Celebrate the Holidays with a Concert Special from the Makers of the Period Drama “Murdoch Mysteries” Featuring Contemporary Classical Pieces and Series Highlights Performed by Toronto Symphony Orchestra Musicians

Acorn TV typically delights fans every Christmas with the new season of Canada’s long-running, award-winning period drama Murdoch Mysteries. But since shoots were delayed this fall due to COVID-19, Acorn TV and the producers of this series have gifted their fans with a one-of-a-kind event: a one-hour intimate concert special celebrating the evocative music popular during the series’ turn of the 20th Century era, including much-loved highlights from the drama’s well-revered score along with contemporary pieces by Brahms, Ravel, Tchaikovsky, Strauss and more. Read about the season 14 premiere here.

This stirring classical music program was performed by a seven-piece ensemble from the Toronto Symphony Orchestra on the set of Murdoch Mysteries – aka Toronto’s fictional Station House 4 – on September 25, 2020 and was hosted by Detective William Murdoch himself, Yannick Bisson. A MUSIC LOVER’S GUIDE TO MURDOCH MYSTERIES will premiere in the U.S. and Canada, on Christmas Eve, on Thursday, December 24, 2020 on Acorn TV, North America’s leading streaming service devoted to British and international television.

Between each song, Detective Murdoch entertains viewers with fascinating, whimsical anecdotes about the composers and the works featured in the special, while the performances themselves are peppered with fanciful visuals from the series. This special provides a fun, fresh new alternative way to experience Murdoch Mysteries, its characters and that era until season 14 premieres in 2021. The ensemble is conducted by the series’ composer, Robert Carli.

The musical selections are:

-Opening Theme from Murdoch Mysteries – ROBERT CARLI

-Pavane pour une infante défunte- MAURICE RAVEL

-Clarinet Quintet in B Minor, Op. 115-Mvt. IV – JOHANNES BRAHMS

-Suite from Murdoch Mysteries – ROBERT CARLI (containing motifs heard regularly in series, including the opening theme and moments when Murdoch is either deciphering puzzles or solving crimes)

-Excerpt from Mazurka No. 2 – LAURA GERTRUDE LEMON

-Adagio Molto – PETER ILYICH TCHAIKOVSKY

-String Quartet, Op. 76 No. 2, “Fifths” – Mvt. IV – JOSEPH HAYDN

-On The Beautiful Blue Danube, Op. 314 – JOHANN STRAUSS II (fun fact: Detective Murdoch and future wife Julia danced to this waltz while they were dating)

-Maple Leaf Rag – SCOTT JOPLIN

The musicians are: Yolanda Bruno (violin), Eri Kosaka (violin), Theresa Rudolph (viola), Emmanuelle Beaulieu Bergeron (cello), Jeffrey Beecher (double bass), Eric Abramowitz (clarinet), and Sanya Eng (harp).

Inspired by Maureen Jennings’ acclaimed novels, Murdoch Mysteries has garnered 45 Gemini(R) and Canadian Screen Award nominations from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television during its run, and Yannick Bisson won Canadian Screen Award’s ‘Fan’s Choice Award.’

Set in the late 1890s and early 1900s in Toronto, the methodical and dashing Detective Murdoch and his impassioned wife Dr. Julia Ogden (Hélène Joy) enlists radical new forensic techniques like fingerprinting, ultraviolet light, and trace evidence to solve some of the city’s most gruesome murders. Murdoch’s associates, including his gruff boss Inspector Thomas Brackenreid (Thomas Craig), Constables George Crabtree (Jonny Harris), Henry Higgins (Lachlan Murdoch) and eccentric Detective Llewellyn Watts (Daniel Maslany), are valuable allies to help solve cases across the many stratums and evolving manners of Victorian society.

U.S. and Canada Premiere: Thursday, December 24, 2020 TV Special (58 min.)

** CHRISTMAS DAY PREMIERE: BIRDS OF A FEATHER CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!!

When done partaking in your eggnog, unwrapping gifts or other traditions on Christmas Day, tune in to Acorn TV’s brand-new and timely Christmas special edition of the long-running British sitcom Birds of a Feather – filmed this year. After months cooped up during the pandemic in Chigwell, longtime friends Tracey (Linda Robson, The Likely Lads) and Dorien (Lesley Joseph, Night & Day) find that quarantine is more than enough time together. Dorien is back to her old tricks with a rich dentist, and Tracey misses her sons and sister Sharon, who’s stuck on a COVID cruise on the other side of the world. Tracey wants to invite her former cellmate for Christmas, but can a lockdown holiday be jolly?

AMC Networks’ Acorn TV is North America’s largest streaming service specializing in British and international television. Acorn TV adds exclusive new programs every week with a deep library of mysteries, dramas, and comedies with no commercials. In 2020, Acorn TV featured several commissioned series including the return of Agatha Raisin starring Ashley Jensen, period mystery Dead Still, New Zealand thriller The Sounds; as well as the return of Irish thriller Blood; Essie Davis in feature film Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears; David Tennant in Deadwater Fell; Julia Ormond and Ben Barnes in Gold Digger; BBC One comedy The Other One; highly-rated BBC One drama The Nest, and groundbreaking period drama A Suitable Boy from Mira Nair; and a growing catalog of popular bingeable dramas A Place to Call Home, Detectorists, Jack Irish and Foyle’s War; among much more.