THIS WEEK’S PODCAST: Sarah Drew & Peter Mooney meet under the Mistletoe

Stop me if you’ve seen this kind of Hallmark movie before: an enterprising and attractive single woman named Emily Lane (Sarah Drew from Grey’s Anatomy) owns a Christmas store on the main street of a picturesque small town. She crosses paths with a handsome, newly single-police officer (Peter Mooney from Burden of Truth). Before you can say “witness tampering,” holiday sparks ensue.

Mistletoe Murders, already launched in the US on Hallmark Channel and premiering Nov. 18 om W Network and STACKTV, does stick to a familiar tinsel template. The murder mystery angle, however, raises the stakes. 

Shot mainly in Pickering, Ont., the six-episode series is part of Hallmark’s annual Countdown to Christmas. Every year, the production of dozens of festive flicks is an early Christmas present for many Canadian actors and even  more local crew members. They shoot these films — often in warm spring and summer months — for November and December viewing. 

The series is based on a podcast series from Audible. Another Canadian, Cobie Smulders (How I Met Your Mother), voiced the character of Emily — who has a mysterious past as some sort of sleuth — on the podcast version. Drew, originally from New York, says she listened to the first podcast episode but then stopped in order to bring her own spin to playing Emily.

Mistletoe Murders tackled three strange deaths over these initial six episodes. Drew and Mooney hope to return to the scene of the crimes in future seasons. Find out if they like real or artificial trees, which one hates eggnog, and, while wraping presents, which holiday film is must see in their respective homes.

To check out the episode, click on the white arrow in the blue dot above, or look for brioux.tv: the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or where ever you listen.