Nineteenth Century Toronto on Television
It’s not often one sees Toronto portrayed as Toronto in television — although that’s radically starting to change this season — even less so historical Toronto. I’m a fan of Maureen Jennings’ mystery series, featuring Detective William Murdoch of the Toronto Police or Constabulary. But although I was a fan, I wasn’t sure how many were interested in reading about the personal foibles and professional successes of a Toronto detective in the 19th century. Apparently, so many that there’s now a television series, starring a veteran Canadian television actor, and the premiere went off with a bang.
In the series, so far, Murdoch doesn’t have a repressed and steaming personal life as he does in the novels; instead his constable has one. He does have to fight the non-scientific minds on the force, but he’s not nearly as isolated as in the books, nor is he viewed with derision. It’s light fare. Yet it’s also a good old-fashioned mystery. Old-fashioned as in a real mystery, requiring the use of one’s little grey cells, not drowned in forensic technobabble, moody lighting, and sexified music. It has ingenious camera work that doesn’t nauseate. In short, it’s a breath of fresh air and a real tonic to CSI.
The only question I have is how on earth did they replicate 19th century Toronto beyond the usual location, given that the city’s politicians have rubber stamped the destruction of so many historical buildings. And what they didn’t rubberstamp, the OMB forced on us. Well, at least we can see what Toronto used to be like through the lens of this series.
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