History Series / MurdochMysteries

* AgeGapRomance: Carl Rodriguez and Felicity Dawes fall in love in "Lovers In A Murderous Time" when they're convinced they're the reincarnations of a pair of StarCrossedLovers from several decades ago. [[spoiler:This is implied to be RealAfterAll.]]

* AmbiguousDisorder: Felicity Dawes is a ScatterbrainedSenior who appears in "Lovers In A Murderous Time." She suffers from memory lapses and occasionally has delusions of being in a Russian fairy tale. Julia suspects she has Alzheimer's disease, but some of her symptoms aren't consistent with the disorder. [[spoiler:Some of it is implied to be Dawes remembering her past life from several decades ago.]]

** Some titles touch on rock and pop music bands and songs: "Twisted Sisters" (Music/TwistedSister), "Barenaked Ladies" (from [[Music/BarenakedLadies the Canadian alternative band of the same name]]), "Glory Days" (see the song by Music/BruceSpringsteen), "Summer of '75" (alluding to the song "Summer of '69" by Canadian rocker Music/BryanAdams) and "Lovers In A Murderous Time" (alluding to the song "Lovers In A Dangerous Time" by Bruce Cockburn and covered by the Barenaked Ladies).

** In "Lovers In A Murderous Time", it's strongly implied that Carl Rodriguez's and Felicity Dawes's belief that they're the reincarnations of two StarCrossedLovers from several decades ago is actually true.

* ScatterbrainedSenior: Felicity Dawes in "Lovers In A Murderous Time" is an older woman who suffers from memory lapses and occasionally thinks she's in a Russian fairy tale. She's nearly tricked into thinking she's a murderer.

* LockingMacGyverInTheStoreCupboard: A rather extreme example in "Staring Blindly into the Future". What happens when you lock up William Murdoch, Ernest Rutherford, UsefulNotes/NikolaTesla, UsefulNotes/AlbertEinstein and UsefulNotes/MarieCurie into a fully equipped laboratory? [[spoiler:They build a DeathRay. Sally Pendrick kidnapped them all to force them to work on an atomic weapon, and although the ray wasn't used on the door like they planned, Murdoch fires it at Sally's head when she's threatening to murder Julia.]]

** Astronaut Chris Hadfield appears in "Murdoch at the End of the World" as a rocket engineer who decries the hysteria over Haley's Comet. Then he mentions being in orbit and Crabtree decides he's just another comet crank.

** Watts, despite his usual pacifistic nature, uses handcuffs to choke [[spoiler: Detective Armstrong]] in the [[TheVerse shared canon webseries ''The Book Of Jackson'']].
* CometOfDoom: "Murdoch at the End of the World" is set during the 1910 appearance of Halley's Comet and features various doomsday predictions. The ''actual'' doomsday threat is someone trying to spread pnumonic plague, using comet hysteria as a cover.

** Watts, despite his usual pacifistic nature, uses handcuffs to choke [[spoiler: Detective Armstrong]] in the [[TheVerse shared canon webseries ''The Book Of Jackson'']]

* TheyDo: Detective William Murdoch and Dr. Julia Ogden finally marry in the 100th episode of the series (in season 8), after years of UnresolvedSexualTension, [[CantSpitItOut his difficulties in declaring his feelings]], some distance over Julia's past abortion, career opportunities in other places, her decision to marry another man, the implosion of that marriage, the murder of her husband (for which she was convicted and eventually exonerated)...this couple really did [[EarnYourHappyEnding earn it]].

* UnresolvedSexualTension: UST is an apt description of the relationship between Detective William Murdoch and Dr. Julia Ogden, particularly in the first several seasons. Each of them in their own ways contributes to the difficulties; William seems somewhat lacking in social skills (such as dancing) and [[CantSpitItOut has trouble telling Julia how he feels]], while Julia is torn by her professional ambitions and ambivalence over motherhood in the face of his desire for a family. This is made worse by the Victorian/Edwardian setting and the necessary restraint needed by social standards of the time, as the UST is just as strong (if not stronger) whenever their on/off relationship is actually on. [[spoiler:It is at its highest possible level during season five when Julia is ''married to another man'', but the UST is eventually resolved when her husband pulls an IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy and tells her to be with William. Julia and William rekindling their romance closes the season. In season 6, the tension is back as they are together but unwilling to commit adultery when Julia goes through the unavoidable scandal of her divorce, capped by the murder of her husband, for which Julia is initially convicted!]] Eventually [[spoiler:in season 8]], TheyDo, but [[EarnYourHappyEnding boy howdy have they earned it]].

* MonsterClown: Season 15's "I Know What You Did Last Autumn" features a knife-wielding clown murdering the people who [[spoiler:[[SlutShaming Slut Shamed]] a girl to death.]] The clown in question resembles the Italian opera character Pagliacci.
** In Season 16's [[SequelEpisode "I Still Know What You Did Last Autumn"]] after the previous years incident a horror movie based on the murders is supposed to come out... until the lead actress is murdered by someone dressed as the same clown as previously.

