7.6 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Murdoch unravels a murder that may be linked to the brutal assault on Brackenreid. He teams up with Bat Masterson to hunt for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, seeks help from Thomas Edison, and investigates W.C. Fields. The series' 100th episode is a wedding with complications: lost rings and a murder to be solved.
Starring: Yannick Bisson, Hélène Joy, Thomas Craig, Jonny Harris, Mouna TraoréMystery | 100% |
Period | 54% |
Crime | Insignificant |
Action | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 (48kHz, 16-bit)
English SDH
50GB Blu-ray Disc
Four-disc set (4 BDs)
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Spoiler alert: This review assumes that the reader is familiar with all previous seasons of
Murdoch Mysteries. Readers new to the series should stop here and consult the Season 1 review
for a spoiler-free introduction.
Murdoch Mysteries reached its one hundredth episode in Season Eight. It celebrated the occasion
by finally allowing the long-delayed marriage of Det. William Murdoch and Dr. Julia Ogden to
occur without obstacles, though not without interruption. Given the previous season's
cliffhanger, with the announcement of the couple's engagement overshadowed by a potentially
fatal attack on Murdoch's boss and a fade to black amidst panicked cries for help, fans might
have stormed the offices of Shaftesbury Films in protest if Murdoch's creators had postponed the
nuptials yet again. After Murdoch's many hesitations in speaking his heart, Julia's mistake in
marrying the wrong man, his refusal to grant her a divorce, her wrongful conviction (and last-minute exoneration) for his murder and Murdoch's
repeated rescues of Julia from certain death at
the hands of arch-nemesis James Gillies—seriously, how many more near-misses could the
show's loyal followers be expected to endure?
Season Eight continued the expanded, eighteen-episode format first adopted the previous year,
and the series' creative invention shows no sign of exhaustion. History remains a constant source
of inspiration, as Murdoch marches forward into the 20th Century, exploring territory beyond
anything the character's creator, novelist Maureen Jennings, originally anticipated. Jennings, who
remains a consultant to the series, penned one of the season's most intriguing episodes, which
reveals how Murdoch was first introduced to detective work as a child.
Murdoch Mysteries' regular cinematographer, Jim Jeffreys, shot the whole of Season Eight.
Judging from both past history and the behind-the-scenes footage, the series continues to be
photographed on the Arri Alexa, and the photographic style and Blu-ray image are comparable to
previous seasons—with one major change. Unfortunately, the change is not for the better.
The eighteen episodes of Season Seven,
plus extras, were spread over five BD-50 Blu-ray discs
(four episodes on each of discs 1 through 3, three episodes on each of discs 4 and 5). In an
apparent effort at cost-saving, Acorn Media has placed roughly the same amount of material for
Season Eight on four discs (five episodes on discs 1 and 2; four episodes on discs 3 and 4). In
theory, at least, there is no reason why this tighter packing should not yield a perfectly acceptable
image, since five episodes of Murdoch amounts to about three and a half hours. But Acorn has
made some bizarre mastering choices. I knew I wasn't imagining the problem when my
wife, who is a huge Murdoch fan but has little interest in technical minutia, asked me why these
episodes looked less detailed than those from previous seasons.
The ten episodes on discs 1 and 2 have been compressed to about half the size of those on discs 3
and 4 (about 4 GB vs. 8 GB), the latter being the typical size used in Acorn's previous sets of
Murdoch. As a result, the average bitrate for the first ten episodes is approximately 12.60 Mbps,
whereas a typical episode has averaged, until now, around 21 Mbps. While digitally acquired
material compresses efficiently, at a certain point compression artifacts are inevitable, and the
first ten episodes of Season Eight exhibit them almost constantly, though not in the usual
manner. Rather than the typical macro-blocking or pixelization familiar from the DVD era, these
artifacts present themselves as minute instabilities in areas of the frame that should otherwise be
solid and stable. The result is a kind of subtle digital "noise" that obscures fine detail and might
even be overlooked, if one were not already familiar with the visual quality of previous seasons
of Murdoch Mysteries. The larger the screen (and the closer one sits), the more obvious the
difference. The quality of the last eight episodes is comparable to earlier sets.
What is particularly frustrating is that there was no need to compress the episodes to such a small
size. The disc image for discs 1 and 2 is just under 30 GB, which means that ample space
remained for episodes 1-10 to be mastered at or near the same size as episodes 11-18. The degree
of compression may have been dictated by automatic settings, but that is lazy behavior for a
company that prides itself on delivering a premium product and charges a premium price
accordingly.
Season Eight will be the first set of Murdoch Mysteries I have reviewed that is not eligible for my
year-end top ten list. The show itself has not dropped in quality, but Acorn's presentation, while
watchable, is not up to their usual standards. In this case, one cannot blame the master tapes
supplied by Shaftesbury. This is strictly a matter of Blu-ray authoring, and whoever supervises
the compression and authoring facility should demand better work on Season Nine.
The news is somewhat better on the audio front. Season Eight of Murdoch Mysteries is the first to be released with a 5.1 track, encoded on Blu-ray in lossless DTS-HD MA. The discrete format provides tighter definition and improved clarity across the front soundstage, but Murdoch's sound team does not yet appear to have fully adjusted to the availability of separate rear channels. They are used sparingly, if at all, even in an episode like "Murdoch and the Temple of Death" (Episode 10), where the visuals cry out for showy sound effects. Perhaps we'll see bolder sonic experiments in future seasons.
Each episode of Season Eight is accompanied by an entry in the series called "Making
Murdoch", which is tailored to the particulars of the episode. "Making Murdoch" typically
includes interviews with the episode's writer and director, one or more actors and usually the
curator or PR representative of a historical site or location used for filming. Behind-the-scenes
and on-location footage is common. Every entry in "Making Murdoch" provides valuable insight
into an episode's origin or historical context, not to mention a useful checklist for a sightseeing
tour of Ontario. A full listing is provided below, with times and disc numbers:
In writing, production values, cast and performance, Murdoch Mysteries remains as vital as ever,
and it is sustained by a loyal fan base that, as reflected in "Making Murdoch", follows the
production around Ontario as it moves from one location to another. Season Eight even contains
a winking tribute to the fans in Episode 6, "The Murdoch Appreciation Society". Acorn Media's
Blu-ray set drops down a notch from their previous excellence, but it's still a worthy addition to
any fan's library. Recommended, with the caveat that Acorn can (and should) provide better
video quality on its next outing.
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2013-2014
2015-2016
2015
2016-2017
2016
2017-2018
2017
2018-2019
2019-2020
2021
The Artful Detective
2021-2022
2022-2023
The Artful Detective
2023-2024
2024-2025
(Still not reliable for this title)
2010
2012
Sherlock Holmes
1944
1943
2004
Masterpiece Mystery
2019
20th Anniversary Uncut Director's Edition
2003
Limited Edition to 3000 - SOLD OUT
1967
50th Anniversary Edition
1974
Prelude to Murder / Sherlock Holmes
1946
Sherlock Holmes
1946
Sherlock Holmes
1945
1943
1939
2018
1943
2011
Faceless Killers / The Man Who Smiled / The Fifth Woman
2010
2012
1980