"Staircase to Heaven" is the tenth episode of the fifth season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the sixty-second episode of the series. It first aired on May 1, 2012 (UK).
Summary[]
Detective Murdoch is called out to a remote house when one of the guests, Jacob Oliver, is murdered. There he finds Dr. Grace who was also a guest in the house. It's quickly apparent to Murdoch that something is wrong and he finally learns the truth: everyone there was playing cards to see who would have the privilege to die. Dr. Grace and her friends have been seeking to glimpse the afterlife by inducing death and then bringing the person back to life. There is no doubt one of the card players was killed however—he has a piece of metal in his throat. Back at the station, Inspector Brackenreid and Constable Crabtree are guarding Ned Watts, a man who has agreed to give evidence against the notorious killer known as Randolph the Razor.
Character Revelations[]
- Emily Grace, as a member of the Society for Metaphysical Exploration, unintentionally killed a person when she tried to revive Lillian MacDonald with an injection of what she thought was caffeine citrate but was actually adrenaline.
Continuity[]
- Dr. Julia Ogden does not appear in this episode.
- A reference to Arthur Conan Doyle's visit to Toronto to talk about spiritualism and the presence of an afterlife is not only made, the lecture was attended by Hannah, Lillian and Magnus MacDonald.
Historical References[]
- This episode takes place in Toronto 1899 – the Victorian Era (1837-1901) when Victoria, Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Empress of India, rules the British Empire.
- Extraction of adrenaline (also adrenalin) and its research occurred from the mid-1890s.
Trivia[]
- Murdoch Mysteries' creator Maureen Jennings writes her first episode with showrunner Peter Mitchell.
- This is Georgina Reilly's favorite episode.
- The name of the episode is a possible allusion to the classic Led Zeppelin song Stairway to Heaven.
Cast[]
Main Cast[]
Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as George Crabtree
Georgina Reilly as Emily Grace
Guest Cast[]
Christopher Jacot as Russell Chisholm
Victor A. Young as Magnus MacDonald
Deborah Odell as Hannah Beaumont
Kate Ross as Fanny Glover
Evert Houston as Jacob Oliver
Lauren MacKinlay as Lillian MacDonald
Ken MacDougall as Inspector Rupert Graves
Jamie Robinson as Ned Watts
John E. Nelles as Old Man
Peter Graham-Gaudreau as Randolf the Razor
Gallery[]
| Murdoch Mysteries Season 5 |
|---|
| "Murdoch of the Klondike" • "Back and to the Left" • "Evil Eye of Egypt" • "War on Terror" • "Murdoch at the Opera" • "Who Killed the Electric Carriage?" • "Stroll on the Wild Side (Part 1)" • "Stroll on the Wild Side (Part 2)" • "Invention Convention" • "Staircase to Heaven" • "Murdoch in Toyland" • "Murdoch Night in Canada" • "Twentieth Century Murdoch" Web-Series: The Murdoch Effect Season 1 • Season 2 • Season 3 • Season 4 • Season 6 • Season 7• Season 8 • Season 9 • Season 10 |