InSecurity

InSecurity is a Canadian spy comedy television series that aired on CBC Television from 2011 to 2012. The series centres on a team of covert operatives working for the National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), a fictional Canadian intelligence service. The series is set in Ottawa but filmed primarily in Regina, Saskatchewan. The initial season of 13 episodes premiered January 4, 2011.^[1] It was followed by a second season of 10 episodes before cancellation by CBC on April 19, 2012 due to budget cuts from the 2012 Canadian federal budget.^[2]

InSecurity
Genre	Comedy drama
Created by	Kevin White Robert de Lint Virginia Thompson
Written by	Kevin White
Directed by	Robert de Lint Ron Murphy Jeff Beesley
Starring	Natalie Lisinska William deVry Rémy Girard Matthew MacFadzean Grace Lynn Kung Richard Yearwood Ali Kazmi
Theme music composer	The Asteroids Galaxy Tour
Opening theme	The Sun Ain't Shining No More
Country of origin	Canada
Original language	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	23 (and 1 pilot)
Production
Producers	Kevin White Virginia Thompson Robert de Lint
Production locations	Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
Running time	22 minutes
Production companies	Vérité Films Inc. Company Name Here Productions Inc.
Original release
Network	CBC
Release	January 4 (2011-01-04) – December 12, 2011 (2011-12-12)

One of the producers called it "the 24 of Canada";^[1] one writer described it as "24 without Jack Bauer; CSI minus the science; and James Bond - if James Bond were Mr. Bean."^[3]

The initial pilot focused on the tedium involved in electronic eavesdropping but the decision was made that it would be too "niche". A second pilot was done with a more 24 approach.^[1]

Overview

The series revolves around a team of incompetent spy-catchers who work for the Canadian National Intelligence and Security Agency (NISA), a fictional intelligence gathering agency.^[4]

• Natalie Lisinska as Alex Cranston, the leader of the team^[5]
• William deVry as Peter McNeil, the director of NISA.^[5]
• Richard Yearwood as Benjamin N’udu, a loyal and slightly deranged former agent of the fictional Ligerian Secret Service.^[5]
• Rémy Girard as Claude Lesage, a veteran French Canadian NISA agent.
• Matthew MacFadzean as Burt Wilson, an incompetent NISA agent that's always getting himself and others into trouble.
• Grace Lynn Kung as Jojo Kwan, a brilliant scientist and NISA agent.
• Ali Kazmi as Nigel

Episodes

Pilot (2010)

Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date
"B Team"	Robert De Lint	Kevin White	April 27, 2010 (2010-04-27)
Alex Taylor, a team leader at the Canadian Intelligence and Security Establishment, is tasked to spy on an unemployed shoe salesman who is potentially a Chechen operative. Lesage anonymously gives the Chechen a model train starter kit to enliven his dull life. When Alex sees the surveillance video she believes that the friends who are visiting are using the model train as a cover for a bigger terrorist conspiracy until she gets the translation of video which confirms they are 'nerds playing with trains'. A moment later Burt mistakes modelling clay for C-4 explosives. The A team, led by Alex's ex-boyfriend Peter, are tasked to take down the Chechen and his friends. After Lesage informs Alex that it is not explosives and says that Nathan, the new kid on the team, gave the Chechen the train set Alex confesses to everyone that there are no explosives and it was all a mistake.

