‘We’re going back to Ice Cove, baby!’: Cast, Iqaluit mayor celebrate return of ‘North of North’

From social media to late-night TV, North of North’s cast members shared their excitement Wednesday that the show will go on.

“We’re going back to Ice Cove, baby!” said Anna Lambe, the Iqaluit-raised actress who stars in the show as Siaja, in a video posted to Instagram, referring to the fictional hamlet where the show is set.

“Season two of North of North is happening!”

The show’s renewal was announced Tuesday in a news release issued by CBC, APTN and Netflix, who jointly produced the series.

Co-created by Iqaluit filmmakers Stacey Aglok MacDonald and Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, the first season tells the story of Lambe’s Siaja as she publicly exits her marriage, takes control of her life, starts a job and makes many mistakes along the way.

It premièred on CBC and APTN in Canada in January and was released globally on Netflix in April.

The first season, which included eight half-hour episodes, was mostly filmed in Iqaluit. It showcased the community’s Arctic landscape and featured many local residents as actors.

Some of the show’s cast and crew took to Instagram Tuesday night to share their excitement at the news. Meanwhile, Mary Lynn Rajskub — who plays Ice Cove administrator Helen in the show — was on The Tonight Show  Tuesday night with host Jimmy Fallon, promoting the series and looking back on her experience in Iqaluit.

“I’m really excited to get back there,” she told Fallon. “I met the best people.”

Rajskub, who performed a stand-up comedy show in Iqaluit with some of the cast during production, recalled playing in the snow and watching the northern lights.

Iqaluit Mayor Solomon Awa played the role of Lazarus, an elder, in Season 1 of North of North. He said he’s excited for another season and hopes the production once again hires Iqaluit residents.

Awa said he doesn’t know yet if his character will return. But he’s curious if people might consider visiting Iqaluit after watching the first season.

“This is another way to show how the North looks like, how Iqaluit looks like, and how we operate here,” he said.

North of North performed well on all of the platforms on which it aired, the CBC/APTN/Netflix news release said.

It’s the most-viewed series on CBC Gem since the streaming platform debuted 2018. Since launching on Netflix earlier this month, the show has been one of the top 10 trending shows in 27 different countries.

No season première date has been set.

“More details about the première date and season two synopsis etc. will be shared at a later date once details have been finalized,” said Winston Ma, a spokesperson for CBC, in an email.