Charlie Jade

Did You Know?

• The official website featured podcasts where creators discussed the show and a possible second season.
• Charlie's apartment exterior was filmed at the Cape Diamond Hotel in Cape Town.

Summary of plot

The series presents a multiverse of coexisting universes, each differing from the others. The Alphaverse is a dystopian future where inhabitants are divided into classes and five giant multinational firms dominate, chief among them Vexcor. The Betaverse corresponds to present-day reality. The Gammaverse is an idyllic world where resources are used carefully. An unknown universe contains primitive people in huts, and another is home to men in grey suits. In the pilot, Vexcor scientists attempt to open a wormhole from the Alphaverse to the Gammaverse to drain water. Terrorists Bern and Reena, aware of the plan, sabotage the facility. A massive explosion at the portal site triggers a chain reaction through all three universes, throwing Charlie from the Alphaverse into the Betaverse and Reena into the Betaverse as well. The explosion makes the link between universes impassable, stranding Vexcor employees in the Beta and Gamma universes. Vexcor tries to rebuild the link while managing public relations fallout and concealing the facility's true purpose. Suspicion falls on scientist Elliot Krogg, but Vexcor eventually targets Reena as the terrorist. Charlie's presence in the Betaverse complicates matters, especially after he connects with Karl Lubinsky, an expatriate American running a conspiracy website about Vexcor.

Season 2 Blueprint

Producer Robert Wertheimer mentioned in an interview that a blueprint for season 2 existed, involving a major shakeup in character dynamics and interactions among the three core universes. In July 2009, Summer Brooks uploaded a 15-page PDF titled 'Charlie Jade Season Two Episodes 21 – 34 An Insider's Guide To Alternative Realities', written by Wertheimer on July 16, 2005. The document detailed characters, plot points, a dramatic season-ending, and a scientific glossary.

Background

Although viewers may notice similarities to Blade Runner and the Sliders episode 'Double Cross', Wertheimer stated that the series' ethos was primarily influenced by Derrick Jensen's book The Culture of Make Believe. The show had two writing teams: the first, for the pilot and eight episodes, was overseen by Guy Mullally, Stephen Zoller, and David Cole; creative differences led to a second team headed by Alex Epstein with story editors Denis McGrath and Sean Carley. South African television writers Dennis Venter and Collin Oliphant also contributed. Most directors were from Quebec, including Pierre Gill and Érik Canuel; the pilot was directed by T.J. Scott. Each universe has a distinct color palette: the Alphaverse is dominated by green, the Betaverse by blue, the Gammaverse by reds and warm earth tones, the unknown universe by gray, and the men-in-grey-suits universe by white and yellow hues with a subtle yellow aura. The show was a hot ticket at the 2004 MIP show but has not been picked up in some major territories; the first three episodes premiered at Cascadia Con on September 2, 2006. In June 2005, CHUM commissioned a special catch-up episode, 'Can of Worms', filmed in Montreal to bring new viewers up to speed, which runs between episodes 16 and 17.