History YMMV / MurdochMysteries

** In "A Merry Murdoch Christmas", Brackenreid feels guilty for having harshly told off his father as a child for having made him a Christmas present instead of buying him a toy soldier he wanted (which his father was too poor to afford). Not only would a Victorian child, drilled to have absolute deference toward his or her parents, been highly unlikely to act in this way, but a child of English working-class parents at the time would have been well aware that his family's income was literally subsistence-level and would likely have understood why he or she was not receiving any store-bought presents, if any.

** It is pretty safe to assume that Toronto did not have two female coroners around that time, and that the men of the time would not have accepted the idea of women working in a morgue nearly as well as they do throughout this series. However, there was at least one skilled female Canadian pathologist, Maude Abbott.

* CompleteMonster: James Gillies is Detective William Murdoch's ArchEnemy and one of the most dangerous men he's ever met. Initially coming into conflict with Murdoch after he murdered his professor as part of a way to [[ForScience test a theory of Applied Physics]], Gillies was defeated when Murdoch tricked his weak-willed partner, Robert into turning on him. After escaping the noose by bribing a dying man into taking his place, Gillies murders Robert by sawing his head off while he's still alive. He then initiates a [[CriminalMindGames twisted mind game]] with Murdoch that culminates in him [[BuriedAlive burying Julia alive]], with Murdoch only narrowly getting there in time to save her. Unfortunately, Gillies escapes and one year later [[FrameUp frames Julia]] for the murder of her husband, all as part of a plan to lure Murdoch into a SadisticChoice of either saving his own life or that of Julia. Fortunately Murdoch is able to alert his fellow officers, who arrive in time to save him before the [[DeadlyGas poisonous gas]] floods the room. Finally, he arranged for several criminals to break onto the train transporting him into prison, causing chaos which he used to try to escape, all the while taunting both Murdoch and Julia that they "owe him" for killing Julia's husband and allowing them to be together. Sadistic and defined by pettiness, James Gillies is the worst that Detective Murdoch has ever faced.

* CompleteMonster: James Gillies is Detective William Murdoch's ArchEnemy and one of the most dangerous men he's ever met. Initially coming into conflict with Murdoch after murdering his professor to help [[ForScience test a theory of Applied Physics]], Gillies was defeated when Murdoch tricked his weak willed partner into turning on him. Angry at being defeated, Gillies swore revenge on Murdoch. After escaping the noose by bribing a dying man into taking his place, Gillies murders his former partner Robert by [[OffWithHisHead sawing his head off]] while he's still alive, before initiating a [[CriminalMindGames twisted mind game]] with Murdoch. This culminates in him [[BuriedAlive burying Julia alive]], with Murdoch only narrowly getting there in time to save her. Unfortunately, Gillies escapes when the wagon is overturned and falls into a river, allowing him to plot another scheme. This culminates in him [[FrameUp framing Julia]] for the murder of her husband, all as part of a plan to lure Murdoch into a DeathTrap where he will have to make a SadisticChoice. Curious to see whether Murdoch is willing to die to save the woman he loves, he sets the trap up so that either he lets Julia die or he sends the film containing Gillies's confession to the judge. Fortunately Murdoch is able to alert his fellow officers, who arrive in time to save him before [[DeadlyGas poisonous gas]] floods the room. Gillies's final clash with Murdoch occurred when he arranged for several criminals to break onto the train transporting him into prison, causing chaos. Gillies taunts both Murdoch and Julia that they "owe him" for killing Julia's husband and allowing them to be together before escaping and jumping into the river. Sadistic and defined by pettiness, James Gillies is the worst that Detective Murdoch has ever faced.

** Similarly, while initially not thrilled to discover that Dr. Grace is engaging in lesbianism, he rather quickly ends up showing understanding for her.

** It is pretty safe to assume that Toronto did NOT have one, let alone two female coroners around that time, and that the men of the time would not have accepted the idea of women working in a morgue nearly as well as they do throughout this series. Furthermore, this troper questions if Drs. Ogden and Grace would even have qualified for the position, as a coroner is a public official, and Canadian law at the time did not allow women to be appointed to public office.
*** Actually, there was at least one skilled female pathologist, Maude Abbott. It's also implied that both Julia and Emily have parents who are rather influential.

* HoYay: Between Crabtree and one-off character Nanuq, including a goodbye kiss (on the cheek).

** Murdoch, a Catholic, initially receives some stick from Brackenreed for being a "Papist", but this is dropped relatively early.

** In one episode, Brackenreed worries that his son might be gay because he wants to play a female part in a play. This leads to the boy getting hurt badly in rugby trying to impress his dad. While the boy's ultimate reasoning for wanting the female role (she had more lines) is later revealed and accepted, it doesn't come before Dr. Ogden has to talk Brackenreed into accepting his son's possible sexuality. In an episode set nearly ''seventy years'' before the decriminalization of homosexuality in Canada.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: There are many fans who are quite fond of Henry Higgins, and would very much like to see his character become part of the main cast.
** He and Constable Jackson have both been making more appearances since the beginning of season 8, often together with Crabtree, so it seems the writers have listened to some extent.

* EnsembleDarkhorse: There are many fans who are quite fond of Henry Higgins, and would very much like to see his character become part of the main cast.

* UnfortunateImplications: In a number of episodes, [[{{Eagleland}} Americans]] are portrayed as evil bastards, especially in "Murdoch Air."

* AdaptationDisplacement: The TV series is much more famous than the series of novels it was originally based on.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The TV series is markedly different from the original series of novels. Murdoch is much more of a DeadpanSnarker and is outright contemptuous of Brackenreid, and solves his cases through legwork and talking to people rather than any form of science. Inspector Brackenreid is depicted as an incompetent drunk who's also bigoted against the Catholic Murdoch. George Crabtree is described as having a large build and is a married father of five.

* AdaptationDisplacement: The TV series is markedly different from the original series of novels, though as a character, Murdoch in the TV series is quite similar to the Murdoch in the novels. In the books, George Crabtree is described as having a large build and is a married father of five.

* UnfortunateImplications: In a number of episodes, [[{{Eagleland}} Americans]] are portrayed as evil bastards, especially in 'Murdoch Air'.

* UnfortunateImplications: In a number of episodes, [[{{Eagleland}} Americans]] are portrayed as [[EvilBrits evil bastards]], especially in 'Murdoch Air'.

* UnfortunateImplications: In a number of episodes, [[Eagleland Americans]] are portrayed as [[EvilBrits evil bastards]], especially in 'Murdoch Air'.

* UnfortunateImplications: In a number of episodes, [[Eagleland Americans]] are portrayed as [[EvilBrits plain Evil]], especially in 'Murdoch Air'.

* TheWoobie: Whenever Murdoch breaks down and is NotSoStoic. Poor man, that one time when Julia told him about [[spoiler:her abortion and that it left her barren]] and implied that she wanted to break up their relationship. How could she do that to him?

* AdaptationDisplacement: The tv series is markedly different from the original series of novels, though as a character, Murdoch in the tv series is quite similar to the Murdoch in the novels.
** In the books, George Crabtree is described as having a large build and is a married father of five.

** In the books, George Crabtree is described as having a large build and is a married father of five.
* CloudCuckooLander: George often goes off on strange tangents while discussing cases with Murdoch. He thinks his anecdotes might be useful, but they're often not.
** Higgins has shades of this, though is generally more grounded than George.
* FairCop: Murdoch, George, and Higgins.