Brokaw: ‘Murdoch Mysteries’ returns for season 16
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A new season of "Murdoch Mysteries" premieres Saturday, Feb. 11, 2023, on OvationTV.When a series lasts 16 seasons, you know it is entertaining, enjoyable and loved by viewers. That is exactly what “Murdoch Mysteries” is. The stories revolve around Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson), who uses his unique ways of solving crimes and mysteries and often calls upon some now-famous people to assist him. There have been numerous real-life people portrayed on the show including Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Frank Lloyd Wright, Winston Churchill, H.G. Wells, Arthur Conan Doyle, Alexander Graham Bell, Charlie Chaplin, Marie Curie, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Harry Houdini, Al Jolson, Mary Pickford, Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain and many others. This aspect of the series has intrigued viewers over the past seasons.
Season 16 is as intriguing as the previous 15 seasons and just as enjoyable. There are plenty of personal issues the characters encounter as well as professional ones — and yes, humor still wangles its way into the episodes while everyone tackles their lives with zest.
The season begins with several personal dilemmas for the characters. Murdoch and his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden (Helene Joy), are new parents to their baby daughter, Susanna. Julia decides it is time for her to return to her job at the medical clinic and includes Inspector Thomas Brackenreid’s (Thomas Craig) wife, Margaret (Arwen Humphreys), whose children are grown and is searching for meaning in her own life. In the meantime, Constable George Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and his fiancée, Effie Newsome (Clare McConnell), are in the midst of their wedding when his aunts barge in and stop the nuptials. Drama, drama, drama, with a touch of humor.
And coroner Violet Hart (Shanice Banton) thinks her father is dead but he surprises everyone by returning to the land of the living. While this is happening, Detective Llewelyn Watts (Danial Maslany) has left Toronto with his lover, Jack, and Jack’s baby son. When a private investigator comes to Toronto looking for them, Brackenreid tracks them down in New York to warn them but ends up in a precarious situation himself.
That is only the opening of the season, and there is plenty more in this 16th season, which is longer than the previous seasons. Making appearances during season 16 are Rudyard Kipling (Sean Cullen) and returning favorites like inventor James Pendrick and spy Terrence Myers. Literature lovers will especially enjoy the third episode that not only includes Kipling, but also Edgar Rice Burrows, Edith Wharton, Lucy Maud Montgomery and others. What fun! Also appearing this season are Thomas Edison and President William Howard Taft.
Fans of “Murdoch Mysteries” have anxiously been waiting for this new season and they will not be disappointed. The 24-episode season premieres Saturday on OvationTV.
