| Blood Ties | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Occult detective fiction Police procedural Comedy drama Horror |
| Created by | Series: Peter Mohan Books: Tanya Huff |
| Directed by | David Winning |
| Starring | Christina Cox Kyle Schmid Dylan Neal Gina Holden |
| Opening theme | "Live Forever" by Tamara Rhodes |
| Country of origin | Canada |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 22 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Peter Mohan |
| Production locations | Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia |
| Running time | 43 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | City (Canada) Space (Canada) Lifetime Television (United States) |
| Release | March 11 – December 7, 2007 |
Blood Ties is a Canadian television series based on the Blood Books by Tanya Huff; the show was created by Peter Mohan. It is set in Toronto, Ontario, and features a 4-and-a-half century old vampire, Henry Fitzroy, assisting private investigator Vicki Nelson in dealing with crime committed via paranormal elements, a similar premise to an earlier series also set in Toronto, Forever Knight . It premiered in the United States on March 11, 2007, on Lifetime Television, and during fall of 2007 on City and Space in Canada. In May 2008, Lifetime declined to renew the series.
Blood Ties, set in Toronto, Ontario, centres on Vicki Nelson (Christina Cox), a former Toronto Police Service officer who left the force to become a private investigator when her eyesight begins to degenerate from retinopathia pigmentosa. Through her work she teams up with the 470-year-old vampire Henry Fitzroy, who happens to be the illegitimate son of Henry VIII. The mutual attraction between them is complicated by Vicki's relationship with former partner and lover Mike Celluci. In the beginning, he does not believe in the supernatural and thinks that Vicki is losing her mind along with her eyesight. Also in the picture is Vicki's assistant Coreen, who was hired because of her knowledge of the occult and to keep her quiet about Henry. Coreen is thoroughly enamored of both the occult and Henry, which can get her into trouble.
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | "Blood Price" | Allan Kroeker | Peter Mohan | March 11, 2007 | ||||||
| 2 | 2 | ||||||||||
| PI Vicki Nelson witnesses a gruesome murder – except because of her failing eyesight, she's not really sure what she saw. Her old prince colleague, detective Mike Celluci, warns her against getting involved. But when a young, heartbroken Goth begs Vicki to investigate her boyfriend's death, Vicki can't help but open up the strangest case of her life. Meanwhile, Henry Fitzroy, a concerned citizen of Toronto, also decides to look into the murders lest they be blamed on a vampire – himself for example. After forming an uneasy alliance with the toothsome Fitzroy, it's up to Vicki to track down who is raising the Ripper demon... before they put the entire world in peril. | |||||||||||
| 3 | 3 | "Bad JuJu" | James Dunnison | Peter Mohan | March 18, 2007 | ||||||
| When her client is being hunted by zombies, Vicki turns to Henry for help, but Henry proves surprisingly reluctant to get involved. Rival Voudoun practitioners catch Henry and Vicki in a battle over the resurrection of a dead sorcerer, while Mike investigates the suspicious man in Vicki's life - Henry Fitzroy. | |||||||||||
| 4 | 4 | "Gifted" | James Head | Mark Leiren-Young | March 25, 2007 | ||||||
| Vicki looks into the brutal death of a single mother, who appears to have been savaged by a terrifying beast. But does the victim's daughter know more than she's letting on... and is her school ready to let go of their star pupil? | |||||||||||
| 5 | 5 | "Deadly Departed" | David Winkler | Dennis Heaton | April 1, 2007 | ||||||
| A defense lawyer in a high-profile murder case is brutally murdered, but the killer has left his fingerprints... on the dead man's heart. As the unseen killer picks off those who put him away one by one, Mike discovers that one of his colleagues has a guilty secret... | |||||||||||
| 6 | 6 | "Love Hurts" | Allan Kroeker | Shelley Eriksen | April 8, 2007 | ||||||