The series was preceded by a trilogy of [[MadeForTVMovie TV movies]] in 2004, which were more direct adaptations of the ''Murdoch Mysteries'' novels. With Creator/PeterOuterbridge as Murdoch, Creator/KeeleyHawes as Dr. Ogden and Creator/ColmMeaney as Inspector Brackenreid. Overall, they were much darker and grittier than the TV series. In 2017, a sequel series called ''Series/FrankieDrakeMysteries'' was launched.

** Olympic runner Andre De Grasse appears in "Dash to Death", the second Olympics episode, as a shopkeeper who chased down a thief. When Brakenreid suggests he should compete, he says that racing people who can do 100m in 11 seconds isn't enough of a challenge, and to call him when they get it down to 10.

* HistoricalVillainUpgrade: Yes, Creator/HPLovecraft was a deeply weird and neurotic person. No, he was not a death-obsessed psychopath who mutilated dead bodies.

** In "The Write Stuff", the victim of the week appears to have committed suicide. Murdoch is about ready to close the case when Brackenreid shows him the victim's autograph, which he got earlier in the episode. Murdoch has a EurekaMoment when he compares the autograph to the victim's supposed suicide note and realizes the writing doesn't match. He then uses the fake suicde note to track down the real murderer.
** In "Vengeance Makes The Man", Maurice Majors' plot to [[spoiler:force Brackenreid to confess his FramingTheGuiltyParty several years ago]] falls through when the Chief Constable refuses to [[TurnInYourBadge accept his resignation.]]
** In "Whatever Happened To Abigail Prescott?" the owner of the hotel Julia and the title murder victim stayed at marches into the station house to complain to Murdoch over an unpaid telephone bill. Murdoch's tracing the call and connecting with Abigail's mother in a key part of the Constabulary's breaking the case.

** Alderman Prescott is a CorruptPolitician who [[DomesticAbuse violently beats his wife]] and embezzles money from the Toronto treasury along with conning people to donate to fake charities using people who pretend to be disabled and needy. When Dr. Ogden tries to help his wife Abigail escape her abusive marriage, Prescott murders Abigail and frames Julia for what seems like an AccidentalMurder. He has an insufferable smirk almost all the time he's on screen, being FauxAffablyEvil and having Julia attacked when she's in jail. All the protagonists play a part in destroying his empire piece by piece, and it's immensely satisfying to watch.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Margaret does this by interrupting the [[spoiler:Russian spy who framed an innocent Korean family for a Japanese secret agent's murder when the agent tries to kill them]] in "Patriot Games".

* GirlInABox: Amy [=MacFarlane=] is [[TapOnTheHead tapped on her head]] and put into a large trunk on a ship.

* NoHonorAmongThieves: In "Whatever Happened To Abigail Prescott?" the protagonists get the corrupt Alderman Prescott's accountant and main enforcer to turn on him, as well as the convict he hired to attack Julia in prison and the police scrivener who stole critical evidence from some investigation reports.

** Averted with Jack Walker. While Watts and the other Canadian characters never find out what happened to him, the audience learns he moved to Greenwich Village in UsefulNotes/NewYorkCity and becomes part of the Village's burgeoning gay community.

* SmugSnake: Doctor Luther Bates. He's convinced his unethical experiments are for the betterment of the human species, and that he'll gain recognition for them one day. Under accusation, he denies everything while sporting the smuggest smirk you can imagine. When Murdoch finally corners him, [[spoiler:he tries to kill the detective, still as proud of himself as ever. His demise is suitably karmic]].

* ImpoverishedPatrician: [[spoiler:The Newsomes become this as of Season 12's "My Big Fat Mimico Wedding". The uncle who looks after the family finances loses a large amount of money in a bad business deal, and starts embezzling the rest of the family fortune to try and recoup his losses. He fails, and soon the Newsomes are penniless.]] While [[spoiler:Rupert]] seems to take it in stride and resigns himself to a life of poverty, Henry Higgins suddenly finds himself needing to support himself [[spoiler:and his new wife Ruth]] and begs Brackenreid for his old job back.

* BittersweetEnding: In "An Avoidable Hindrance", Leo O'Rourke spent 30 years in jail for murder and wants Murdoch to ClearTheirName. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, the crime happening 30 years ago means there simply isn't the evidence to exonerate O'Rourke. On the other hand, Murdoch catches Cyril Philpot, one of the men who originally framed O'Rourke, for shooting him in the present day. Marie Lajeunesse, the woman who O'Rourke fought over with the original victim, divorces her husband, the victim's brother, for murdering him and takes up with O'Rourke.]]

* JusticeByOtherLegalMeans: Happens in "An Avoidable Hinder." [[spoiler:Leo O'Rourke was framed for murder 30 years ago by Cyril Philpot and Donald Hawkins, the victim's brother, because O'Rourke fought with the victim over Marie Lajeunesse. Philpot shoots O'Rourke in the present day, and Murdoch arrests him for it. There's no evidence to prove Hawkins murdered his brother, but a disgusted Marie divorces him and takes up with O'Rourke.]]

