How A Victorian Era Detective Solves Crimes

Forensics. Blood traces. DNA. They’re all investigative tools detectives take for granted.

Now imagine having to process a crime scene without any of them. Or any modern devices at all. That’s the idea behind ” The Murdoch Mysteries“, a new show that takes crime solving a step backwards. That’s because it takes place in the late 1890’s when all the old Sherlock Holmes-types had to rely on was logic, intuition and their own intelligence.

It’s based on a series of popular books by Maureen Jennings and tries to stay true to the source material. Those bringing the characters to life describe it as a sort of Victorian CSI. “You could say that,” laughs Yannick Bisson, the Canadian actor in the title role of Det. William Murdoch. “We like to say the birthplace of forensic science.”

His character is unusual because he’s constantly trying to advance his field towards the future that encompasses our past. And he gets ridiculed for his attempts to modernize the science of crime investigation. “My character Murdoch takes a lot of flak for his thought process and applying science to investigative work, which was usually done bare knuckled and with intimidation.”

Jonny Harris essays Murdoch’s ‘Dr. Watson.’ “I play George Crabtree, who is kind of Murdoch’s right-hand man. He’s a young constable, and basically he’s just a big fan of Murdoch’s and tries to emulate him a little bit. He’s not necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed.”

Then there’s Helene Joy, who takes on the role of what passes for medicine in those early days. “I’m one  who’s ahead of her time so to speak,” she laughs. “A doctor that works really closely with Murdoch in solving the crimes as they appear. And I’m always elbow-deep in blood and guts and gore, because back then they didn’t even have gloves!”

The Murdoch Mysteries airs Thursday nights starting January 24th on Citytv. There’s no real mystery about why it’s expected to be a hit – it’s thing of the past that could keep working well into the future.

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