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TV show discovery – ‘Murdoch Mysteries’

While traveling in Canada last month with my parents, we watched a few episodes of a very intruiging TV show called ‘Murdoch Mysteries.’  Set in Toronto in the late 1890s-early 1900s, it follow Detective William Murdoch as he solves a variety of crimes.

So why am I writing about it here?  Because there are definite Steampunk elements to it.  The timeframe, for starters – late Victorian.  Detective Murdoch solves his crimes using forensic and scientific techniques that are cutting-edge for, or even a bit ahead of, his time.  A passion for science permeates his character, as well as that of the coronor, Dr. Julia Ogden.  Guest characters have included Nicola Tesla, Arthur Conan Doyle, and H.G. Wells.  And episodes have included a large airship, a rampaging automaton (of sorts), and even a death ray that would make Dr. Obolensky proud!

I absolutely love, love, love this show.  The characters, the stories, the style, the writing, the humor… they’ve all completely clicked with me.  The only other show to have reached this level of addiction with me is ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000.’  They’ve got me, hook, line, sinker, rod, reel, net, waders…

And yes, this goes by way of explanation for my scarcity of late.  I signed up at acorn.tv (first month free!), which has all seven seasons available for streaming, and I’m binge-watching like mad. *grin*

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9 Comments

  1. Bookworm Hienrichs Bookworm Hienrichs July 23, 2014

    By the way… if any of you knew about this show before, why didn’t you tell me about it?! *wink*

  2. Edward Pearse Edward Pearse July 23, 2014

    Oh dear :-) Christine put me onto this a few years back and I’ve become addicted. I’ve even managed to get copies of the Webisode series.

    When you get to series 5 let me know :-)

    • Bookworm Hienrichs Bookworm Hienrichs July 23, 2014

      I’m four episodes into series 4 right now, plus I found ‘The Murdoch Effect’ webisodes, which were hilarious. *grin*

      • Edward Pearse Edward Pearse July 23, 2014

        The other one is The Curse of the Lost Pharaohs, which is done from the perspective of George Crabtree’s novel.

        And if you really want to get into it there are three tele-movies from 2004 with a completely different cast and a much darker tone. Colm Meany (of Star Trek TNG fame) plays Brackenreid in these.

      • Edward Pearse Edward Pearse July 23, 2014

        The other one is The Curse of the Lost Pharaohs, which is done from the perspective of George Crabtree’s novel.

        And if you really want to get into it there are three tele-movies from 2004 with a completely different cast and a much darker tone. Colm Meany (of Star Trek TNG fame) plays Brackenreid in these.

        • Bookworm Hienrichs Bookworm Hienrichs July 24, 2014

          Yes, I know about the Pharaohs one.  Need to find and watch it this weekend.  There’s also Nightmare on Queen Street, another one I’ll look at this weekend.

          And I’ve requested the three movies from my local library – waiting for that disc to come.  I’m curious to see if they’re more of an introduction to the characters and the premise than the first episode of the series was.  I haven’t decided yet if I want to try out the books; the movies might make that decision for me.

  3. Arconus Arkright Arconus Arkright July 23, 2014

    If your cable provider carries the Ovation network, they’ve been showing the series under the title “The Artful Detective.” I know Maureen Jennings writes the Murdoch Mysteries book series, but I don’t know if the show was based on the books or vice versa.

    • Edward Pearse Edward Pearse July 23, 2014

      Yes they’re based on her novels. Jennings has an Exec Producer credit on the show too. I haven’t read the books but I’m told they’re a lot darker in characterisation.

  4. Bookworm Hienrichs Bookworm Hienrichs July 31, 2014

    *comes up gasping for air*

    Right. Two weeks of intensive binge-watching, and I’ve gotten through all current episdoes. Now I get to spend some months worrying about one of the charcters. *bites her nails…*

    Now I just need to catch up on ‘Mythbusters.’ And record ‘Sharknado 2’ for later viewing. *grin*

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