#Ovation artful detective series#
Other subplots that overarch multiple episodes include women's suffrage movement in Canada, a movement that was taking place during the time the series is set in, and the discrimination towards racial minorities in Toronto and same-sex relationships during that time period. Characters also refer to actual inventions of the 19th century and extrapolate from them to future inventions such as microwave ovens, night-vision goggles, computers, the games " Cluedo" (marketed as "Clue" in the U.S.) and " Hangman", the toy Silly Putty, and a silencer for small arms.Īnother underlying theme of the series involves the fact that Murdoch is a Catholic in what was at the time a predominantly Protestant city and the prejudices that he occasionally encounters as a result. For example, it is implied that secret British-American government co-operation has produced a highly advanced aircraft similar to an airship, and Crabtree and Murdoch allude to the building of a secret government facility in Nevada and New Mexico "at Concession 51" (an allusion to Area 51). Lovecraft, Harry Houdini, Thomas Edison and Helen Keller. Real history is an important element in most episodes, and the plots, though fictitious, sometimes involve real people, such as Buffalo Bill Cody, Annie Oakley, H G Wells, Nikola Tesla, Wilfrid Laurier, Jack London, Arthur Conan Doyle, Queen Victoria, Theodore Roosevelt, Oliver Mowat, Orville and Wilbur Wright, Henry Ford, Sir Winston Churchill, Bat Masterson, Alexander Graham Bell, Emma Goldman, H. She and George Crabtree show some romantic interest in each other. Darcy Garland (a colleague she met in Buffalo), a new doctor is introduced, Doctor Emily Grace ( Georgina Reilly). Throughout the series, Murdoch's growing infatuation with her, and his inability to express his feelings, provide a light subplot. Her skill in pathology usually helps by revealing a great deal of useful evidence to aid Murdoch in solving cases. Like Crabtree, Dr. Ogden is a great supporter of Murdoch's methods. Crabtree is often unable to grasp the more advanced methods, but his enthusiasm and loyalty make him a good assistant.
Brackenreid, Murdoch's immediate superior, is a blunt and sceptical Yorkshireman with a fondness for whisky who prefers conventional methods of detection over Murdoch's eccentric methods, though he is typically pleased and proud when Murdoch is successful despite the odds. This aspect of the show has been described as introducing elements of the steampunk genre of science fiction, although it is not a standard theme of all episodes.ĭetective Murdoch is assisted by the three other main characters: Inspector Brackenreid ( Thomas Craig), Doctor Julia Ogden ( Hélène Joy), and the inexperienced but eager Constable George Crabtree ( Jonny Harris), who aspires to be a mystery novel writer. In still another, a foreign police officer has a photograph that Murdoch needs as evidence, so Murdoch asks the other officer to overlay the photograph with a grid numerically coded for the colour in each square, and to transmit the numerical data to Murdoch via telegraph-with the result that the foreign officer has essentially sent Murdoch a bitmap image they call a " facsimile"-a telefax. In one episode, for instance, he creates a primitive version of sonar to locate a sunken ship in Lake Ontario. Some episodes feature anachronistic technology whereby Murdoch sometimes uses the existing technology of his time to improvise a crude prototype of a technology that would be more readily recognizable to the show's 21st-century audience. These methods include fingerprinting (referred to as "finger marks" in the series), blood testing, surveillance, and trace evidence. The series takes place in Toronto starting in 1895 and follows Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) of the Toronto Constabulary, who solves many of his cases using methods of detection that were unusual at the time. See also: List of Murdoch Mysteries characters
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