NO MYSTERIES HERE
Actors enjoy their time on the set of detective show
On Murdoch Mysteries, Det. William Murdoch is known for his out-of-the-box thinking and ingenious “inventions” — the numograph, the graphizer and the weaponized capacitor among them.
But over the past 13 years, the period drama itself has become a legend in its own time. Based on characters from the Detective Murdoch novels by Maureen Jennings, and now set in early 1900s Toronto, the CBC procedural has just started its 15th season.
We asked actors Yannick Bisson (Det. William Murdoch), Hélène Joy (Dr. Julia Ogden) and Daniel Maslany (Det. Llewellyn Watts) for some behind-thescenes tidbits about one of Canada's longest-running shows. (Responses have been edited for length.)
Q You've all mentioned so many things you love about the show. What could you could do without?
Bisson: A four-page scene first thing on a Monday morning is a little tough sometimes.
Joy: I could do without waking up at 5 a.m. every morning and getting home after dark. I never have enough time to finish my many needlework projects. Maslany: Lately, I've been wondering why people used to wear full wool suits and vests in the summer. I've been sweating a disturbing amount this year.
Q Who's most likely to make everyone laugh? Anyone forget lines, or spend too much time in hair and makeup?
Bisson: Don't tell (Thomas Craig, who plays Inspector Brackenreid) that he wasn't quite on his mark — he “absolutely was!” We now have the famous “I was on mee mark” to use whenever it suits us.
Joy: Jonny (Harris, who plays George Crabtree) makes everyone laugh. As for forgetting lines, we all have our days. And generally all the ladies, including myself, take up about three times as long as the guys in hair and makeup because of all of our hair. Of course it does take quite a bit of time to put on Yannick's false eyelashes but we don't talk about that.
Maslany: Jonny is always making everyone laugh on set, on and off camera.
Q What's been your fondest memory on set?
Bisson: Having well-established and respected actors come on set and tell us how much they appreciate the show.
Joy: To this day I can laugh out loud remembering a prank I played on Lachlan Murdoch, who plays Henry Higgins. I was in hair and makeup and wearing the flesh-coloured silk underwear we have to use under our clothing in winter. You pretty much look naked in it, and the hair and makeup ladies and I were having fun. They helped me stick a fake bright-red beard
to my crotch, and when Lachlan walked in I pretended to be startled that he was seeing me naked. His reaction was hilarious. He was so shocked, his legs pretty much gave way underneath him.
Maslany: We were shooting a scene at a fair once where I had to pay for something at a booth. At the end of each take we'd reset, and the man playing the fair worker would return the prop coin to me. A little boy who was doing background that day asked me about these coins he saw me being handed between takes. It turns out he thought that I was actually being paid a single coin for each take that I shot.
Q Do you have a favourite treat from the craft services table?
Bisson: Our expert craft service team knows that if we're going to make it through a week it will take 70 per cent chocolate for Yannick at least once a day.
Joy: Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn. Maslany: Since we started shooting during COVID, we've had to order our food aloud through the window of the craft truck instead of just quietly perusing all the candies and filling my backpack with ketchup chips. It feels very different having to announce how many servings of chocolate cake I plan on consuming in a day, so I think I've been making slightly healthier choices recently to impress my colleagues.
Q The show covers so many historical events. What have you been surprised to learn?
Bisson: It was interesting to learn that at the turn of the century we had electric cars — what happened to them?
Joy: I have learned a lot about the women's movement and the plight of women trying to be doctors in Victorian times and their fight for women's rights and health. I don't find it surprising to know it was so hard — what is more surprising is that we are still fighting many of the same battles to this day.
Maslany: The writers really have fun bending time on this show by making Murdoch invent a lot of technology before it actually existed. I joined the cast comparatively very late in the seasons, so I have almost no clue which of the technologies we're using are authentic and which are completely anachronistic.
Q Who've been your favourite guest stars?
Bisson: This season we will be meeting Dr. Sigmund Freud. Diego Matamoros does a fabulous job with him.
Joy: One of my favourites was Ed Asner. May he rest in peace. What a sweet man. He came to the show as a special guest on our Christmas episode. He was hilarious and utterly inappropriate. My kinda guy.
Maslany: It was truly a dream come true to get to work with Colin Mochrie. Whose Line Is It Anyway? was an incredibly formative show for me when I was growing up. When I was a kid, I would force all of my friends to play improv games with me at my birthday parties. I had fewer and fewer friends return to these parties each year, but man, I was having a riot.