A Murdog Mystery

"A Murdog Mystery"
Season	10
Episode	11
Airdate	January 16, 2017
Writer	Lori Spring
Director	Don McCutcheon
Guests	Alan Doyle as Historian
Recurring	Daniel Maslany as Detective Watts
Previous	The Devil Inside
Next	The Missing

"A Murdog Mystery " is the eleventh episode of the tenth season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the one hundred forty-third of the series. It first aired on January 16, 2017.

Summary

While investigating the death of a championship show dog, Murdoch discovers a hidden affection for canine companions.

As Inspector Brackenreid is bound for Panama with James Pendrick, Murdoch is appointed Acting Inspector until Brackenreid's return, telling the constables to stay with calling him ‘Detective’. Accordingly, he plans some organizational changes until Detective Watts, who was asked to vacate Station House No. 1, has happily applied for the now open detective space at Station House No. 4, but before Murdoch can respond, Higgins interrupts, "Excuse me, sir, there's been a murder." At the scene of the crime, Murdoch states, "this is not a murder. This is...canicide."

Investigating the death of a championship show dog, Horace, whose owner is the sister-in-law of the mayor, Murdoch develops a partnership with a crime fighting canine named Pistachio who takes the lead. It is the hair of a dog that helps Murdoch solve the case.

Meanwhile Detective Watts and Constable Jackson begin to search for several young women who have gone missing in the past four years.

Character Revelations

• Murdoch is appointed Acting Inspector due to Brackenreid's absence, but keeps his own office.
• Julia has always wanted a dog and can whistle, while William utters the famous last words of every dog owner, "Under no circumstances is that dog to be allowed in that bedroom."
• Pistachio is a female labrador retriever who responds to the verbal command "Leap".

Continuity

• Murdoch has received a postcard via the Port of Havana from Inspector Brackenreid, who is still on the quest with Pendrick (ep.1009), stating that they are bound for Panama.
• First introduced in Concocting A Killer, Detective Watts returns – to work out of Station House No. 4; he takes the Inspector's office and asks Constable Jackson to take his notes.
• Consistent with his proclivity to know about 'the who's who', George informs the Acting Inspector about the members of the Toronto Canine Competitive Society and its dog show competition.
• Ruth Newsome, sister to the late Roger Newsome of the Mimico Newsomes, returns with her dog Roger; she was first introduced in Weekend at Murdoch's.
• An encounter at The Tipsy Ferret introduces the Historian from the new web series Murdoch Mysteries: Beyond Time.
• Dr. Ogden persuades Edith Frizzel to adopt Pistachio at the Toronto Canine Competition in the end.

Historical References

• The Historian foretells Newfoundland joining the Confederation to Crabtree and Higgins and notifies them that Canada is turning 150.
• The Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show at Madison Square Garden in New York City was first held on May 8, 1877, making it the second-longest continuously held sporting event in the United States behind only the Kentucky Derby, which was first held in 1875.
• The second time the CN Tower "appears"; the first was in Murdoch and the Cloud of Doom.
• What Are Little Boys Made Of? is a popular nursery rhyme dating from the early 19th century with the stanza "Sugar and spice / And everything nice [or "all things nice"]", with numerous popular culture usage to this date.

Trivia

• Special Guest Alan Doyle, past headman of the band Great Big Sea and writer on Republic of Doyle, plays a time-traveling Historian who has lost his travel journal and is known as The Professor in Beyond Time.
• Yannick Bisson ( William Murdoch) has a affection for canines himself; His bulldog, Duke, made a cameo in Winston's Lost Night.
• The MM Art Department had to build Horace's deck chair so it could hold him.
• The Frizzel yard/funeral scene is the same location used in Twentieth Century Murdoch for Murdoch's fantasy: showing his "son" the principles of the hot air balloon with Julia.
• Canadian Kennel Gazette is a real publication who gave MM Art Dept. access to their archives to make copies.
• The Dog Show was filmed at the Scottish Rite Club (Theatre) in Hamilton.
• This is the sixth episode in Season 10 in which Thomas Craig (Thomas Brackenreid) does not appear.

Errors

• While searching for Pistachio with Higgins, Crabtree ask passersby if anyone has seen a 'Golden Retriever' though Pistachio is in fact a 'Labrador Retriever'.
• In Bloodust, Murdoch states he wrote a couplet for the family dog; A dog he cared for, which contradicts his initial attitude towards dogs in the episode.

Cast

Main Cast

Yannick Bisson as Detective William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Dr. Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree

Recurring Cast

Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins
Mouna Traoré as Rebecca James
Kristian Bruun as Constable Jackson
Daniel Maslany as Detective Watts
Siobhan Murphy as Ruth Newsome

Guest Cast

Alan Doyle as Historian
Joy Tanner as Edith Frizzel
Rick Miller as Beaumont Stoddard
James Kall as Michael Dubois
Darryl Hinds as Sebastien Melrose
Justin Colette as Buck Christopher
Mark Burgess as Priest
Colin Price as Mr. Harding
Rob Baker as Announcer
Nug Nahrgang as Bartender

Gallery

Murdoch as Acting Inspector

At the Frizzel's

Scene of a Crime?

Toronto Gazette

At Horace's Funeral

Sebastien Melrose and his dog Kaiser

Buck Christopher and his dog Duke

Wetting the whistle with Pistachio

Questioning Harding

Meeting the Historian at The Tipsy Ferret

Questioning the Priest about Miss Sykes

Losing Pistachio at the Tipsy Ferret

Murdoch and Pistachio

Pistachio makes the show

Canada's 150th