'Murdoch Mysteries' Lands a Season 19 Renewal

It is a truth universally acknowledged that popular mystery series can pretty much run forever. Midsomer Murders is currently shooting its twenty-fifth season. Death in Paradise has been solving crimes in a tropical paradise for fourteen seasons, and Father Brown has been balancing investigative and spiritual duties for twelve. Heck, even Grantchester has gotten into the act, and will launch its tenth season this summer. Audiences can't seem to get enough. Another member of this squad is the Canadian drama Murdoch Mysteries, which has been renewed for Season 19.

Murdoch Mysteries may be less familiar to U.S. audiences than its (comparatively!) short-lived spinoff that streamed on PBS Passport, Frankie Drake Mysteries, but it is as long-running as its British counterparts. Initially airing on U.S. cable channel Ovation under the title The Artful Detective, it moved to Acorn TV for streaming in the mid-2010s, though not until a whole, old-school 120-day exclusivity window had passed. That's why Season 18 has concluded on the CBC and Ovation (where the show has started airing day-and-date on its linear network) but is still currently streaming on Acorn through July 2025.  

One of Canada's biggest-selling series globally, the show is set in early 1900s Toronto. (Technically, it began in 1895, if you want to be picky about it.) The story follows the titular Detective William Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) of the Toronto Constabulary, who uses innovative-for-the-time-period forensic techniques like fingerprinting to solve the city's most difficult murders. The show also regularly weaves real history into its cases of the week, and the show is full of familiar British and American guest stars as famous faces ranging from Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to Mark Twain. 

Given that Season 18 is still airing on Acorn TV, what spoilers we might have for the show's nineteenth outing will remain under wraps. (Though, let's face it, a big part of the appeal of shows like this is how predictable and familiar they feel year after year.) There's no synopsis as yet, but that's pretty typical for the CBC, which releases those sorts of details much closer to the show's annual fall premieres.

That being said, Yannick Bisson will certainly be back as the titular William Murdoch. His current crop of co-stars includes Paul Hyung-Sun Lee as Inspector Albert Choi, Thomas Craig as Inspector Thomas Brackenreid, and Jonny Harris as Constable George Crabtree. Hélène Joy moved to a recurring role in Season 18. However, she will be back for Season 19 as Dr. Julia Ogden, along with Shanice Banton as Chief Coroner Violet Hart, Daniel Maslany as Detective Watts, Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins, Arwen Humphreys as Margaret Brackenreid, and Clare McConnell as Crown Attorney Effie Newsome-Crabtree. 

The guest cast for Season 19 is expected to be announced in due course.

Word on the internet streets is that production on Season 19 is set to begin this summer in Ontario, most likely to be marked by the actors on Instagram. (We will be keeping our eye peeled for images.) Peter Mitchell will once again serve as showrunner and director. The series is executive produced by Mitchell, Bission, Simon McNabb, Christina Jennings, and Scott Garvie and produced by Jeremy Hood and Julie Lacey.

Murdoch Mysteries Season 18 is still streaming weekly on Acorn TV through the end of July; the season continues with Episode 14, "A Murder Most Convenient," on Monday, May 12, 2025, with the rest of the season (22 episodes in all) streaming weekly on Mondays through July. Seasons 1-17 are currently available on the platform. 

Season 19 is expected to arrive simultaneously on the CBC and Ovation in September or October of the 2025-2026 TV season, and then follow on Acorn TV 120 days later (which usually works out to sometime in February).