| A man hires Vicki to figure out if his wife is cheating on him. After she is found dead, the husband is the prime suspect. But in Vicki's world, things are never quite that simple, and a side trip into the steamier side of suburbia takes a terrifying twist as she discovers just what jealousy can do... | |||||||||||
| 7 | 7 | "Heart of Ice" | James Head | Charles Lazer | April 15, 2007 | ||||||
| Homeless people have gone missing, and Vicki gets more than she bargained for when she tries to solve the case. Mike is on yet another case where a prostitute's blood has been drained, and Henry is number one on his list of suspects. But when he agrees to help the mysterious Father Mendoza, has Mike struck a blow for justice or made a deal with the Devil? | |||||||||||
| 8 | 8 | "Heart of Fire" | James Dunnison | Rick Drew | April 22, 2007 | ||||||
| Near breaking point under torture, Henry struggles to retain his strength and sanity as Vicki and Mike race to save him, as well as seek answers to the mystery of how Father Mendoza could have encountered Henry over three centuries ago and still be alive in the present. | |||||||||||
| 9 | 9 | "Stone Cold" | Holly Dale | Tanya Huff | April 29, 2007 | ||||||
| While looking for a missing male model, our heroes encounter a beautiful club owner with a horrific past. Mike may be falling under her spell, but is she an angry victim or a stone cold killer? | |||||||||||
| 10 | 10 | "Necrodrome" | Andy Mikita | Dennis Heaton | May 6, 2007 | ||||||
| A funeral director hires Vicki to track down one of his clients... one of the dead ones. For boxer Diesel Swanson, the day's not getting any better either, despite the fact that he started off dead... but the mystery is that what happens if he isn't? | |||||||||||
| 11 | 11 | "Post Partum" | David Winning | Sarah Dodd | May 13, 2007 | ||||||
| A man hires Vicki to check on his wife, who is isolated in a fertility clinic that guarantees results. Vicki has to pretend to be a frustrated would-be mother to get in. Dr. Hobman's strict regime does seem to help infertile women get pregnant, but is there a sinister side to his success? | |||||||||||
| 12 | 12 | "Norman" | Peter DeLuise | Victor Nicolle | May 20, 2007 | ||||||
| Vicki's first case comes back to haunt her as evil nerd Norman escapes from the abyss, now with a whole array of demonic powers and revenge on his mind. | |||||||||||
| No. overall | No. in season | Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | 1 | "D.O.A." | James Dunnison | Shelley Eriksen | October 12, 2007 | |
| One of Vicki's old police colleagues stops by with a case of murder; specifically, his own. However, when Mike witnesses his body still walking and talking, they must determine whether the 'ghost' or the body is telling the truth. | ||||||
| 14 | 2 | "Wild Blood" | Andy Mikita | Peter Mohan | October 19, 2007 | |
| Mike and Vicki attempt to uncover the only suspect's secret in a murder case where the victim appears to have been torn apart by an intelligent beast, but the only suspect is proving distinctly uncooperative. | ||||||
| 15 | 3 | "5:55" | David Winning | Travis MacDonald | October 26, 2007 | |
| On the trail of a mysterious antique, Vicki repeatedly relives the day in which she investigates its disappearance, each day culminating in the antique- a mysterious box- being opened and the forces of darkness within it being unleashed. | ||||||
| 16 | 4 | "Bugged" | James Head | Dennis Heaton | November 2, 2007 | |
| A friend of Coreen's hires Vicki to investigate the sudden death of one of her Goth club's patrons. Meanwhile, Henry suspects that another vampire is moving in on his territory. | ||||||
| 17 | 5 | "The Devil You Know" | Andy Mikita | Denis McGrath | November 9, 2007 | |
| Henry's former lover shows up in town, seeking his protection from a stalker determined to kill her, but various events- such as her claiming that he was turned over a year ago when his sister possesses a photograph of him in the sun six months ago- prove that she isn't being totally honest. | ||||||
| 18 | 6 | "Drawn and Quartered" | David Winning | Dennis Heaton & Denis McGrath | November 16, 2007 | |
| A painter friend of Henry becomes a suspect when others in the art community start turning up dead, and Coreen's attempts to investigate result in her becoming too attached to the prime suspect. | ||||||
