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Murdoch Mysteries

This holiday season, see Murdoch Mysteries on the big screen

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From a media release:

Shaftesbury, CBC, and Cineplex Events today announced advance screenings of Murdoch Mysteries’ third annual holiday special, “Home for the Holidays”, on Saturday, December 16 across Canada. Free tickets for the special event screenings, taking place in 11 cities across Canada including Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, Victoria, Winnipeg, and Halifax, will be available Tuesday, December 5 at 12 p.m. ET via Eventbrite. As a Cineplex Events exclusive, screenings of “Home for the Holidays” will feature additional behind-the-scenes footage with cast.

Murdoch Mysteries: Home for the Holidays premieres Monday December 18 at 8/8:30 NT on CBC. On Christmas Day, CBC will air a marathon of the three Murdoch Mysteries holiday specials back-to-back with “A Merry Murdoch Christmas” at 2/2:30 NT, “Once Upon a Murdoch Christmas” at 4/4:30 NT, and a re-broadcast of “Home for the Holidays” at 6/6:30 NT.

In “Home for the Holidays,” Detective Murdoch (Yannick Bisson) and Dr. Ogden (Hélène Joy) travel to Victoria to visit Murdoch’s brother, RCMP officer Jasper Linney (Dylan Neal, Arrow, Cedar Cove). There, they investigate a murder connected to an archaeologist (Megan Follows, Reign, Heartland, World Without End) who has uncovered an ancient Indigenous settlement, leading to a trek through the rugged beauty of British Columbia and encounters with the Songhees and Haida nations. Meanwhile, Inspector and Mrs. Brackenreid (Thomas Craig, Arwen Humphreys) are offered a surefire investment opportunity that may not be all it seems, and Constables Crabtree (Jonny Harris) and Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch) plan a ski chalet holiday with their gal pals Nina Bloom (Erin Agostino) and Ruth Newsome (Siobhan Murphy), but learn it may be more dangerous than expected. Also guest starring Wayne Baker (Indian Horse, Blackstone), Trevor Carroll (Strange Empire, Blackstone), Simon R. Baker (Strange Empire, Into the West), Jake Epstein (Designated Survivor, Degrassi: The Next Generation), and featuring cameos by Jim Treliving (Dragon’s Den), Julie Nesrallah (Tempo), and Sangita Patel (ET Canada). Haida/Cree artist Kristi Lane Sinclair served as consulting producer.

One of Canada’s most successful and longest-running dramas, Murdoch Mysteries (11 seasons; 168 x one-hour episodes) has become a staple for CBC and broadcasters around the world with its winning formula that brings together compelling mysteries, unique slices of turn-of-the-century history, ingenious inventions and personal moments for each character. The series is licensed to broadcasters in 110 countries and territories including the U.S., U.K., France, Finland and China.

With millions of fans worldwide, Murdoch Mysteries also boasts one of the most engaged fan communities in the world, including almost 130,000 likes on Facebook and 146,000 followers for the series and its cast on Twitter.

The Murdoch Mysteries brand continues to grow and evolve. Brand licensing deals include an all-ages immersive game experience, The Murdoch Mysteries Escape Series, a collaboration between Shaftesbury and Company & Co. that launched in early 2017 in Toronto, as well as a collection of customizable pendants and rings inspired by the series and its characters from Jewlr.com. Series companion book Investigating Murdoch Mysteries was published in Canada, the U.S. and the UK by Titan Books in October 2015. Shaftesbury has also partnered with Segal on an exclusive line of series merchandise including a Murdoch Mysteries holiday ornament, beer stein, mugs, police notepad and chalkboard, and a global online store, www.murdochworld.com, launched in April 2016.

Murdoch Mysteries has brought dozens of historical figures to life including Mark Twain, Helen Keller, Alexander Graham Bell, Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, Harry Houdini, Winston Churchill, Bat Masterson, and H.P Lovecraft, and featured more than 100 guest stars including William Shatner, Brendan Coyle, Ed Asner, Victor Garber, Colin Mochrie, Rémy Girard, David Hewlett, Tom McCamus, Mary Walsh, musician Alan Doyle, Samantha Bond, Leah Pinsent, Nicholas Campbell, Steven Ogg, former WWE star Jay Reso, Dragons’ Den judges Arlene Dickinson and David Chilton, Canadian opera singer Measha Brueggergosman, Lieutenant Governor of Ontario David C. Onley, and Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Murdoch Mysteries is based on Maureen Jennings’s popular Detective Murdoch series of novels and premiered in Canada in January 2008.

Murdoch Mysteries is developed and produced by Shaftesbury, in association with CBC, ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment and UKTV, and with the participation of the Canada Media Fund, the Canadian Film or Video Production Tax Credit, the Ontario Film and Television Tax Credit and the COGECO Program Development Fund. Shaftesbury Sales Company and ITV STUDIOS Global Entertainment hold worldwide distribution rights for the series. The series is executive produced by Christina Jennings, Scott Garvie, Yannick Bisson and Peter Mitchell, who also serves as showrunner, and produced by Stephen Montgomery and Julie Lacey.

 

 

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Hard Rock Medical

TVO’s Hard Rock Medical graduates to a final season beginning Jan. 2 at 9 p.m.