Season 1 (2011)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	CAN. viewers (millions)
1	"The Doctor"	Robert DeLint	Jennifer Whalen	January 4, 2011 (2011-01-04)	0.724[6]
Alex Cranston, a team leader at the National Intelligence and Security Agency, is held captive by uranium smugglers. When NISA agents notice her missing, they attempt to rescue her relatively unharmed, while an interrogation specialist — her old high-school classmate Randy Nussbaum — extracts valuable information.
2	"Keeping Up With The Laslovs"	Jeff Beesley	Kevin White & Jennifer Whalen	January 11, 2011 (2011-01-11)	0.526[6]
Thinking that they are their new neighbors, a Russian couple in possession of stolen Canadian submarine plans unwittingly invite Alex and Peter, who are tasked with retrieving the plans, into their home for vodka. While keeping tabs on the situation, the other team members are caught by uninvited Russian guests.
3	"View To A Nursing Home"	Robert DeLint	Jennifer Whalen	January 18, 2011 (2011-01-18)	0.356[7]
After an attempted bombing of the National Arts Council by a right-wing terrorist group known as the "Ottawa Eight", the team runs surveillance on the terrorists responsible from the ideal location — the nursing-home room inhabited by Alex's grouchy grandmother.
4	"The Ligerian Candidate"	Robert DeLint	Kevin White & Dylan Wertz	January 25, 2011 (2011-01-25)	0.523[8]
Due to post-hypnotic suggestion, N'udu is sent to kill his old friend Masud, a former Ligerian Secret Service agent, and the very man that NISA is protecting at a familiar safehouse.
5	"Recycle After Reading"	Ron Murphy	Marvin Kaye & Chris Sheasgreen	February 1, 2011 (2011-02-01)	0.463[9]
After a booze-filled night out with Alex, Peter discovers the Jericho file no longer in his possession. As these documents contain crucial information on all NISA undercover agents, the team is tasked to recover them before they can be made into a young schoolgirl's art project.
6	"Return of the Deadeye"	Ron Murphy	Max B. Reid & Adam M. Reid	February 8, 2011 (2011-02-08)	0.449[10]
Tasked with assassinating a Spanish assassin, the team becomes desperate as their various plans fail to work. Upset that he wasn't included, Claude goes rogue.
7	"Spies on Ice"	Robert DeLint	Story by : Max B. Reid, Adam M. Reid & Kevin White Teleplay by : Kevin White	February 15, 2011 (2011-02-15)	0.485[11]
Burt retrieves nuclear secrets from the car of Dr. Ho Lung, a North Korean spy attending his son's hockey try out. Alex and Peter pose as the parents of Peter's son in order to buy Burt time.
8	"The Kwan Identity"	Ron Murphy	Kevin White & Dylan Wertz	February 22, 2011 (2011-02-22)	0.356[12]
JoJo goes undercover as the girlfriend of a Chinese drug dealer who is supplying a neo-Irish Republican Army group with explosives to blow up Queen Elizabeth II. When Alex backs her car into JoJo, she begins to believe that she is Vivian, her undercover alias. The team needs JoJo to continue her work, but Vivian is less than agreeable.
9	"El Negotiator"	Robert DeLint	Kevin White & Tim Polley	March 1, 2011 (2011-03-01)	0.336[13]
Alex's night off is interrupted when the party she and the team are attending is taken hostage by Mexican terrorists who demand that Canada's government release a member of the group. While Peter makes unsatisfactory attempts at hostage negotiation, N'udu is shot, and the NISA agents are discovered.
10	"The Ghost"	Jeff Beesley	Marvin Kaye & Chris Sheasgreen	March 8, 2011 (2011-03-08)	0.294[14]
Claude's old friend, Joshua "The Ghost" Crane, a known master of evasion who left NISA eight years ago, is captured with a USB drive that implicates him as being connected to Somali terrorists. However, while the team learns that the group's leaders' names are actually Arabic translations of popular Middle Eastern dishes, he proves the flaws in NISA's security.
11	"Going Dutch"	Ron Murphy	Kevin White & Dylan Wertz	March 15, 2011 (2011-03-15)	0.409[15]
Alex fears that the Dutch Secret Service has reprogrammed Burt, whom the team must exchange for a captured Dutch spy, to serve as a mole against Canada.
12	"Get Cranston"	Robert DeLint	Rebecca Addelman & Jennifer Whalen	March 22, 2011 (2011-03-22)	0.321[16]
When a crazed killer targets Alex, NISA must sift through hundreds of suspects but fails to catch the would-be assassin — a university classmate, Penny Cryer, whose nose Alex had broken while playing volleyball.
13	"Death By Birthday"	Robert DeLint	Kevin White	March 29, 2011 (2011-03-29)	0.362[17]
Alex's birthday takes a turn for the worse when someone sends her a card containing highly concentrated anthrax powder, which is set to kill the entire team (with the exception of Burt) inside of four hours.

