Biffers and Blockers

"Biffers and Blockers"
Season	11
Episode	11
Airdate	January 15, 2018
Writer	Dan Trotta
Director	Megan Follows
Guests	Cyrus Lane as Dr. Rupert Newsome Paulino Nunes as Count Dagan Petrovic
Previous	F.L.A.S.H.!
Next	Mary Wept

"Biffers and Blockers" is the eleventh episode of the eleventh season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the one hundred-sixty-first of the series. It first aired on January 15, 2018.

Summary

Murdoch and Julia attend an amateur cricket match at the Athletic Sports Club that turns into a crime scene when one of the players is blown up when his bat hits the ball, possibly filled with explosives. Murdoch suspects that the intended target may been the Serbian count on the team.

Investigating the case of mistaken idenities and revenge, the Inspector and Detective get a glimpse into Constable Higgins' new posh lifestyle with the Mimico Newsomes. 

Character Revelations

• Dr. Ogden has an eye for athletes.
• Flirty and more playful with William these days, Julia now has some news for William, she is pregnant.
• Henry plays cricket with the gentlemen players and has named his bat 'Ruth'.
• Ruth has insisted that Henry take on a man-servant, Brewster, as part of his transformation. Henry is living the life he “…should have always lived.”
• The late Roger Newsome has a (twin?) brother, Rupert.

Continuity

• The experimental hormone therapy (ep.1108) and rigorous husbandry schedule (ep.1110) have worked, William and Julia are going to have a baby; With a kiss, they agree to keep it to themselves for now, just as the Inspector asks if they have something to hide.
• Henry and Ruth's relationship continues...
• George and Nina are still in Paris ...

Historical References

• Cricket has been the United Kingdom's national summer sport for over 200 years. Sledging is the act of one sports player insulting another during a game, in order to make them angry, weakening or distracting the opponent's concentration. A Ringer, in sports idiom, is an impostor, especially one whose pretense is intended to gain an advantage in a competition
• Serbo-Bulgarian war (Nov. 14, 1885–March 3, 1886), was a military conflict between Serbia and Bulgaria, which demonstrated the instability of the Balkan peace settlement imposed by the Congress of Berlin (Treaty of Berlin, July 1878).
• The Romani people (Gypsies) in Serbia.

Trivia

• George does not appear in this episode.
• J. Christianson's, the only sporting goods and apparel store in town, is named in honor of the Jordan Christianson, late MM writer and sports enthusiast, whose favorite recurring character was the late Roger Newsome. Murdoch Mysteries and fans lost both Roger and Jordan during Season 10.
• Paulino Nunes, who played Carlo Corsi in Murdoch at the Opera, returns to portray a hotshot cricket player who doesn’t win any friends amongst the players on the pitch.
• A previously dead character re-appears, played by Cyrus Lane.
• Cricket scenes filmed at Shanty Bay (once the summer estate of Titanic survivor Lt. Col. Arthur Peuchen.)
• While MM fans are thrilled that the long awaited pregnancy for Jilliam has finally arrived, some have expressed concerns (and discussed) whether their baby will arrive without issue or complications.

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

Daniel Maslany as Detective Watts
Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins
Siobhan Murphy as Ruth Newsome

Guest Cast

Cyrus Lane as Dr. Rupert Newsome
Paulino Nunes as Count Dagan Petrovic
Steve Belford as Sam Mactier
Adam Cawley as Leonard Killjoy
Milan Malisic as Brewster Smythe
Will Conlon as Umpire

Gallery

Keeping it secret for now...

Crime in progress...

Murder weapon?

Innocent bystander provides evidence