Murdoch Mysteries

Murdoch Mysteries. TV series, 2008 f. Created by Maureen Jennings (characters: from her series of novels), Cal Coons, Alexandra Zarowny. For directors and writers, see IMDb here.[1] Wikipedia entry adds to those who developed the series for TV, R.B. Carney. Venues: "Murdoch Mysteries aired on Citytv for five seasons before being cancelled. It was then picked up by CBC [Canadian Broadcasting Corporation], where it has aired since season six. The show airs in the UK on Alibi and is co-produced by Alibi's parent company, UKTV. It has also aired in the United States on Ovation under the title The Artful Detective, but as of season twelve, has reverted to the original title. The United States will premiere Season 14 on Ovation, starting February 20, 2021."[2]

Wikipedia lists the show as "mystery drama," to which IMDb adds "crime." IMDb log-line (if no longer called that): "In the 1890s, William Murdoch uses radical forensic techniques for the time, including fingerprinting and trace evidence, to solve some of the city's most gruesome murders."[3]

Significant here are the episodes that move into the SF subgenre of steampunk. John J. Pierce notes that "[...] in the late 19th and early 20th Century [Murdoch] exploits ahead-of-his time forensic techniques and (as in The Wild Wild West) novel inventions often figure in the action. In the steampunkiest episode, “24 Hours Till Doomsday” ([season 9, #5, overall number 119; 5 Oct.] 2015),[4] the plot turns on projects to build rockets based on [Konstantin] Tsiolkovsky’s ideas;[5] an imaginary daughter of the Russian theorist plays a key role" (via e-mail).

An anonymous guest post on the website Steampunk Scholar hails the show as

[...] a beautiful bricolage of every cult classic that you ever stayed up until 2am at college to watch [...]: Wild Wild West retro-gadgetry, the toy box feel of The Prisoner, a smart-and-angst-ridden-is-sexy X-Files shipperfest,[6] the genre/period fusion of Firefly, the quirky fun of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Star Trek's interest in humanity,[7] and the iconic paraphernalia of Dr. Who.[8] Blend it all together and wrap a scrumptious pastry of science fantasy and Victorian period style around a tasty detective filling, and you get {Steampunk CSI [struck through]} Murdoch Mysteries.[9]

For brief summaries of the shows, see Wikipedia episode list here.[10] (As of 18 September 2021, "steampunk" does not appear in the episode summaries.)

Caution: People easily annoyed by what might be called un-steady steadicam shooting and "nervous" editing, might, on occasion, be annoyed.

Largely JJ Pierce, RDE finishing, 18Sep21, 27Sep21