Henry Higgins is a police constable at Toronto's Station House Four. He frequently assists George Crabtree in investigations. He is portrayed by Lachlan Murdoch.
Biography
Henry's mother is from the Gaspé in Quebec, and he knows how to speak a bit of French (ep.209 and 405).
The Higgins family owned a Piano Shop when Henry was growing up. Henry did not enjoy playing, but he loved all of the parts (ep.717).
Henry suffers from vertigo and gets dizzy just standing on the bottom of a ladder (ep.306).
Higgins has a homosexual cousin and so was aware of the secret gay club where homosexual men gathered in Toronto (ep.105).
Henry is best known for doing his own thing when it comes to any sort of case or off duty business, ranging from locating a new kind of ice cream with George (ep.915) or watching boxing fights with Jackson (ep.803). He considers George Crabtree his best friend, and the feeling seems to be mutual with George since the pair of them go out and enjoy themselves, whether it be a vaudeville performance (ep.809) or having a drink in the bar (ep.714). Although they squabble and fight, Henry and George are always there for each other in the end.
Character Arc
Constable Henry Higgins is prone to making frequent mistakes in episodes, but usually has a redeeming moment towards the end. He also tends to let words slip out of his mouth before thinking about them, but means no harm. Such an example of this is during Unlucky In Love when Higgins accidentally insults Baby Roland Connor when Detective Murdoch is worried about Roland not walking yet and suggest that 'Maybe he's just slow.' which annoys Murdoch. Higgins later apologises sincerely for this though, never meaning to speak ill of Murdoch's son. Nevertheless, Henry has proven himself to be good with young children, during this episode as well as Raised On Robbery.
In War on Terror, Henry is caught in an explosion along with George and is rendered unconscious, resulting in George attempting to find the culprit behind the bombing of Milne's store. The bomber is caught, and Higgins returns to the station house having been hospitalised for the majority of the episode.
Higgins was amongst the sceptical constables to whom Murdoch presented his Pneumograph (ep.108).
When Prince Alfred visited Toronto and Constable George Crabtree was assigned to his security, Higgins assisted Detective William Murdoch with an investigation into the murder of Maggie Gilpatrick. Murdoch taught Higgins about fingermarks and how to trace a person's next of kin. When it was determined there was a plot to kidnap Prince Alfred, Higgins was selected to impersonate the prince to help safeguard His Highness in The Prince and the Rebel.
Detective Murdoch also teaches Henry how to correctly make shoe impressions in the mud in Child's Play after Henry messes up three footprints beforehand, having no clue how to do them exactly.
Henry was also one of the three who contributed to the purchase of the motor car between himself, George and Jackson in Murdoch Takes Manhattan.
Higgins was also one of the main protagonists in the Beyond Time web series along with Jackson and Rebecca James as the two constables consult Terrence Meyers to help them with this time traveling mystery. During this web series, Meyers gives Henry a lot of nicknames because he doesn't know Henry's actual name, which infuriates Henry. When he and Jackson face off against Meyers, we learn Higgins has a really fierce uppercut and should definitely not be messed with.
In Season 10's premiere Great Balls of Fire, Part 1, Higgins picks up smoking cigars, but whether this was just to impress the Inspector or not is unknown, as we're never shown him smoking again after.
Henry can also take his high ranking position a little bit too far sometimes, which irks some of the other constables that he's getting too big for his boots. But when Henry takes it too far in Painted Ladies, Jackson and McNabb decide to play a trick on Henry with the flirtation cards being used by women. They leave one on Henry's desk and tell him that Sadie Talbot left it there for him, and the two smirk as Henry falls for their trick. They watch as Henry attempts to go and talk to Sadie, but he loses his confidence, and after Jackson tells him 'You can't fail!' is when we see Henry's charm with women show it's true colours. He tells them that he always does fail with women before running off back to the Station House. After a heart to heart conversation about losing his self confidence with George, Henry goes back to where Sadie works, still oblivious that the card was a trick. When Jackson asks George where Henry has gone, George tells him, and Jackson confesses the trick on Henry to him. They both run to find Henry, but it's too late to stop him. Henry tells Sadie 'It's a beautiful dress you're wearing, make a lovely decoration for my floor' but Sadie can tell he means well, and invites him to come back at eight, which takes Jackson and Crabtree by surprise.
At the end of the Season 10 finale Hell to Pay, along with Constable George Crabtree and Constable Slugger Jackson, Henry is caught in an ambush; all are shot and possibly murdered.
Disguises
Henry Higgins as Jacob Edwards James
Jacob Edwards James
Introduced in The Murdoch Sting, Jacob James is an attorney of James, James, Jarvis, and James. This disguise reappears in Marked Twain except instead with the alias of Henry James.
Trivia
- Lachlan Murdoch first auditioned for the role of George Crabtree along with Jonny Harris who got the part. The producers liked Lachlan so much that they created the role of Henry Higgins for him.
- In an interview with The Hook, Lachlan revealed that after Jonny got the role for Crabtree, he went over to Jonny's car and keyed 'I AM CRABTREE' into the side of it, but him and Jonny still get on really well it seems.
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