Mary & Flo: On the Go!, a children’s spin-off to Canadian detective series Frankie Drake Mysteries, aims to inspire the innovators of tomorrow by spotlighting influential women from history.

Mary & Flo: On the Go! is in development on its second season

Aiming to tell the lesser-known stories of inspirational women from the past, it’s fair to say Mary & Flo: On the Go! (9×7′) doesn’t have the typical origin story of a new kids’ television show.

From producer Shaftesbury, with animation by Smiley Guy Studios, the series has been co-created by two stars of the hit CBC show Frankie Drake Mysteries, Rebecca Liddiard and Sharron Matthews, alongside Carmen Albano (Detention Adventure).

The show went into production last year during the pandemic, having been conceived as an idea based on a sketch of the two characters in a hot air balloon in early 2020.

Soon the idea snowballed and before the producers knew it the show had been fully funded just as the world went into lockdown for the first time last year.

Aimed at five- to seven-year-olds, it follows animated versions of the duo’s characters, morality officer Mary (Liddiard) and medical assistant Flo (Matthews), as they meet ground-breaking women from all walks of life in the 1920s and challenge gender stereotypes.

“When we first started talking about the show, we wanted to distil everything we love about Frankie Drake Mysteries into the show and make it accessible to a younger demographic. Carmen came up with the phrase ‘history, mystery and sistery,'” says Liddiard.

Sold around the world and currently in its fourth season, Shaftesbury show Frankie Drake Mysteries is set in 1920s Toronto and follows the city’s only female private detectives as they take on the cases the police don’t want to touch.

Sharron Matthews (left) and Rebecca Liddiard in Frankie Drake Mysteries

Jennifer McCann, VP and executive producer, kids and family at Shaftesbury, says the success of the adult show around the world will help promote Mary & Flo: On the Go! internationally.

Due to launch in Canada soon on an as-yet-unannounced platform, the project has received backing from the Shaw Rocket Fund and the Canada Media Fund and is already in development on its second season.

It tells the stories of important figures such as Chinese Canadian Jean B Lumb, whose activism and dedication to her community ultimately shaped Toronto’s Chinatown and the rights of Chinese people in Canada.

In a twist of fate, Lumb’s character in Mary & Flor: On the Go! will be voiced by her own granddaughter and great granddaughter, who are both actors.

Among the other figures from history the show will be spotlighting are Frances Gertrude McGill, a forensic scientist who went on to become known by some as the ‘Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan,’ and Elsie MacGill, the world’s first woman to earn an aeronautical engineering degree.

“Their stories just weren’t spoken about, so the process of finding them was really detailed,” says Matthews. Liddiard describes it as akin to a treasure hunt: “It’s amazing the deeper you dig, you find all these women who are the foundation of all these amazing concepts, ideas and events,” she says.

Promoting body positivity is also an aim of the series, albeit in a subtle way. “We put a lot of thought into how our characters were drawn. These are two women who are friends, who are different ages, different looks, from different walks of life,” says Matthews.

“Women have forever been told that they’re not walking together, and on our show I feel like we’re teaching that you can find your friends and your allies at any place in your life. It doesn’t have to be somebody who looks like you.”

Meanwhile, McCann hints more episodes are on their way. “We’re in development and we’ll be applying for funding again for a second season. We really want to make sure we visit women from all over the world, not just North America. Diverse stories are very important to us because, back in that time period, as difficult as it was for women it was even more so for some women in particular.”

Mary & Flo: On the Go! arrives at a time when it has never been more important for such stories to be told on screen.

Rebecca Liddiard, Sharron Matthews and Jennifer McCann spoke to C21 as part of our Content London On Demand 2020 event, available to view here.