‘Murdoch Mysteries’: The period crime drama you need to watch

Do you love watching procedural crime dramas? Are you getting a little tired of how they all start to feel the same after a while? Well, take a break from your modern day shows and watch Murdoch Mysteries. It’s a period crime drama taking place in Toronto, Canada during the 1890s.

The premise

The show follows William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), a detective who uses radical forensic techniques for the time including fingerprinting and trace evidence in order to solve horrible murders. While the show is listed as PG, it’s worth noting that there are moments which feel a little more PG-13 – for example a naked dead body contorted into a horrifying shape in order to fit inside a trunk.

Murdoch frequently finds himself butting heads with his superior Inspector Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), since his boss is highly skeptical of these new scientific methods. He has loyal friends and co-workers who are on his side, however.

The show is fun and light for the most part, you know, besides the murder. 

Reception

Those who watch Murdoch Mysteries quickly become fans of the series, as such it’s beloved by many. The show is quirky, fun, and the characters are easily likable. People enjoy the show for providing a sense of comfort. Fans love the acting, and applaud the writing for never providing a dull moment.

Of course, for every ten adorers of the show there is bound to be a nay-sayer. Some find the show too “woke” for its own good. These people say it didn’t start that way, but changed over time – however the opening scene of the very first episode talks about animal rights, so maybe it just took them a while to notice.

Those who enjoy the show will admit at times the show is used as a lens with which to consider our current day social climate, but they say the comedy and interesting mysteries prevent it from becoming preachy.

Don’t get confused

When you go searching for Murdoch Mysteries you may also bump up against a listing for a series of three movies, an hour and half in length each. The made for TV movie series shares the exact same name, but the three parts were released in 2004 – 2005, pre-dating the television series by a few years.

The movies have the exact same premise, but different actors, writers, and directors. So, while you could watch the movies before starting the show there is absolutely no need to do so.

Watching the show

The show began in 2008 and is still running. This means the show has a total of thirteen seasons and two-hundred and seven episodes with more on the way. So the fun mystery series will keep you busy for quite some time – in fact if you watched one episode of Murdoch Mysteries every night to decompress after a long day, you’d have enough episodes for nearly a year. (But we won’t judge if you binge it faster.)

Even better, is the fact this show is pretty widely available, which means you won’t have to go searching about for the right subscription to watch it with. If you have Hulu, YouTube TV, Sling TV, or Amazon Prime, then you already have access to Murdoch Mysteries. Otherwise, you can rent or buy episodes on YouTube or iTunes.

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So go on, what are you waiting for? Go start watching Murdoch Mysteries with a cup of tea in hand. If you’re already a fan of the show, let us know your favorite episode in the comments down below.