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"The Murdoch Identity" is the first episode of the third season of the Murdoch Mysteries and the twenty-seventh episode of the series. It first aired on February 16, 2010 (UK).

Summary

Murdoch is in Bristol, England, with no memory, and no clue why or when he arrived. He has no money, no identification and no idea why two men with guns are chasing him. With the help of a local publican, Anna Fulford, he sets out trying to patch together who he is and why he is being shot at.

Back in Toronto, Murdoch has been gone for a week, so Chief Constable Stockton assigns Detective Hamish Slorach of Station House Five to assist Station House Four in their investigation. Along with Brackenreid and Crabtree, he sets out to find what might have happened to the errant Murdoch. They do find a body which, to their relief and that of Dr. Ogden's, turns out to be someone else.

However, the dead man does have a strange bullet wound leading them to suspect someone has developed a powerful new rifle with extensive range and accuracy. In putting it all together, both Murdoch and his colleagues in Toronto come to the conclusion that an assassination is planned.

Character Revelations

  • With his memory loss, Murdoch's usual buttoned-down self-restraint in words and deeds loosens up in a surprising way with Anna Fulford
  • Upon kissing Anna, amnesiac Murdoch has a flashback remembers Julia calling his name which he answers aloud, prompting Anna to ask "Who's Julia?", which ends their ford relationship going any further.
  • Detective Slorach has a rifle named 'Betsy' and a hunting dog named 'Betty'.
  • Anna gives Murdoch the name Harry, which is his father's name.
  • Inspector Brackenreid was "on the Khyber Campaign" of the Second Anglo-Afghan War (1878-1880).

Continuity

  • William and Julia kiss publicly for the first time to the cheering constables at the end of the episode.

Historical References

  • This episode takes place in Toronto and Bristol, England, 1897 – Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 1819 - 1901) is Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, and Empress of India.
  • Queen Victoria had eight (known) assassination attempts made on her life throughout her reign, the last one was in 1882.
  • Crabtree calls Detective Slorach's rifle "quite the blunderbuss". Blunderbuss is actually a short-barreled large-bored gun with a flared muzzle, used for short range, origin mid 17th century Dutch "donderbus", literally meaning 'thunder gun'.
  • The Clifton Suspension Bridge was open in 1864. The Clifton Observatory does command an unobstructed view of the bridge. In 1897, the observatory would have been in the hands of the Society of Merchant Venturers, the one that funded the voyage of John Cabot to Canada.

Trivia

  • This episode was partially filmed in Bristol, England.
  • The title of this episode is an alusion to the 2002 film "The Bourne Identity". Additionally, the target of the assassination is "Lord Treadstone", with Treadstone being the name of the secret CIA assassination program that created Jason Bourne.

Cast

Main Cast

Yannick Bisson as William Murdoch
Hélène Joy as Julia Ogden
Thomas Craig as Thomas Brackenreid
Jonny Harris as George Crabtree

Recurring Cast

Lachlan Murdoch as Constable Henry Higgins
Patrick McKenna as Detective Hamish Slorach
Lisa Faulkner as Anna Fulford

Guest Cast

Warren Kimmel as Edmund Keating
Andrew Musselman as Keating's Man
Duncan McLeod as Keating's Man
Dylan Smith as Quentin Quinn
Shaun Austin-Olsen as Bristol Chief
Mark Bowden as Bristol Desk Constable
Danny Lima as John Dawson

Gallery


Murdoch Mysteries Season 3
"The Murdoch Identity" • "The Great Wall" • "Victor, Victorian" • "Rich Boy, Poor Boy" • "Me, Myself and Murdoch" • "This One Goes to Eleven" • "Blood and Circuses" • "Future Imperfect" • "Love and Human Remains" • "The Curse of Beaton Manor" • "Hangman" • "In the Altogether" • "The Tesla Effect"
Season 1Season 2Season 4Season 5Season 6Season 7Season 8Season 9Season 10Season 11Season 12Season 13Season 14Season 15
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