| 19 | 7 | "Wrapped" | Holly Dale | Mark Leiren-Young | November 23, 2007 | |
| A motley crew of truckjackers get more than they bargained for when they steal an ancient Incan mummy, leading to a nightmare for Fitzroy as he believes he is seeing his own death when he begins to dream about the mummy. | ||||||
| 20 | 8 | "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" | James Head | Travis MacDonald & Dennis Heaton | November 30, 2007 | |
| A self-confessed murderer that Vicki and Mike put away suddenly protests his innocence, claiming that he only saw visions of the real killer's handywork, and that more deaths are imminent. Whether it's a copycat, a stooge, or a psychic psycho, Vicki and Mike are forced to investigate once more, resulting in the discovery of a twisted experiment. | ||||||
| 21 | 9 | "We'll Meet Again" | David Winning | Denis McGrath | November 30, 2007 | |
| Vicki's client claims he has been reincarnated for centuries and needs her help to find his long lost lover, but in a cruel twist of fate- apparently caused when his last life was kept in a coma after the accident that automatically killed his wife-, this time she's ten years older... and already married. Meanwhile, Fitzroy begins pondering whether he needs a change of scenery, and Celluci's career is increasingly close to the edge... | ||||||
| 22 | 10 | "Deep Dark" | James Dunnison | Peter Mohan | December 7, 2007 | |
| Though their friendships are at breaking point, Vicki needs Fitzroy and Celluci more than ever when she discovers Coreen has been possessed by a demon. Tough decisions are made when questions of loyalty and love come to the forefront... especially when it is revealed that Coreen will die if the demon is exorcised. | ||||||
The series has been bought by UK channel Living and started airing there on August 16, 2007. In 2008 the show commenced screening in Australia on the FOX8 channel. In Spain, it is broadcast by Calle 13 and started on November 22, 2007. In Latin America the series has started to run on AXN, but later changed to Animax the anime and SciFi Channel part of Sony Entertainment (as AXN). It is also broadcast in 2012 on French channel NRJ 12.
Common Sense Media rated the series 3 out of 5 stars. [1]
| Title | Region 1 | Region 2 | Region 4 | Discs | Extras |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blood Ties: The Complete First Season | June 2, 2009 | 2008 | TBA | 4 | Behind the Scenes Featurette |
| Blood Ties: The Complete Second Season | October 6, 2009 | TBA | TBA | 3 | Photo Gallery, Season 1 Trailer |
| Blood Ties: The Complete Series | April 6, 2010 | January 28, 2008 | TBA | 7 | Behind the Scenes Featurette Photo Gallery Trailers |
| Blu-ray: The Complete Series | April 6, 2010 | January 12, 2011 | TBA | 4 | Behind the Scenes Featurette Photo Gallery (in high def) Trailers |
In April 2010, it was announced that The Fremantle Corporation and Kaleidoscope Entertainment are developing a new vampire series, Smoke & Mirrors, based on the "Smoke" book series by Canadian fantasy author Tanya Huff. Kaleidoscope in 2007 turned Huff's "Blood" book series into the Lifetime Television series Blood Ties, which also aired in Canada on Citytv and Space. Fremantle and Kaleidoscope are now shopping Smoke & Mirrors, starting at MIPTV, as a possible Canadian-European co-production. The urban fantasy series will see the return of Henry Fitzroy, the 474-year-old vampire, in a series of paranormal misadventures experienced on a fictional TV series shoot.
The "Smoke" book series is a sequel to Huff's "Blood" book, in which the characters are Tony Foster (character replaced by Coreen in Blood Ties) and Henry Fitzroy, dedicated to solving mysteries and combating supernatural threats. [2]
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Dylan Jeremy Neal is a Canadian actor. He is known for his portrayal of the character Dylan Shaw on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful, Doug Witter on Dawson's Creek, and Detective Mike Celluci in the supernatural series Blood Ties. He also played Aaron Jacobs on Sabrina, the Teenage Witch.
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