William And Julia: A Murdoch Mysteries Love Story

Imaginary smooches, crazed killers and an unexpected baby. Detective William Murdoch and Dr Julia Ogden have had quite the romance over the years. Let’s look back and sigh.

William And Julia: A Murdoch Mysteries Love Story

THE FIRST KISS (SORT OF)

Murdoch may be a handsome, brilliant man, but he's also as rigid as one of his starched collars, and it took him what felt like FOREVER to make his feelings known to colleague Julia Ogden. For the longest time, their flirtation was limited to yearning looks while dissecting corpses. Not that it stopped Murdoch from fantasizing. Indeed, the very first time we saw them kiss, it was while she was examining the water content of a human lung... and it was all in Murdoch's head. There's just something about excavated human organs that pushes his buttons, we guess.

THE REVELATION

Eventually the pair got their act together and started "dating", and it was just so sweet. Remember the time Julia got him a romantic gift, and - rather than a bottle of aftershave or a new wallet or something - it turned out to be a contraption for extracting bullets from dead bodies, and Murdoch was as thrilled as a boy on Christmas morning? How well matched could two people be? Sadly, it came to a crushing end when she confessed that she'd had an abortion while at university. This revelation was at odds with Murdoch's strict Catholic faith and moral code, and it looked like things were over forever.

Hélène Joy on Julia

MAKING IT RIGHT

So, after their initial dalliance, it was back to the usual lovelorn looks in laboratories for Murdoch and Julia. He started seeing a single mother called Enid, but his heart was always with Dr Ogden, and it took the intervention of his half-brother Jasper to spur him into action. "Any woman who can recite 'To a Skylark' while cutting open a human heart is a rare woman indeed," Jasper told him. "Make it right, William." And so he did, rushing over to Julia and begging her to give him another chance. She replied she was willing to see "which way the wind takes us". Which - given they were on a hot air balloon at the time - was really an unforgivable pun from Julia there.

THE REVELATION, PART 2

And then, just when we thought the lovebirds were finally ready to build a nest together, things broke down AGAIN. It turned out Julia had an extra thing to reveal: her abortion had left her unable to conceive children. Knowing the importance of family to Murdoch, she sacrificed their relationship, freeing him to find a woman who could make him truly happy. Murdoch wasn't having any of this, and decided to propose anyway. But it was too late: she had boarded the train for a new life and career in the United States. In a word: arrrgh.

ENTER, MR DARCY

As if all that wasn't enough emotional anguish for Murdoch, things took an even worse turn when Julia returned to Toronto. Which you might thing sounds like great news, except for the small matter of her tying the knot with someone else. A dashing doctor named Darcy, no less. Murdoch, already a dab hand at repressing all his feelings, had to squash them down even further inside himself, to the point where we were slightly worried he'd burst a blood vessel. But things were about to look up, at last...

Detective William Murdoch and Dr Julia Ogden.

Detective William Murdoch and Dr Julia Ogden.

NEW YEAR, NEW RELATIONSHIP

All wasn't rosy in the Julia/Darcy marriage, and things slowly disintegrated. To give Darcy some credit, he recognized what was going on, and accepted that Julia's heart belonged with Murdoch. In fact, on New Year's Eve 1899, Darcy even suggested that she go find Murdoch, to begin the new century with the man she truly loved. Murdoch was shocked and elated, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house as they kissed under the fireworks. At last they could be happy, right? Wrong.

DARCY'S DEATH

Darcy's gallantry didn't last long. Overcome with bitterness, he refused to give Julia an easy divorce, saying "If she's going to act like a whore, she may as well be labelled as such." That earnt him a punch in the face from Murdoch, but even Darcy didn't deserve the fate that ultimately befell him. We're talking murder. Followed by Julia being convicted of killing her estranged husband, and sentenced to hang. It was only thanks to Murdoch's dogged policework that the real culprit - evil brat James Gillies - was exposed.

LOVE AND MARRIAGE (AND A CRAZY LADY)

So - finally, at long, long last - our favourite crime-solving duo got hitched. Not only that, but they even had a taste of parenthood by temporarily adopting a bouncing baby called Roland. But things have been far from smooth, with a shocking intervention from old enemy Eva Pearce, who almost killed Julia during a plan that was warped and wicked even by her standards. But the good doctor survived, and the pair have now settled down for a quiet life of domestic serenity. Oh, who are we kidding?