I, Murdoch

"I, Murdoch"
Season	2
Episode	8
Airdate	March 24, 2009
Writer	Lori Spring
Director	Laurie Lynd
Guests	Kris Holden-Ried as Caspar Bomgaarts
Recurring	Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins Dakota Goyo as Alwyn Jones Peter Keleghan as Terrence Meyers Sarah Allen as Enid Jones
Previous	"Big Murderer on Campus"
Next	"Convalescence"

"I, Murdoch" is the eighth episode of the second season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the twenty-first episode of the series. It first aired on March 24, 2009.

Summary

When a young boy, Alwyn Jones, reports seeing a giant shiny knight in the woods, Inspector Murdoch takes an interest and walks the boy home. There, he meets Alwyn's very attractive - and widowed - mother Enid. He doesn't have much time with her however since he's called away to investigate a murder. The victim is Professor Ezra Delamore, a mathematician who now works for a major industrialist. Dr. Ogden confirms that the man was poisoned and the fatal dose was administered in a unique way. When young Alwyn disappears, they find a dwarf floating in the river while looking for him, also poisoned. Also involved in the case is the very secretive government agent Terence Meyers. Murdoch and Dr. Ogden's relationship has yet to thaw but she seems to be coming around slowly. It all may be for naught as the detective has decided to make a social call on Mrs. Jones.

Character Revelations

• Brackenreid is sure that Det. Murdoch can tell Dr. Ogden all about the automaton but to both his surprise and Julia's, Murdoch has an previous appointment and leaves them to have dinner at Enid Jones house.
• Enid hopes that Murdoch likes pot roast. He reveals that he does.

Continuity

• William and Julia remain at odds about her having had an abortion.

Historical References

• The title is a reference to Isaac Asimov's 1950 novel I, Robot.
• Professor Ezra Delamore's research is into an application of the Babbage Difference Engine.
• The murder method is very similar to the one used to kill the Bulgarian dissident, Gregori Markov (a ricin-filled pellet fired from an umbrella).
• The book Murdoch gets for Alwyn at the end, Steam Man of the Plains, was an actual novel printed in 1876 by Harold Cohen.

Trivia

• This episode's opening murder is taken directly from the real life assassination of a Bulgarian dissident living in London in 1978. The only differences are that the pellet was full of ricin and shot through an umbrella instead of a blind man's cane.
• Lori Spring was nominated for Gemini Awards' Best Writing in a Dramatic Series for this episode.

Cast

Main Cast

Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as George Crabtree

Recurring Cast

Lachlan Murdoch as Henry Higgins
Dakota Goyo as Alwyn Jones
Peter Keleghan as Terrence Meyers
Sarah Allen as Enid Jones

Guest Starring

Laurie Murdoch as Martin Hammerton
Gloria Slade as Mrs. Eason
Bobby Prochaska as Blind Man

Other Cast

James Ferenczi as Crime Scene Witness
Allan Redford as Big Littleman
Keith Kemps as Ezra Delamore

Gallery

Blackboard

Blackboards and calculatings...