Case study

Murdoch Mysteries star Yannick Bisson and executive producer Christina Jennings join DQ to celebrate 300 episodes – and counting – of the Canadian period drama, revealing why playing the title character is a “home run” and how they keep the detective series fresh after 18 seasons.

For the cast and crew of Murdoch Mysteries, the start of a new year offers the chance to rest and reconnect with friends and family in between filming seasons of the Canadian period crime drama. It’s a cycle they’ve been on for 18 years.

“As we do every year between seasons, it is the time to reflect on the show, look at all the things we achieved and ask ourselves, ‘Could we have done better? Could we do it a bit differently?’” executive producer Christina Jennings tells DQ. “We talk to our partners, both in Canada and around the world, that broadcast the show and take all that information in as creators and say, ‘OK, what are the storylines? What are we doing with character? What are we doing with guest stars?’ That’s what we do every year. It’s a nice calm time before it all starts again.”

Perhaps there is more reason this year than most to take a minute to reflect on the success – both at home and overseas – of the Toronto-set series, which reached its landmark 300th episode when The Men Who Sold The World debuted on CBC on January 25. Otherwise known as episode 1810, it is due to air in the UK on U&Alibi in April.

But with filming on the upcoming 19th season set to begin in May and run until the end of the year, there isn’t a lot of time for Jennings, star Yannick Bisson and showrunner Peter Mitchell to get a creative break before heading back to work.

“As far as landmarks go, it’s interesting. It comes at you quite quickly and it disappears quite quickly,” Bisson says. “I thought 100 was huge, 200 was even bigger, 300… I’ve spent my 30s, my 40s and 50s on this project and happily. But it’s a milestone in so many different ways.

“The things we’ve accomplished, the places we’ve been, the volume of creative people who have been involved is something like 2,500 performers alone. It really is a milestone of many different kinds and it’s difficult to grasp. All I can say is it’s a dream come true.”

Set in the late 1890s and early 1900s, Murdoch Mysteries stars Bisson as William Murdoch, a dashing detective who uses inventive forensic techniques to solve a multitude of crimes. Joining him on his adventures through Edwardian society are his impassioned wife Dr Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy), gruff boss Inspector Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), constables George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch), eccentric detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany) and chief coroner Violet Hart (Shanice Banton).

The show is produced by Shaftesbury (Hudson & Rex, Departure), where Jennings is chairman and president, and she says she could never have imagined the series would run for so many years since its 2008 debut on Canada’s CityTV, later transferring to CBC. In fact, three made-for-TV movies preceded the show, airing in 2004 and starring Peter Outerbridge as Murdoch.

“Thinking back, I can still see the day when Maureen Jennings’s [Detective Murdoch] novels were sitting on my desk. It was probably 25 years ago,” she says, “because we did the three movies originally. Did I expect [success]? No. Those early years were really about trying to find an audience who wanted to watch a show about a turn-of-the-last-century detective in Toronto. Nobody was doing shows like that. We were ahead of that curve. There were a lot of naysayers who said, ‘It won’t resonate.’ It did, and we morphed it from the movies to the show.”

Part of the reason for the show’s success is that it has never been taken for granted. “It might have been easy to just make more Murdoch or whatever,” she continues. “But actually, it was about saying, ‘What is successful about it? How can it do better? What are the things that are resonating? What should we lean into? What should we stay away from?’ It has been a journey of listening and responding, and never fundamentally losing what the fans and the audiences love about the show. That’s been the north star.”

So why have fans supported the show for so long? Jennings believes it’s because equal weight is given to character and the procedural plotlines, as well as the steampunk-esque period setting and the scientific and invention-focused elements of each story. There’s also plenty of humour.

“Those were the things we held on to, and then we just tried to get better,” the exec adds. “I don’t think we’re formulaic.”

Bisson highlights examples such as Sir, Sir, Sir (ep 1206), a “wildly kooky sci-fi, Invasion of the Body Snatchers-type thing,” and numerous Halloween episodes that have broken the show’s mould and challenged the idea of what a Murdoch Mysteries episode should be.

“Stylistically, we inserted these tropes into our Murdoch world so we could be fresh as creatives, and so we go and we try these things and then we come back to our touchstones. There’s no harm in it,” he says. “Certainly, for all of us on the ground, it’s fun. It’s like pyjama Friday.”

Jennings adds: “We talk a lot about being mindful of our existing fans, listening to them and making sure we don’t deviate too far from the things they love. But if you’re going to go 25 years, you have to bring in a new audience constantly.”

