William Murdoch

Detective William Henry Murdoch of the Toronto Constabulary is the main character of Murdoch Mysteries (2008). He is portrayed by Yannick Bisson in the TV series continuing into Season 14 (2021) and by Peter Outerbridge in three TV movies (2004). Murdoch plays by the rules, both societal and religious, and conducts himself accordingly, a gentleman detective though born working class and raised a devout Roman Catholic. The Detective has one catchphrase: "What have you..." Upon completing Season 13, Yannick Bisson describes Murdoch, " I like to say that Murdoch is a great guy. He’s kind of our best self on our best day. He’ll make the right decision. He will see the other person inside. He’ll become empathetic in spite of the circumstance. He’ll champion the little guy. But then at the end of the day, he’ll be rigid. A crime is a crime. And we often see that the bad guy, in the end, was doing the bad thing, possibly for the right reason, and Murdoch has to stand by and watch them be taken away. At the end of the day, he’s going to do his duty. Though as the years have gone on, I think that’s been chipped away a little bit, like the layers of an onion, just a little bit at a time. Things are not all black and white. And sometimes there are judgment calls that have to be made. And that’s been the biggest evolution for him." (March 5, 2020)