User Reviews

Maybe this was originally a Christmas special, but it is airing for the UK in April, which seems a little odd.

Julia has been left a house in the will of an ex-patient, on the condition it becomes an orphanage. Together with Mr and Mrs Brackenreid, George and Effie, Henry and Ruth Newsome, and her husband, she goes there to spend Christmas, also in the company of the three creepy members of staff. Soon someone is trying to kill her, but why? The house, with it's myriad of passageways, is gorgeous. Meanwhile back in Toronto, Detective Watts and Miss Hart try to find the owner of a lost puppy, with the assistance of three young orphans.

There's plenty to enjoy amongst the festivities, and it's truly a delightful episode.

Season 9's "A Very Murdoch Christmas" is still my favorite holiday episode, not just from the series, but for me, I've watched it every holiday since it aired in 2015. Below is my rating for this and the other holiday episodes:

1. A Very Murdoch Christmas - Season 9

2. Once Upon A Murdoch Christmas - Season 10 3. The Night Before Christmas - Season 15

Season 11's Home for the Holidays was not enjoyable for me on any level and not a fan of any of the Halloween episodes.

This Christmas show could have been fun, but I join other reviewers bemoaning the awkward grafting of today's "sensibilities" onto early 20th Century society. IMDb has a section for "Anachronisms" and really this whole show should be put there now. *This* episode's biggest anachronism was the scene with Effie Newsome, George Crabtree, and the butler. They have Effie arranging to sleep in the same room as George by the simple expediency of telling the butler that she and George were recently married. Oh, okay, that's cool then! This just would not have happened back in whatever year this is supposedly set in, 1910-ish. Forget about fooling the butler, what about everyone else there who knows they are not married?! Seriously, such a thing was JUST NOT DONE back then - or for many years thereafter as well. I gather this show was written by Paul Aitken, since the other 2 names listed under "writer" are shown in the full credits as developers of the show: R. B. "Bob" Carney and Cal Coons. Regardless, they should all know better, and Aitken can't be that young and dumb since the trivia listing for him says: "He was awarded the 2012 Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal from the Canadian Governor General for his services to Canada." Murdoch Mysteries is reminding me more and more of another Canadian period-piece show, "Frankie Drake." set in the 1920's. I liked the actress Lauren Smith and started to watch, but it was clear all they were doing was using period clothes and sets, the actions and speech of all the characters were thoroughly modern day. I don't know if the people behind Murdoch Mysteries are trying to rewrite history or are just too lazy after all these years to do any real research about the times their characters supposedly lived in.