Fans of the hit TV show  CSI: Crime Scene Investigation will get to put their armchair forensic skills to the test this winter in Winnipeg at CSI: Manitoba Museum.

Modelled on the CSI franchise, the museum is setting up a "crime scene" in an Egyptian exhibit, using real artifacts, said spokeswoman Holli Moncrieff.

"The premise is that our curator of archeology was murdered while setting up this exhibit," she explained. "People will be able to come into the exhibit, collect evidence from the crime scene, and then go downstairs to our forensic lab to analyze the evidence."

Call for volunteer actors

To set up the program, the museum needed a number of volunteers to play various characters who will interact with the sleuthing exhibit visitors.

They included a no-nonsense police officer who narrates the show, a scatterbrained lab technician, an uptight zoology curator, a conservationist with a shady past, a number of police officers and reporters — and, of course, the "vic," the well-meaning archeology curator.

Auditions ran Friday at the museum until 4 p.m. local time. Museum officials expected about 100 people to try out for the volunteer roles.

While the actors will not be paid for their efforts, Moncrieff said they will get a lot of exposure, since CSI: Manitoba Museum is set to begin in January and run for about three months.