‘The Frankie Drake Mysteries’ Will Stream on PBS Passport This August

Good news, mystery fans: There’s a new detective in town. And she’ll be coming to a PBS streaming service near you.

The Frankie Drake Mysteries is an eleven-episode Canadian series that follows a group of female private detectives in 1920s Toronto. Lauren Lee Smith stars as the titular Frankie Drake, joined by Chantel Riley, Rebecca Liddard, and Sharron Matthews.

The series comes from the same creators as the folks behind the popular drama Murdoch Mysteries and, if its promotional materials are anything to go by, kind of has a vaguely Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries feel.

Watch the trailer for the first season of The Frankie Drake Mysteries below: [video:https://www.pbs.org/video/trailer-aqsrs7/ align:center]

The series’ official description offers a bit more detail on what to expect from the show.

Set in Toronto during the 1920s, FRANKIE DRAKE MYSTERIES follows the city’s only female private detective (Lee Smith) as she takes on the cases the police don’t want or can’t handle. Her gender is her biggest advantage – who would ever think a woman could be a detective? She has a knack for solving cases but she’s no cop – her brand of justice doesn’t always follow the law. Along with her partner Trudy, Frankie and the Drake Detective Agency take on cases of all shapes and sizes. From airplanes and booze running to American G-men, Communists and union busters, Frankie’s fearless sense of adventure gets her into all kinds of trouble, but she always manages to find her way out. In a time of change and hopefulness, Frankie is a woman ahead of everyone. She’s a new detective for a new world. But is the world ready for her?

And you can get a better introduction to the many fabulous women of the show in this featurette from the CBC:

The Canadian series has already been renewed for a second season, although it sounds like we’re unlikely to see that until sometime next year.

For those who aren’t familiar with it, Passport is a new membership benefit for those who support their local PBS stations, allowing donors to access a library of public television programming whenever they want, through Roku, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, the PBS app and an online web portal. Each local station has its own localized Passport experience. For example, you can activate WETA Passport right here and help support WETA in the Washington, D.C. area.  

Earlier this year, period drama Jamestown became the first series to stream exclusively via Passport, but it certainly doesn’t seem as though it will be the last.

The first two episodes of The Frankie Drake Mysteries will become available on the PBS Passport service beginning Monday, August 20. New episodes will stream weekly, also on Mondays, through October 22. (The series will also be available on the PBS Masterpiece Channel on Amazon.)

Does this series sound like something you would watch? Are you already a PBS Passport member? Let’s discuss in the comments.