Wojeck

With the passing of actor John Vernon, I am reminded of the great work he did on the CBC series "Wojeck". I was a mere child when the series originally aired in the 1960s but I remember my parents watching the series with great anticipation. When this TV movie came out nearly 30 years after the original series premiered, I was quite impressed. Steve Wojeck was a strongly developed character, blowing coroner colleagues Quincy and Da Vinci out the autopsy room. Vernon was obviously still attached to this character he played decades before. The TV movie "Out of The Fire" seemed to have touched a nerve with other viewers as I remember CBC airing the old black and white reruns later( I think it was during an NHL lockout or some stupid thing like that). This abrasive yet intelligent medical examiner proved to be the prototype to the currently popular Dominick DaVinci from "Da Vinci's Inquest". It seems John Vernon is more responsible for the creation of DaVinci than Vancouver major Gordon Campbell(both share Saskatchewan connections.) If you've seen the old "Wojeck" shows, this TV movie is worth a watch in all its colour and splendor.