** In season 12's "Sins of the Father", Murdoch [[spoiler:finds his dead father's body]]...and ''doesn't'' do a Sign of the Cross.

* PoliticalOvercorrectness:
** "We don't call people 'retarded' anymore, it's insensitive. [[SubvertedTrope The polite term is 'moronic'.]]"
** Julia tells William not to use the word "sodomite", because the correct term is "homosexual".

* {{Ponzi}}: The B-plot of the "Home For The Holidays" Christmas special involves the Brackenreids and several other Torontonians being conned into one of these by none other than Charles Ponzi himself. Brackenreid, Higgins, Crabtree, Nina Bloom and Ruth Newsome hatch a scheme of their own to con Ponzi into returning it.

** In "The Curse Of Beaton Manor" Murdoch scolds George that voodoo is not real. It is revealed that [[spoiler:Timothy]] Beaton used pufferfish poison (from Haitian voodoo) to induce a near-death state and thus 'come back' from the dead. At the end of the episode the final Beaton suffers a fatal heart-attack from being pierced by a VoodooDoll.

* ScrewTheRulesIHaveMoney: It's very common for members of the upper class to use their money and influence to protect their interests and interfere with Murdoch's investigations, to say nothing of using their position to advantage in their personal and professional lives. Classism is also rampant, with working-class and poor suspects often being looked down and assumed guilty because of their social standing. Even the police are subject to this, and are often insulted for their lower-class roots.
** For example, in "Murdoch Night in Canada" a wealthy suspect with a past history with Dr. Grace has used his wealth and influence to avoid convictions for several altercations, to say nothing of assaulting ''her'' when she rejects his attempts to rekindle their relationship.
** In "Downstairs Upstairs" the victim is a wealthy head of household [[spoiler:who used his position to essentially rape his female servants, creating the circumstances of his murder]].

* SherlockHomage: Detective William Murdoch has the stellar record of solving cases (which he himself cites in his promotion interview in "The Glass Ceiling"), as well as being an autodidact (self-educated) whose studies are largely scientific. He keeps a selection of reference books in his office, but is also known to send out for research materials -- or even conduct experiments -- when needed. In an episode revolving around a talented "''idiot savant''", Julia speaks of him as also being disconnected from his emotions [[BreakingTheFourthWall to no one in particular as she stands by her office phonograph, while William himself is standing in the background]]. On occasion, he can be a first-class DeadpanSnarker: a particularly good example (from "Holy Matrimony, Murdoch!") is his epic takedown of a judge who's convinced a woman killed her husband -- the same judge mistakenly thought the same thing about Julia, and Murdoch points this out to his face. He generally avoids alcohol due to his father's alcoholism. As noted under {{Expy}}, other characters echo those of Doyle's stories: Crabtree is the mundane assistant who also pens fiction (like Watson); medical services and expertise come from Drs Ogden, Francis, Grace and Roberts; various people (including Constables Crabtree and Higgins and Inspector Brackenreid) act as TheWatson in having things explained to them; and James Gillies and Sally Pendrick bear striking resemblances to two of Holmes' most famous adversaries (Professor Moriarty and Irene Adler Norton).

** The first episode of Season 3, in which Murdoch wakes up in a strange place with no memory of who he is, is called [[Literature/TheBourneSeries "The Murdoch Identity"]] and involves a character named Treadstone.

** One season three episode features a young Harry Houdini still making a name for himself. In the same episode, Ruby Ogden is describing her journalistic work to Crabtree, mentions her interview with a firebrand named UsefulNotes/VladimirLenin, and warns the constable to "watch out for him".

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* KarmaHoudini: Multiple criminals, and even some of the protagonists, have gotten away with various crimes, some less moral than others.

** Subverted in "Vengeance Makes The Man." Brackenreid tries to resign for FramingTheGuiltyParty 20 years ago, but the Chief Constable refuses his request. He says that Brackenreid did the right thing in ensuring a murderer was punished, and that there's no point in dredging up dirt from two decades ago to make the police look bad.

** Roger's brother Rupert somehow manages to be even worse than Roger. Rupert is trained as a cardiac surgeon, but he doesn't do anything so common as actually practice medicine. As a "gentleman of titles", Rupert became a doctor simply for the accolades and lets lesser men do the actual work. When the Newsome family fortune is gone, Rupert becomes the HenpeckedHusband to a domineering wealthy woman...and it's implied he almost ''enjoys'' his wife pushing him around.

** "Dead on Arrival" is an adaptation of ''{{Film/DOA}}'' in everything from its plot of the protagonist dying from a slow poisoning to being shot in black and white to the jazzy 1940s-style music to the dresses worn by Julia and Violet, which look better suited to the 1940s than they do to the Edwardian era the show is set in.