Dr. Roberts is a practicing psychiatrist who assists William Murdoch on a number of cases, first introduced in Season 2, played by Paul Amos.
Dr. Roberts, who was recently removed from his position at the Provincial Lunatic Asylum because his research on the workings of the criminal mind ruffled too many feathers. He is quite forward-thinking and is practicing at a private hospital in Etobicoke, the Toronto Hospital for the Incurables.
By Season 5, Dr. Roberts has returned to the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, where he's revealed to have an incurable genetic condition.
Appearances[]
Snakes and Ladders[]
- The gruesome murders of two young women similar to that of Jack the Ripper prompts Murdoch to ask Dr. Ogden what would motive such dreadful acts. Dr. Ogden knows of a forward thinking young alienist, Dr. Roberts, who might help to answer that question.
- Dr. Roberts warns the Detective of his own reputation making him a somewhat a pariah to which the Detective tells him is the very reason he wants Roberts' insights.
- After going over the files on the case and previous ones shared by Scotland Yard Detective Scanlon, Dr. Roberts concludes that the killer has a deep anger towards woman. So deep and powerful, he is compelled to kill them but the anger is well hidden. Dr. Roberts concludes by wearing a 'mask of sanity', mentioning the work by Phillippe Pinel much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. Suffering a childhood trauma that made him create two worlds and when he reached sexual maturity, he had difficulty with women. There is a loose but common thread– all the women worked and by killing them he boasters his self-esteem, "the more powerful the woman the greater the effect." Then, Murdoch suggests the message the killer leaves is a plea for help rather than a taunt, wanting the Mr. Hyde side to be stopped. Dr. Roberts concurs. The first profile of a killer is established.
- This case begins an on-going consulting relationship between Detective Murdoch and Dr. Roberts.
Werewolves[]
- Murdoch consults Dr. Roberts on the case of a potential 'werewolf' murder. He explains to Murdoch that the condition he's describing is known as lycanthropy, where a human will believe themselves to be an animal, most commonly a wolf. He suggests that the suspect might be a lycanthrope, but he can't be sure without seeing him.
Me, Myself and Murdoch[]
- Dr. Roberts helped Murdoch diagnose multiple personality disorder in the case of Charlotte, who was suspected of having murdered her father.
Murdoch in Toyland[]
- Dr. Roberts was called up by Murdoch again to put him in a state of hypnosis as he played a recording of a mysterious person from a talking doll, which was part of a mystery involving a kidnapped-later-rescued girl, and a decapitated corpse. Murdoch soon recognized the voice to be belonging to James Gillies.
Twentieth Century Murdoch[]
- Dr. Roberts is revealed to have Huntington's disease.
- Murdoch and the station were baffled by a supposed time machine and he consulted with Dr. Roberts on the psychiatric nature of those holding it. Dr. Roberts dropped his glass, cutting himself, and his hand trembles.
- Later, George discovered it was Dr. Roberts who planted the fake Santa suit with the finger mark to prove it. Leaving to arrest him, they instead discover that Dr. Roberts was frozen by his stepbrother as he had been dying from a genetic disease. He hypnotized Murdoch into believing he had traveled in time, along with the other people who entered the "time machine." Unsure of what to do, the policemen leave him as he is, and Dr. Roberts is left in his sleeping state, hoping that someday he'll be revived in the future to be cured.
Murdoch and the Undetectable Man (mention)[]
Gallery[]
Hypnotizing Murdoch in "Murdoch in Toyland"