The series has also enjoyed a varied and vibrant guest cast roster that has brought fresh eyeballs to the show, not least when Toronto Raptors basketball team head coach Nick Nurse cameoed as a locker room attendant and Olympic sprinter Andre De Grasse played a store owner in an episode about the murder of an elite athlete who is impaled on a javelin. Other guest stars have included Star Trek’s William Shatner, The Handmaid’s Tale author Margaret Atwood and Real Housewives of New York City star Luann de Lesseps.

Playing William Murdoch for so many years means “we’ve been blending together quite some time now,” says Bisson, joking that his wife knows when filming is due to restart because he’ll start adopting his Murdoch accent.

“As a performer, I just don’t think there’s anything like this level of a home run,” he says. “I’m able to develop myself creatively on a number of different fronts. I’ve become a director. Doing that, and being a dramatic character who goes through different things, heart-wrenching, horrible things that we do touch on sometimes, and then being the straight man for a bunch of crazy characters in this crazy comedic sequence – I’m just so grateful to have this incredible opportunity on so many levels.”

Bisson is also an executive producer on the show, serving as what he describes as “quality control” behind the scenes, which means he has to balance his personal relationships as the lead actor with being someone who strives to maintain the show’s high standards.

“I am part of something that’s been successful for 18 seasons, so I lean into being able to say, ‘Hey, one of the things that works for us is we don’t contract words in our sentences,’” he explains. “Then there’s efficiencies of having been on the same set with the same team and people who trust me, so I can lean over to a director and say, ‘You know, you might be able to pick up some time today if you…’”

Jennings says: “In this period between seasons, we actually strategise because once Yannick is on the ground [filming], there’s really not a lot of time for him to step out. He’s our leader on the floor. He’s the constant back to the northern light. He’s the constant that makes sure we all know what show we’re making. That’s very much his EP role.”

Once production is underway, numerous episodes in a season will be in various stages of writing, pre-production, filming and post-production at the same time. If Bisson is attached to direct, he will usually take an episode at the start of the season to ensure he can complete his own directing prep, rather than trying to do it while he is working with other directors on other episodes simultaneously.

It’s not just the faces on screen or the types of stories that have helped keep Murdoch Mysteries looking fresh after 18 seasons. It’s also the work done behind the camera to change its visual style, from shifting perspectives and using different lenses to introducing Columbo-style summations and musical episodes featuring troupes of dancers. “For me, I use themes,” Bisson says. “Each episode I get given, I’ll try to focus on a theme.”

“In season 18, we made an absolutely conscious decision to change the look of the show,” Jennings reveals of the introduction of more colour to the series. “If you look at season 16 or 17 and you look at 18, you can see the difference. It was landing a little bit, in previous seasons, in a brown-grey world. That’s no longer the case. It is a brighter show, and that was a conscious decision we made – changing it up, making it better.”

While Murdoch Mysteries has proven to be a success at home, it’s also won legions of loyal fans overseas too, with Ovation and Acorn TV in the US, France 3 in France and U&Alibi in the UK among broadcasters in 120 countries and territories that have licensed the series. ITV Studios is the distributor.

And as the show has enlarged its global footprint, so too has Jennings increasingly considered what it can offer viewers around the world, from filming in the UK city of Bristol to bringing in international guest stars.

“I was on the phone with ITV the other day talking about the show, talking about where the renewals are coming in, where are the new sales on the show and what can we do about it,” she says – and those conversations are not limited to programme sales. “We’re trying the symphony experiences, the tours, all of that. How can we do some of those things in the other market? It’s a constant dialogue.”

But like any television series, Murdoch Mysteries isn’t immune from the perils of low ratings. Jennings is realistic enough to acknowledge that if the show isn’t delivering a certain number of viewers “then we’re probably not getting a renewal.”

With S19 in the works, that’s not something she or Bisson are thinking about just yet. Instead, they’re looking ahead at finding new ways to freshen up the series and bring Murdoch Mysteries into more homes around the world.

“Our challenge now is making sure that 300 episodes, as wonderful and exciting as that is, is not also a negative,” Jennings says, “where people are going, ‘Well I’ve already had 300. How many more hours do you have to have of Murdoch Mysteries?’ We have to counter that with the introduction of some new characters, new casting and new worlds.”

Bisson adds: “It’s abundantly clear that we as a show, from Christina at the top, are committed to our audience and committed to delivering beyond expectation. We are committed to giving the best possible product in the best possible way – one that adapts, that changes and is innovative. Staying at the top of ratings globally for 18 years requires that enthusiasm and that hard work from Christina, and it’s infectious all the way down.”

tagged in: CBC, Christina Jennings, ITV Studios, Murdoch Mysteries, Shaftesbury, U&Alibi, UKTV, Yannick Bisson