CAST

Dr. Grant Roberts........................... Donnelly Rhodes Jonah Roberts....................................... Chris Crabb Nicole Roberts.................................. Ocean Hellman Joyce......................................... Deborah Wakeham

PRODUCERS
Philip Saltzman, Mary Eilts

PROGRAMMING HISTORY
123 Episodes

CBC
November 1984-February 1985...... Mondays 8:30-9:00 November 1985-March 1986......... Mondays 8:00-8:30 November 1986-March 1987.... Wednesdays 7:30-8:00 November 1987-March 1990.......... Mondays 7:30-8:00

A half-hour dramatic series co-produced by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the Disney Channel, Danger Bay was a family adventure series set in Canada's scenic west coast. It starred Donnelly Rhodes as Dr. Grant Roberts, a veterinarian and marine specialist at the Vancouver Aquarium who was also busy raising his children, Jonah and Nicole, played by Chris Crabb and Ocean Hellman.

The aquarium and nearby coastal waters off Vancouver provided the exotic backdrop for many of the show's adventures which often focused on the children but which always involved the whole family. Plots usually presented some kind of peril or violence to the animals at the aquarium or surrounding area and each weak the strong and daring "Doc" Roberts with would foil the greedy and selfish schemes of poachers, hunters and developers who posed a threat to the animals and environment.

Danger Bay was fairly formulaic, filled with elements that were conventional to family series. It presented a strong male father figure in Donnelly Rhodes, a motherly female figure in Joyce, Dr. Robert's girlfriend, (played by Deborah Wakeham) and Jonah and Nicole with whom young viewers could identify. Moral and psychological tensions were also muted and reflected the Disney producers' reluctance to deal with controversial issues such as sex, drugs, or alcohol as did the other contemporary Canadian teenage drama series, Degrassi Junior High. Instead, dramatic tension in Danger Bay usually involved a morality lesson related to subjects such as lying or cheating and were always resolved with the help of patient fatherly advice. The series did, however, try to reflect a more sensitive attitude toward the environment, women (Joyce was a bush-pilot), and visible minorities but such issues very rarely drew any direct attention in the plots.

Danger Bay reflected the basic characteristics of wholesomeness and adventure. It formulaic nature and rather innocent perspective led some Canadian critics to see it as an example of the "Disneyfication" of Canadian television drama and it has been sharply criticized for its timidity. Defenders of the series have argued that the show provided fast-paced action and fun for a young viewing audience. Nevertheless, as Canadian television drama historian, Mary Jane Miller points out, it remains "a blend of action and fathering with lots of running, chasing, fixing, rescuing...." Danger Bay ended it run on Canadian television after six seasons in the spring of 1990 at the same time that another Canadian television drama series, The Beachcombers ended after 19 seasons on the CBC.

-Manon Lamontagne