'Murdoch Mysteries' Season 19 Sets October Return to Ovation

It took until the 2020s for traditional networks to get on board, but in the last few years, one of the benefits of streaming has been making shows once geolocked to their respective countries available worldwide. The obvious headliners of this sector have mainly been sports and live events, where traditional behaviors, such as delaying airing the Olympics to start at 8 p.m. ET when they occur a full day earlier, or only putting the Oscars on broadcast with no streaming alternative, are no longer viable options. However, the same is true of TV shows with international fan bases, such as the long-running Canadian series Murdoch Mysteries.

Murdoch Mysteries had been running for so long that it predates streaming. Its early seasons were only available in Canada for years, until Ovation finally picked up the show in the U.S., renaming it The Artful Detective. However, Ovation wouldn't start airing new seasons until the show was halfway over in the north, and then they would air until the summer was nearly over. When Acorn TV finally picked up the show to stream, it also did not debut the new season until the first episode had been out in Canada for a full 120 days. 

Again, this is somewhat untenable, and Acorn TV will have to renegotiate its contract with the CBC to address this issue. But for now, fans at least have Ovation, which, faced with the prospect of becoming a zombie cable network, has made itself relevant again by renegotiating its contract and bringing the now-unrenamed Murdoch Mysteries to the U.S. on the same day they debut in Canada. The series will debut both in the U.S. and in Canada on the first Monday in October, as it has done for nearly 20 years now.

Here's the official Season 19 synopsis:

The new season dazzles with a host of confounding mysteries, surprising guest stars, and the wit that makes the show so beloved. Cases include the murder of a fashion mogul that everyone had reason to kill; a politically charged kidnapping of a Japanese scholar; Murdoch participates in a game show that turns lethal; wild animal attacks in High Park; and a dangerous stand-off when customers are taken hostage at a roadside inn. Stories this season bring Murdoch and Brackenreid to the very first Stampede in Calgary, and another mystery has them fighting spies atop a speeding train to the nation’s capital. 

Yannick Bisson once again returns as William Murdoch, along with the show’s stalwarts Thomas Craig as Chief Constable Thomas Brackenreid and Jonny Harris as Constables George Crabtree, plus new leading cast member Paul Hyung-Sun Lee as Inspector Albert Choi. Supporting cast returnees include Shanice Banton as Chief Coroner Violet Hart, Daniel Maslany as Llewellyn Detective Watts, Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins, Arwen Humphreys as Margaret Brackenreid, Kataem O’Connor as Teddy Roberts, and Clare McConnell as Crown Attorney Effie Newsome-Crabtree. 

Returning guest stars for Season 19 will include Peter Keleghan (Workin’ Moms) as Agent Terrence Myers, Bea Santos (American Gods) as Louise Cherry, Mark Caven (The Romanoffs) as Mayor Chadwick Vaughan, and Countess Luann de Lesseps (Real Housewives) as Noelle Victoria. New faces guest-starring this year will include Dave Foley and Scott Thompson (The Kids in the Hall), musician Steven Page (of The Barenaked Ladies), and Jason Mewes (Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back).

Murdoch Mysteries Season 19 will debut on the CBC in Canada and on Ovation in the U.S. on Monday, October 6, 2025, and will air one episode a week on Mondays through May 2026. The series will arrive on streaming via Acorn TV in early February 2026. Seasons 1 through 18 are streaming in full on Acorn TV.