Season 2 (2011)

No.	Title	Directed by	Written by	Original release date	CAN. viewers (millions)
14	"Agent Oo La La"	Ron Murphy	Mike McPhaden	October 3, 2011 (2011-10-03)	0.237[18]
Claude learns that his coworkers have been making fun of his fashion when WikiLeaks releases information on NISA. A series of polygraph tests to find the mole worries Burt, as he is dating the test administrator's girlfriend. Alex attempts to calm the nerves of an informant.
15	"The Gift of Life"	Robert DeLint	Kate Hewlett & Kevin White	October 10, 2011 (2011-10-10)	0.320[19]
Alex dons a disguise to gain the trust of a pregnant suspect. Burt is saddened by a friend's declining health, causing N'udu to offer a kidney.
16	"The Spy Whisperer"	Robert DeLint	Tim Polley & Kevin White	October 17, 2011 (2011-10-17)	0.192[20]
While under anesthesia, Alex expresses a personal interest in Peter. Meanwhile, after Burt finds a birth certificate for him, N'udu seeks to take advantage of the time he has left.
17	"The Spy Who Fed Me"	Robert DeLint	Jenn Engels & Kevin White	October 24, 2011 (2011-10-24)	0.193[21]
Alex's mother undermines her authority at NISA. Burt learns about 'stakeout make-out' when he is tasked on a stakeout with JoJo.
18	"Anger Management"[22]	Ron Murphy	Jenn Engels	October 31, 2011 (2011-10-31)	0.239[23]
The team is on each other's case when Peter doesn't credit Alex for her role in a secret operation, Claude overhears Burt complaining about him to a psychiatrist, and N'udu suspects Jojo of harboring anger.
19	"Spies of a Certain Age"	Robert DeLint	Matt Kippen & Kevin White	November 7, 2011 (2011-11-07)	N/A
A visiting tech specialist leads Alex into a night of quickly regretted drunken debauchery. Meanwhile, a slip-up complicates Claude and Burt's rural road-trip.
20	"Spy Bites Dog"[22]	Jeff Beesley	Denis McGrath	November 14, 2011 (2011-11-14)	0.258[24]
Jojo tries to help Alex overcome her dog problems. Claude resents N'udu over his apparent wealth. Peter feels the need to prove his manliness when he learns that Burt used to wrestle.
21	"Agent Ex"	Robert DeLint	Matt Doyle & Kevin White	November 28, 2011 (2011-11-28)	0.213[25]
In attempt to gain intel, JoJo dates an ex of Alex, troubling Burt. As JoJo's relationship becomes less than professional, Alex's resurfacing feelings bother JoJo and Peter. Claude feigns interest in N'udu's homeland to gain intel of his own – strategies for beating a video game.
22	"The Spy, the Friend and her Lover"	Jeff Beesley	Tim Polley & Kevin White	December 5, 2011 (2011-12-05)	0.226[26]
An old college roommate visits Alex, and hooks up with N'udu at Alex's condo. The upcoming wedding of two NISA employees stirs JoJo's feelings toward Burt.
23	"I Spy Peter"	Robert DeLint	Tim Polley	December 12, 2011 (2011-12-12)	N/A
JoJo poses as Claude's mail-order bride, Alex investigates Peter under suspicion of unauthorized dealings with a Russian agent, and Burt wastes N'udu's tickets to a soccer game.

Reception

The CBC Television premiere episode was viewed by approximately 724,000 people.^[27]

On February 11, 2011, CBC announced that the show was renewed for a second season.^[28]

Awards and nominations

Year	Presenter	Award	Work	Result
2011	Gemini Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Continuing Leading Comedic Role	Grace Lynn Kung	Lost to Tracy Dawson (Call Me Fitz) [29]

Home release

'InSecurity: The Complete First Season' is on DVD in region 0.^[30] It was released on November 8, 2011.^[31]