'Murdoch Mysteries' Season 18 To Simultaneously Arrive on the CBC & Ovation

It was only a few weeks ago that we noted Murdoch Mysteries was finally getting with the 2020s, adding its first full-time lead to the roster in nearly a decade, the first since Georgina Reilly's Dr. Emily Grace exited the series after Season 9, and the first leading non-white cast member.... ever. However, the addition of fan-favorite Paul Sun-Hyung Lee (Kim's Convenience) was the first in the CBC's moves to modernize the nearly 20-year-old series, which is still going strong. After refusing to acknowledge that streaming has rendered 90- and 120-day exclusivity windows much less effective, especially when we're talking about keeping it from being streamed in a country with which it shares a 3000-mile-long border, the CBC is finally allowing Murdoch Mysteries to premiere simultaneously in the U.S. and Canada starting in October 2024.

Since the CBC first teamed up with cable niche network Ovation to air Murdoch Mysteries in the States in the late aughts, the small-time channel has been the first to air and stream the series in the U.S. (It speaks volumes that at the time, Ovation rechristened the series The Artful Detective, assuming that viewers would never know the show's Canadian name.) However, it's always had to wait until late January or early February to air weekly episodes, an exemplary system that worked when most people watched TV via linear cable. 

When the CBC made a deal with Acorn TV to second-run the show on streaming only, it had to wait another 30 days after Ovation's premiere to start the season, again, one a week. This means the previous season finished in the U.S. less than two months before the new one debuted up north.

But cable is mostly dead, with Ovation one of the many "zombie channels" trying to survive. What better way than to have a popular program when it premieres instead of hoping fans will tune in three months after the internet has already discussed it to death? Murdoch Mysteries is also being used to help promote the network's free streaming service, Ovation Now, as airing the show day-and-date (as it's known in the business) gives it a leg up on Acorn TV, whose more significant reach has made it the primary service where Americans go to watch it. 

(Telly Visions contacted Acorn TV to see if this change would affect their streaming schedule but did not hear back by press time. We will update this article if and when we know more.)

Here's the Season 18 synopsis:

Murdoch Mysteries is set in Toronto in the early 1900s, during the age of invention, where Detective William Murdoch enlists innovative forensic techniques to solve some of the city’s most perplexing murders. Season 18 is full of 'Murdochian' delights: a murder at a Charles Dickens convention; Murdoch acting as a bodyguard for a silent film star and thrown into a cinematic adventure himself; foiling a theft of the world's largest ruby; proving the veracity of a "Missing Link" skull found in Milton, Ontario; and a holiday episode celebrating the "misfits" and singletons. Episodes that root mysteries in the social issues of the time are also explored: a worker's strike at a factory; an early instance of low-income housing; competing public hydro projects; and immigrants trying to purchase land in the 'paradise' of the wilds of Canada. Finally, the milestone 300th episode will feature Detective Murdoch visiting the UK to see his wife, Dr. Julia Ogden, as they celebrate their wedding anniversary. 

As always, Yannick Bisson stars as the titular detective, William Murdoch. For Season 18, he will be joined by Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid,  Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree,  Hélène Joy as Dr. Julia Ogden, and the aforementioned new addition, Paul Hyung-Sun Lee as Inspector Albert Choi. Other returnees from the previous seasons include Daniel Maslany as Detective Watts and Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgens, Arwen Humphreys as Margaret Brackenreid, Clare McConnell as Crown Attorney Effie Newsome-Crabtree, and Shanice Banton as Chief Coroner Violet Hart. 

The confirmed guest stars for Season 18 include returnees Siobhan Murphy (The Sisterhood) as Ruth Newsome and Peter Keleghan (Workin' Moms) as government spy Terrence Meyers. Other guests confirmed so far include Daniel Kash (Orphan Black) in his third standalone role in the series, Rebecca Liddiard (Frankie Drake Mysteries), and Lainey Lui, the founder of Lainey Gossip. Season 18 will also feature musical guests indie-popstar Shawna Beesley (known as Adaline) and Idol Season 20 contestant Nicolina Bozzo.

Murdoch Mysteries Season 18 premieres on Ovation on Monday, October 7, 2024, at 8 p.m. ET and will stream free on Ovation Now's Mystery Alley directly following. The 22-episode series will follow a weekly release schedule with breaks for the holidays, concluding in the spring of 2025.