or your province. First, you may get a response from someone who lives really close to you. Thus, you may save on the postage that someone far away would have to charge you. Second, there are different video and DVD formats that are used in the world. In North America we use a video one called NTSC, most of Europe and Australia use a video one called PAL, and France uses a completely different video format. DVDs have 6 different formats that are used in the world. This is important because PAL tapes won't run in a NTSC machine and vice versa. Region 1 DVDs don't usually run in Region 2 DVD players. You'll want to make sure that the person offering to help you out is using the same format as you. This can be easily verified by making sure that they live in the general regions as you (North America, Europe, etc...).

What is the deal with NTSC and PAL video formats?

Around the world there are different types of video formats that are used to create videotapes. These precise differences in the formats are too technical to get into here, but they have to do with how the images are written to the tape, the angle that the digital coding is written, and how much information can be fit onto a given length of tape. The important thing to realize is that VCR's are designed to work with a particular video format. Unless the VCR is equipped to handle other formats, it will not play tapes that are recorded in a format it does not recognize. In fact, the tapes and possibly the VCRs can be damaged if you try to play a tape that is not supported.

Here is a breakdown of countries that support two of the most popular formats. This information was originally obtained from The Interactive Music & Video Shop

PAL FORMAT:
Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canary Islands, China, Denmark, Dubai, Fiji, Finland, former Yugoslav republics (Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Macedonia), Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Portugal, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, United Kingdom, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

NTSC FORMAT:
Antigua and Barbuda, Aruba , Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bermuda, Bolivia, Brazil (NTSC is PAL-M compatible), Canada, Chile, China (Taiwan), Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guam, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Japan, , Democratic People's Republic (PAL/NTSC), Korea, Republic of Mexico, Micronesia, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Puerto Rico, St. Christopher and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, Eastern Suriname, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, United States of America, Venezuela, Vietnam (NTSC/SECAM), Virgin Islands, British Virgin Islands, U.S. Yemen (PAL/NTSC)

What is the deal with DVD regions?

The powers that be divided the world up into several regions which use different forms of DVD encoding. This was mainly so that they could control releases in the DVD market so that someone in say Europe couldn't order a DVD from Canada when the DVD had not been released in Europe yet. As of November 2002, the coding standards appears to be optional and some discs may play in multiple regions. Interestingly enough, some discs coded for a region may not play in all countries in that region because of the video format that was used to record the disc. Some DVD players can play DVDs from several regions, and some players are 'region free' meaning they should be able to play any region's DVDs. However, the studios frown on 'region free' players and have been including additional coding that prevents discs from playing on these types of players.

The current regions are:

What episodes is TNT showing and when?

As of January 2001, Turner Network Television's broadcasting rights for the show have expired and they have no plans to renew their contract. We have received no word as to whether another US network will pick up the show or not.

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Copyright 1998 - 2002 by William Rydbom and Elyse Dickenson.