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Trivia / Murdoch Mysteries

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  • Actor-Shared Background: Brackenreid is portrayed as a native of Yorkshire, much like his actor Thomas Craig who was born in Yorkshire.
  • Approval of God: Series creator Maureen Jennings is a big fan of the series, even though it's different in many ways from her original novels. She has served as a creative consultant throughout the show's run and has even directly co-written a few scripts. She has also declared that Yannick Bisson looks exactly the way she imagined Murdoch in the novels...except for the moustache she always gave him.
  • California Doubling: Set in Toronto but filmed in Hamilton, Cambridge, Peterborough, and other smaller downtowns across Ontario (as well as on a backlot since moving to CBC) as none of the streets of modern Toronto looks like 1890s and 1900s Toronto. Averted in "Ghosts of Queen's Park", which did indeed film inside the Ontario Legislative Building at Queen's Park. The Pendrick estate is Oshawa's very own Parkwood Estate.
  • The Danza: Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid.
  • Directed by Cast Member: Yannick Bisson has directed "Buffalo Shuffle," "Murdoch at the Opera," "Murdoch and the Cloud of Doom," and "Murdoch of the Living Dead".
  • Disabled Character, Disabled Actor: The episode "8 Footsteps" features Historical Domain Character Helen Keller, who was deaf-blind, played by deaf Canadian actress Amanda Richer.
  • Edited for Syndication: Many early episodes have scenes trimmed to allow for more commercial time, typically the closing scenes. Perhaps the worst offender is Season 1's "Bad Medicine", which fades to black after Murdoch is shot with an arrow, creating an accidental cliffhanger that is not referred to in the following episode.
  • Fake Nationality: Canadian Dr. Ogden is played by Australian actress Hélène Joy, who had previously played a Canadian opposite a Fake American in An American in Canada.
  • Long-Runners: Has become a staple of Canadian television, entering its 15th season in 2021 - that's three more than The Big Bang Theory!
  • Network to the Rescue: While City TV cancelled the series after its fifth season, the CBC picked it up and continues to produce new episodes.
  • Only So Many Canadian Actors:
  • The Other Darrin: Murdoch was originally played by Peter Outerbridge and Odgen by Keeley Hawes in the TV movie adaptation, Yannick Bisson and Hélène Joy took over the roles for the series.
  • Playing Against Type:
    • Mary Walsh and Gavin Crawford, playing a grieving mother of a murdered daughter and a possibly insane puppeteer, respectively. Both are best known as anchors on the comedy news show This Hour Has 22 Minutes.
    • Michael Seater's chilling performance as the psychopath James Gillies is a far cry from his previous teen sitcom roles.
    • Colin Mochrie is probably best known these days for his comedic work on Whose Line Is It Anyway?. His role as Ralph Fellows seems like a comedic Butt-Monkey, but Fellows is actually an extremely bitter Jaded Washout who goes on a Roaring Rampage of Revenge.
  • Real-Life Relative: Yannick Bisson's wife Chantal Craig and their daughters have all had scenes in the series.
  • Short Run in Peru: Despite being a Canadian-produced series, new episodes air much earlier in the UK. Averted with series 6 — it began airing in Canada a month before the UK.
  • You Look Familiar:
    • Lauren Lee Smith previously played Elva Gordon on an episode of Murdoch before being cast as Frankie Drake in the spinoff series.
    • Actor Tyler Murree shows up twice in Murdoch Mysteries, in "Murdoch of the Living Dead" and "21 Murdoch Street," and would go on to appear in Frankie Drake Mysteries as well.

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