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From a media release:

TVO’s popular series Hard Rock Medical kicks off a fourth and final season with back-to-back episodes Tuesday, January 2 at 9 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.  Inspired by the world-renowned Northern Ontario School of Medicine, the dramatic and entertaining fictional series brings to life the distinct challenges of delivering quality healthcare in Northern Ontario.  The opening episodes will be available to stream on tvo.org starting January 3, with additional episodes posted each week.

Facing challenging life circumstances and demanding courses, the students at Hard Rock U will now work through their fourth year of offbeat medical training. A big question remains:  Who has the determination and resilience to earn the coveted White Coat? Canadian icon Eric Peterson joins the already stellar ensemble cast of Canadian actors including Patrick McKenna, Angela Asher, Jamie Spilchuk, Tamara Duarte, and Northern Ontario favourite Stéphane Paquette.

Key storylines of this final season will follow the continuing trials and tribulations of Hard Rock’s beloved Northern Ontario medical students. After donating bone marrow to Mylo, Eva convalesces at home on the Rez. A judge orders Gary into reconciliation classes with a racist cop. Charlie struggles to keep it all together as his wife undergoes chemo treatments and his family is forced to move into his father’s home. Gina and Melanie are placed with an elderly doctor (Eric Peterson) who has a drug dependency and a healthy dislike of their youthful energy. The death of a friend and lover sets Cameron off on a self-destructive path. And Nancy and Farida are seconded to pediatrics in the North Bay hospital – while both of them work to carefully define the line between caring and over-sharing.

Co-created by Smith Corindia and Derek Diorio, Hard Rock Medical is produced by Distinct Features.  The series is filmed entirely in Northern Ontario.

Hard Rock Medical repeats Fridays at 7 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. beginning January 5, and Sundays at 8 p.m. and 8:30 p.m. beginning January 7.

 

 

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Featured, Travelers

Preview: A traveler on trial on Travelers

To me, the mark of a good episode is it causes discussion. And boy, did last week’s episode of Travelers do that. “17 Minutes” was a hit for some and a massive miss for others. Arguments were made it was one of the best storylines so far while an equal amount of folks hated the Groundhog Day theme and fast-forwarded to the end to watch the conclusion.

But on to this week’s instalment, “Traveler 0027,” written by Ashley Park and directed by Amanda Tapping. Here’s what Showcase has released synopsis-wise ahead of Monday’s broadcast:

After receiving an unusual message to attend a court proceeding, the travelers find that one of their own is on trial for conspiring against The Director and interrupting the Grand Plan.

And here is some additional information we can divulge after watching a screener.

Who is Traveler 0027?
If you’ve been paying attention—and I know you have—it’s Grace Day, who has taken some major liberties with timelines and other folks’ fates since her illegal arrival in 2017 among them resetting Marcy. Now she is forced to atone for her actions. Actress Jennifer Spence turns in one hell of a performance.

Where is the Quantum Frame?
That’s the mission for MacLaren and the team this week and it involves nabbing a trio of soldiers to help with that. And as serious as Travelers has been, story-wise, of late the show’s writers still find time to throw a funny line into scenes. That’s not easy but they make it appear that way.

Philip is fumbling
Now that the future is in turmoil all of Philip’s encyclopedic knowledge is kind of useless. He’s feeling down in the dumps about his self-worth; can Carly pull him out of his funk?

Travelers airs Mondays at 9 p.m. ET on Showcase.

Image courtesy of Corus.

 

 

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Featured, Murdoch Mysteries

Preview: Brackenreid gets arty in Monday’s Murdoch Mysteries

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It was pretty cruel of the CBC scheduling team to have such a heartbreaking Murdoch Mysteries episode like “The Accident” air and then make fans wait weeks until the new episode. Still, we knew there would be breaks between new episodes and hey, the Christmas special “Home for the Holidays” is just around the corner!

As for this Monday’s new instalment, “Brackenreid of the Boudoir,” the CBC has issued the following official information:

To investigate an artist’s murder, Brackenreid picks up his paintbrush again and attracts a wealthy patron’s very personal attention.

And here are some more tidbits we gleaned after watching a screener of the episode written by showrunner Peter Mitchell and directed by Harvey Crossland.

Julia and William go camping
I don’t think enough is said about the comedic talents of Yannick Bisson and Hélène Joy, so I’ll do it now. The two can be flat-out hilarious without the use of scripted words. That is showcased in the first few moments of Monday’s episode as the two use physical comedy to great effect. Also? Julia utters a saying I had to Google to understand and it’s a pretty interesting term.

Brackenreid goes undercover
I’ve been waiting for Brackenreid’s skills as an artist to be utilized in another storyline, so this got me giddy. Monday’s victim seems to have ties to the famous troupe of artists, in particular, one fellow who once bought Brackenreid’s painting. Like his son John did a few weeks ago, Thomas goes undercover to catch a killer. As always, it’s a pleasure to see our favourite cops outside of the station house and this is no different. I got a particular kick seeing Brackenreid’s pride in having his artistic side celebrated, especially by the wealthy patron portrayed by Sonja Smits.

Nina Bloom is back…
… and getting smoochy with our George. And then, well, you’ll have to tune in to find out.

And so is Detective Watts
Watts takes on the case of a young lady who had her bicycle stolen. Now why would a detective do the work more suited to a constable, do you think?

Murdoch Mysteries airs Mondays at 8 p.m. on CBC.

 

 

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