Dark drama Caught 'inspired' Allan Hawco after Republic of Doyle

After playing private investigator Jake Doyle on the popular series Republic of Doyle for years, Allan Hawco is moving to the other side of the law in the new crime drama Caught.

The five-part CBC miniseries, which Hawco adapted and produced, is based on the Giller-nominated dark crime novel by Newfoundlander Lisa Moore.

"The minute I read the book — I read it in, like, three hours nonstop — the music was in my head, the concept of how I would want to adapt it if I was going to get the rights to it, just spoke to me right away," said Hawco.

The story is set in 1978, in a world long before social media and cellphones. Hawco plays David Slaney, a man in prison after a drug deal gone wrong. He escapes to do one more deal with his old partner.

Paul Gross, known for his role as the beloved Mountie on the popular Canadian series Due South, plays the police officer who goes after him. The Calgary-born actor, who also starred in Passchendaele and Men with Brooms, says working with the cast and crew in Newfoundland, one of the shoot locations, was like "going home to a family."

"If I have a day off and I'm really bored and I'd rather be on the set that's a good sign, said Gross. "If I wake up in the morning wanting to go to work, if I wake up early and think 'I wish it was right now,' that's a good sign and I had that everyday on this one."

The series was also filmed in Ontario and the Dominican Republic. Hawco says he wasn't initially sure how he would follow up his long-running role on Republic of Doyle.

"When we were done Doyle and after six seasons of a show, every idea, every cool line you had, every charming thing you might have wanted to say — you've put everything into this and I didn't know if I'd have anything left," said Hawco.

"I read [Caught] and it just inspired me to go after it."

Caught debuts Feb. 26 on CBC and also stars Tori Anderson, Eric Johnson, Charlotte Sullivan, Enuka Okuma.