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That's a wrap: Hard Rock Medical in its fourth and final season

Bittersweet for actors and co-creators as stories come to their conclusions
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Hard Rock Medical is in its fourth and final season.

Now that TVO’s Hard Rock Medical is coming to an end, one of its stars says he can't find any reason not to get back in shape.

Sudbury's own Stéphane Paquette, who plays the part of Charlie, said when he the show first started filming in 2013, he had a bit of a stomach.

“I've always had the excuse that, when we first started shooting, I had a belly, so I needed to keep it throughout the four seasons,” Paquette said. “Now I have no excuses not to lose weight and get in shape. Can we get a Season 5, please, so I don't have to go the gym?”

Kidding aside, Paquette said he relished the chance to act alongside some iconic Canadian actors, such as Patrick McKenna and Eric Peterson.

“It was a great run,” Paquette said. “It was a lot of fun. Thanks for watching the show and the positive feedback.”

Hard Rock Medical is in its fourth and final season. Fans of the show followed the trials and tribulations of Hard Rock’s Northern Ontario medical students.

Inspired by the world-renowned Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the series brings to life the distinct challenges of delivering quality health care in Northern Ontario. 

For series co-creator Derek Diorio, wrapping up the show is bittersweet. However, having been able to make four seasons of any television show is a huge accomplishment, he said.

“I'm pretty happy and proud of all the people who worked on the show,” Diorio said in a phone interview. “This is probably the most Northern show ever made.”

The idea of the show goes back to 2009, when Diorio heard about the Northern Ontario School of Medicine on a radio program. It planted the seed, and it grew from there.

“It was a journey to go through the process, to get the funding from the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund, and to get the school of medicine on board, then to get TVO interested in the show,” Diorio said. 

Hard Rock Medical got progressively more Northern as time went on. 

In the first two seasons of Hard Rock Medical, about 50 per cent of the show was actually filmed in Northern Ontario, Diorio said. 

Over the last two seasons, though, more than 90 per cent of it was filmed in Northern Ontario.

“It was edited by Northerners in the North and it was finished in the North,” Diorio said. “I don't think there's another show anywhere out there that's ever done that. I'm hoping whatever happens going forward that other people continue working with the very good people we've worked with up there.”

Meanwhile, Paquette will remember fondly his experience in his first English-language project.

“It was a cool job,” Paquette said. “I got to wake up every morning and be a different person, a cool character, and I got to work with a bunch of really cool people like Derek and Patrick.”

Having been able to do it for four seasons was an added bonus, he said.

“We were on a year-to-year basis, so I'm more than happy we got four years,” Paquette said. “We got to close up the story, and I'm very satisfied with that. Of course it's bittersweet, but I would have been satisfied with one season.”

Paquette's most favourite scene? Working with Patrick McKenna, who is giving his character a vasectomy.

“As strange as that sounds, it was a pure joy to see McKenna work,” he said. 

He also took joy in working arm-in-arm with Australian actor Cole Smith the last two seasons.

“It was awesome to see him on a snowmobile and to walk on a frozen lake,” Paquette said. “He'd never done that before, and it was like he went back to being a kid. It was cool.”

Being a singer/songwriter first, he said he was never concerned about having to find something else to do after Hard Rock Medical finishes.

“Knowing this is coming to an end, for me, it was like I'm going back to music and on tour,” he said. “I'm also doing standup comedy and teaching improv classes in the French school system.”

Hard Rock Medical plays Fridays at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and Sundays at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.


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Arron Pickard

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