Int'l trio back 'Bay' skein

CBC, Granada, Oz ABC create WWII Canuck series

By TAMSEN TILLSON

BANFF, Canada -- Canada, Britain and Australia are joining forces to produce a new wartime drama series to be filmed in Canada.

CBC, Canada's public broadcaster, Granada Media in the U.K. and Oz's ABC have signed a development deal for a 13-part, hourly series titled "Thunder Bay."

Named after the small northern Ontario city in which it's set, "Thunder Bay" is about the lives of hundreds of young Allied cadets stationed there during World War II as they trained to become fighter pilots for the Commonwealth Air Training Corps.

The series was created by Julian Roach, who is also its co-writer, with Michael Mercer. The producers are Eugene Ferguson from Granada, and Linda Schuyler and Stephen Stone from Toronto-based Epitome Pictures.