Writer-director-showrunner Peter Mitchell snuck me into a couple of episodes of one of his hit shows -- and yet he still talks to me! On this podcast, we have a great conversation about Murdoch Mysteries, back for a 16th season starting September 12 on CBC.
We also talk about the other hour-long Canadian TV drama he executive produces for Shaftesbury, Hudson & Rex. Mitchell supervises 24 episodes of Murdoch in Toronto, flies to St. John's, and cracks the whip on another 20 episodes of Rex. Some of his performers literally work like dogs!!
So does Mitchell, who took over Murdoch as that series found new life on CBC after five years on Citytv. He opened up the storylines on that whodunnit, taking full advantage of all the historical possibilities (electric cars? Stan Laurel and Charlie Chaplin? William Shatner as Mark Twain?) and stretching his ensemble well past 200 episodes and beyond.
We talk also about other highpoints in his career, which dates back to writing credits on The Campbells as well as Street Legal, Traders, Cold Squad, The Listener and Frankie Drake. He even wrote lines for Mister T on the short-lived Canadian series T and T. I pity the fool who was the showrunner on that series!